The Mediocre Kitchen
Duration
2 Months
Company
Freelance
My Role
UX Designer
Summary
- My goal was to create a brand for The Mediocre Kitchen. This branding would consist of multiple platforms coming together to create a cohesive personality. I wanted to reach users through a mobile app, Instagram, and a podcast.
Takeaways
- In the case of this project, the user research aspect was focused on getting to know users needs and expectations thorough discovery as well as testing designs.
Introduction & Key Points
Create cohesive brand
Create socials to accompany mobile app
Create socials to accompany mobile app
My client for this project was close to me personally, and deals with Celiac disease. She asked me to help design concepts for what this brand - The Mediocre Kitchen could entail. And very specifically how this product could be useful in a mobile app form.
Create socials to accompany mobile app
Create socials to accompany mobile app
Create socials to accompany mobile app
Part of this project was creating an Instagram and podcast to support the mobile app. I found that it took truly diving deep into initial user research to create a strong narrative for this brand.
Offer consistent styling
Create socials to accompany mobile app
Offer consistent styling
User needs were a huge driving force behind this app. My client wanted the app to be accessible to all people, even if they didn't have any dietary restrictions. Creating a strong styling theme and guide were crucial to engaging users with the brand.
Design Process
Purpose
To give the client an app, Instagram page, and podcast for a brand called The Mediocre Kitchen. My client was diagnosed with Celiac disease and has a number of other dietary restrictions. This made life more difficult when it came to finding safe recipes. She wanted a brand that would make an inclusive space for all different kinds of dietary preferences, restrictions, and allergies.
Predispositions
- Research other recipe sites, especially ones like Pinterest. Where many recipes can be saved into different board types
- Understand what the main driving force is for the client and this app. What do they define as success, and how can this app be most efficient for their needs
Research
- Research alternative sites and mobile apps (ex. Pinterest)
- Create user persona
Ideation
- Create wireframe sketches
- Explore color pallets
- Research alternative eating apps and media influencers
Implementation
- Created hi-fidelity mocks in Figma
- Created prototype in Figma
- Recorded and published 2 podcast episodes
- Created Instagram account and a variety of social media posts to assess interest and engagement
User Testing
- Consult with client
- Does the client see significant value in the current hi-fidelity prototypes of the mobile app experience?
Predispositions
Research alternative sites
What are other competitor sites? I wanted to research what sites were predominantly being used for recipe building and dieting. I also wanted to uncover how mobile apps were offering selections on dietary restrictions and allergies. I knew that my client was dealing with multiple dietary restrictions and I wanted this app to be a quick, easy, and efficient way to find recipes that were already filtered to their exact needs.
Understanding the client's needs
I wanted to understand exactly why the client had these dietary restrictions, and what would be acceptable for them in a search feature for this type of app. I also wanted to understand the difference fully between preferences, allergens and autoimmune disorders. The goal is to cater to all dietary restriction allergen levels.
Research
Research competitor sites (ex. Pinterest)
My client and I decided that Pinterest's scrolling and saving features would be most effective in this app. So we wanted a very simple version of a Pinterest style, but only focused on recipes.
Create user persona
I created a user persona based on my client and their very specific needs. I expanded on this persona to include other dietary preferences and allergen restrictions.
Ideation
Create wireframe sketches
My next step was to sketch out what this app might look like. I also wanted to be able to make some rough sketches to get the user flow and mapping set.
Exploring color palettes
For the color pallet I was inspired by many health and natural food grocers. They rely heavily on vibrant greens and yellows, paired with clean white and black tones. I decided to make a style guide following these principles.
Research alternative eating apps and media influencers
I predominantly did research on the Pinterest mobile app as well as meal kit sites like Hello Fresh. I wanted to take the ease of access with recipes and filtering options from sites like Hello Fresh, but streamline them, and re-focus towards free recipes instead. Pinterest is widely used and the client already used it often, so I wanted to take the core principles of saving and collecting recipes like users would do with "pins" on Pinterest.
Implementation
Created hi-fidelity mocks and prototype in Figma
I worked in Figma to create a simple and straight-forward hi-fidelity prototype. This prototype contained 5 core screens - which include: the explore, saved, recipe card, and account pages. I wanted to include elements from mobile apps like Pinterest and Instagram, that take advantage of a simple "liking" and "bookmarking" system.
Recorded and published a podcast
As a tertiary component to the mobile app prototype, my client also wanted to work on a podcast that would focus on different dietary preferences and needs, as well as have guests on to deep dive into diverse ways of eating and cooking.
Created Instagram account
Another social media component was the Instagram account. Which closely followed along with The Mediocre Kitchen podcast. The client wanted social media that would be useful to promoting the mobile app.
User Testing
Consult with client
Does the client see significant value in the current hi-fidelity prototypes of the mobile app experience?
My user testing consisted of having the client walk-through their mobile app. I left this test very open, which was a new experience for me. Since I was very open with the client. I felt that it would benefit me to let them explore the prototype at their own pace, and let them give any feedback they might have.
The client had mostly positive feedback, and few suggestions for improvements. This app is still a prototype, and was limited on screens as the client mainly wanted an idea for potential possibilities of this brand. My client really enjoyed the style and the ease of exploring and saving recipe cards. Their only real suggestion was to improve the clarity of the "ingredients" and "instructions" sections at the bottom of the recipe cards; they commented that the text felt a little dense.
Challenges & Personal Takeaways
Research was key
Moving forward & reiterating
Truly understand the client
I found that researching other sites like Hello Fresh, Pinterest, and multiple other meal-kit sites was key to discovering how users can easily navigate thousands upon thousands of recipes.
Truly understand the client
Moving forward & reiterating
Truly understand the client
In the same vain as heavy early on research - I also conducted some very casual interviews with my client, and asked about their dietary restrictions. I really got to learn and empathize with their position and struggle with finding food they can actually feel comfortable eating.
Moving forward & reiterating
Moving forward & reiterating
Moving forward & reiterating
This project gave me a lot of creative freedom, but it also challenged me to make an app that could actually be very aesthetically pleasing and useful. Since I knew the client personally, I wanted to understand their position exactly, and make their life easier. In doing this, I learned that research and empathizing with the customer/client is crucial in finding the trajectory of the project. I wanted an exact understanding and the motivation behind my client's wants and needs.