RightRecipe
Client Brief
Client: RightRecipe.
Process: Rapid Prototype and user testing.
Solution: App that can provide recipes.
Outcome: Increased variety in recipes and helped users find recipes quickly.
Scroll down to read the full Case Study. Read time 10 minutes.
Full Case Study
Who is RightRecipe?
RightRecipe is a company that provides recipes that can be stored on a mobile application, allowing users to easily access them when required.
I had to create this concept as part of a course I took through the Education Organisation General Assembly. The course was User Experience Design.
My task was to create a problem and then solve it.
I chose to create RightRecipe as I love food and enjoy finding different recipes and more importantly eating the food created from these recipes.
Whilst at University I struggled to find recipes that would allow me to create delicious meals using ingredients I had in my cupboards.
Also, as sustainability is becoming a factor in daily life, and with reports on increasing food waste, using food to hand is a prominent issue to address. This is becoming even more important with rising food prices.
How did I create the problem?
I gathered data by interviewing colleagues and friends. This created a bias but was difficult to avoid within the constraints of the exercise. I would have preferred to interview with a wider section of society, but due to time restraints within the course, I was unable to.
To create my problem statement, I created two personas to explore different ways it might work. To complete the task, I focused on the primary persona, Isabelle.
Once a problem statement was created it allowed me to create a "How Might We" statement.
Thought process
In this phase, I used the data collected to create sketches, flows and wireframes.
Based on the research from interviews and competitor analysis I created four primary features that would be the foundation of the design. These features are:
Searching for recipes.
Searching for recipes via listing ingredients.
Importing recipes.
Saving recipes.
Task Flow
The task flow can be seen below and allowed me to understand how the user would use the design to achieve the How Might We statement.
Sketches
The sketches created were low-fidelity wireframes and were used as solution sketches. These sketches were created using the Crazy 8 design game. This allowed me to quickly think of designs that could work for RightRecipe.
These sketches were based on my thought process, and I also tried to focus on achieving the goal of the Task flow above.
Wireframes
These wireframes were created based on the sketches and Task flow that I had created. I used the design below, as I felt that it would allow the user to achieve the goal set by the problem. The design also allows intuitive thinking and reduces cognitive load.
Colours and Typography
When making the prototype I set a colour palette and typography to not only keep the concept consistent but to make the prototype both look and feel user-friendly by creating the impression you were using an actual recipe from a cookery book.
I chose the colours purposely, so the user was not distracted from using the prototype. The font I used was Merriweather as it allowed the user to read the screens clearly and make the text feel like you are reading a recipe.
Prototype
The prototype should follow the Task flow above.
I used Figma as this tool has, over the last couple of years, become one of the best to use to create designs and support design thinking.
When undertaking the prototype test, I found the overall testing to be a success as the users found the application "professional and intuitive". I did find one consistent problem that I now need to resolve. When I asked the user to search for a recipe containing beef the user went to the search page and selected beef, but this did not follow through with the actual search. This meant they had to restart the process again.
Please view the prototype by clicking here!
The future of RightRecipe
I believe there could be a good future for this idea, but it would require more planning, further research, and testing to be done. The ideas I have that could be implemented are:
Social Media Platform
Having the ability to import recipes.
Including nutritional value.
Offering the option to have alternative ingredients in recipes.
Add an additional colour as some of the text in the design can’t be read properly.
I believe that a social media platform within the app could also enhance the user experience and interaction. This app could encourage a passion for food and cooking. As the idea would enable old recipes to be found and uploaded onto this app for others to enjoy. I would need to create links to create the user flow for importing recipes. This would be an essential element of this app.
Adding the final two options could help users find healthy meals or create recipes that meet their dietary needs. These options would need to be researched further and then tested to ensure that the correct solution is created for the users.