Coo-zy
Introduction
In today's cut throat competitive environment people are forced to bring their work back at home, or they end up doing extra hours. This puts them in a frustrating mindset and simple homely things seem to help them relieve the stress as mundane tasks feel more like therapy to them. One such task is cooking!
My research led me to conclude that these people struggle a lot with it, however they imagine themselves to be magically good at cooking, with very little involvement as most feel, ‘cooking is not that difficult’; which is obviously, not true!
Understanding the challenge
Most of the working class depends on ordering food online, takeaways, cooking services, or dining at restaurants. These options obviously provide comfort and accessibility, but they don't reflect a healthy lifestyle, and the consumers pay the price in the long run with having a lot of health and medical problems.
Because of the contemporary culture we are surrounded with in metropolitan cities we have lost the touch and habit of consuming wholesome and fulfilling home cooked food.
Science proves that food consumed which is cooked by oneself has a better impact on the body than ready to eat options which are ordered online.
Providing a solution which engages the people to cook their own food all while maintaining the nutritional requirements and providing the joy and happiness of cooking is challenging.
Another challenge in this process is procuring the raw materials needed for each meal. It entails research, ingredients, measurements and recipes that fit both the individual’s needs and lifestyle.
Research Methods - The Survey
I prepared a set of questions and distributed it among multiple groups of people. The purpose was to determine the basic ‘pain-points’ of people when it comes to preparing their own food. Learning about the problems of potential users helps in understanding the holistic map of the project. Working with real data is a good starting point to help avoid guesswork and preconceptions. Using this information provided a better chance to discover the root of the problem and how to solve it.
Quotes Directly from Users:
“I generally order food from the same restaurant, and it’s monotonous and boring for me, but hey, it’s just at a click of a button.”
“I’m tired of eating the same kind of food, i want to experiment and have fun, but don’t exactly know how to.”
“I love cooking, but I’m not always sure I know what I’m doing.”
“I’m worried that homemade food is just too expensive and time consuming.”
“The recipes I find online don’t really seem practical or specific because they are too general, and don’t provide adequate information about the nutritional value.”
“The biggest headache is figuring out the amounts.”
Personas
The results of my survey suggested that there were several types of users with diverse needs. The accumulation of the different insights and common patterns that came from the users’ answers helped me create three personas which are the manifestation of that data in a character.
Two of the personas presented edge cases since they were based on certain needs of some of the participants. Therefore, eventually I focused on the more common persona. Focusing on a specific user helps to keep his/her needs in mind and not get distracted whenever an idea for a new feature or demand pops up.
User Journey
Next, I scripted a typical daily consuming routine for my persona. This process helped me decide how the app’s user experience might be designed to fit in with their daily routine.
Jobs To Be Done
One of the most powerful tools I used is a JTBD form. Instead of focusing on what the problem is or what the users want, I ask myself why they need it. By understanding why people might want this app it increased my chances of making a truly valuable product.
User Flowchart
Up until now I had a vague idea of how the app will function. Mapping the basic flow of the app forced me to figure each step on the path the users will take throughout the solution. I first sketched it on paper and then digitally rendered it.
Sketches
This was the first step to help me outline the app and visually imagine it.
Wireframes
This visual guide represents the skeletal framework of the app. It helped me arrange the interface elements while I focused on the functionality rather than what it looks like. Moreover, the simplicity of wireframes allows me to quickly test ideas without diving into the details.
Storyboard — Using The App
I created a storyboard describing my user’s experience with the app. This is a great tool to explore how the product will be used in a larger context, as if it was a part of a bigger narrative. It’s an effective and inexpensive way to capture, relate, and explore the app in a real world setting. I created a storyboard describing my user’s experience with the app. This study helps understand the circumstances and the larger context in which the app will be used.
Visual Research - Inspiration Board
Before getting started with the visual design I create an inspiration board. The purpose was to learn about the visual world and gathering inspiration from other apps.
Iteration
Next I explored different design possibilities: From each repetition of the design I learnt something that I can use for the next iteration.
Color Palette
The color yellow symbolizes life, health, youth, spring, hope, renewal, vitality, growth, energy and rejuvenation. Hence, a yellow color palette is fitting for an app that promotes healthy and natural food. Additionally, I used brown for the text and included a great deal of white to give a calm and clean appearance.
Typography
Playfair typeface free google font which is led by Claus Eggers Sørensen, a type designer based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is an ornamented and high contrast typeface family with delicate hairlines that seems to complement the interface. This is used as a headline and display typeface.
Lato, on the other hand is a sans serif typeface family designed by Warsaw-based designer Łukasz Dziedzic. The sans serif selection is used for the body text, and captions.
Naming & Logo
The reason to go with the name Coo.zy was because it felt familiar and comfortable and has a bit of wackiness to it. It stands short for ‘cooking made easy’, which clearly reflects the vision and motto of the application. I wanted the logo to be simple, reflecting how effortless it is to use the app.
Final Design - Onboarding Flow
The goal of the onboarding flow in Coo.zy is to collect information about the user to truly make it tailored to their interests, inclination, and needs. The critical part was to have the user answer a set of questions without getting discouraged and turn off the app. It required a simple and quick process. Numbering the questions, big sliding cards and a progression bar were some of the solutions I used to ease the process.
Preparing a Meal
This element is the heart of the app. After onboarding, users receive a recipe tailored to their interests and needs, where they can choose the number of serving as well. When viewing the recipe, one can see a list of ingredients, simple steps explaining how to prepare the meal, a how-to video and a breakdown of the nutritional values of that meal.
Conclusion - What did I learn?
Designing the app has been a challenging and rewarding journey. It was clear from the onset that the major challenge will be to make users interested in something that competes with the habit and ease of just ordering food online. I researched the pain-points and the psychological rewards that can be associated with having a cooking session for oneself. I understood the needs of the users through the survey and conversations.
Finally, I faced the challenge of creating an engaging app both from the user experience perspective and the visual perspective.
What are the next steps?
Deep research about specific features
Usability test of the prototype with users
Improve user flow
A comprehensive business model
Future Features
Pair up option: pairing up with friends and other users to cook in large quantities to save money and time.
Suggesting them different cuisines to try and experiment with.
Final Thoughts
The online food delivery industry is roughly worth $200Bn which produces foods that by and large are not the healthiest dietary choice for humans and may even harm our health and longevity. However, in the hectic daily lives most of us lead, the convenience of using this alternative understandably wins over.
The goal of this free mobile application is to allow users to quickly and easily make healthier food choices for themselves at comparable costs to premium packaged foods. Coo.zy is designed to help users prepare homemade food in a fun and loving manner where they also get the joy and satisfaction in doing so. The app also tailors the food quantity and can deliver the products from local stores.