App mobile | 2023

Timerfood Case Study

Summary

Do you remember the lockdown and how we are now facing a new normal? Remote work and home responsibilities have led us to somewhat neglect our diet.
But what if you could schedule your cooking tasks in a fun and simple way, regardless of the ingredients you have at home?

The analysis of people's behavior after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown has influenced customs and generated adaptations towards new ways of carrying out daily activities, such as remote work, socialization, and the warmth of human contact.
In Argentina, there is interest in deeply understanding situations that affect dedication to cooking due to investing more time in work, impacting health, economy, and proper cooking practices. This leads to increased waste at home and continuous purchases of delivery food.
Here are some details:
  • 46,234,830 people between 25 and 45 years old in Argentina in 2022 have highly demanding jobs, increasing productivity due to workers dedicating 9% more time to their remote jobs.
  • 21% of Argentinians eat outside their homes at least once a week or more often.
  • The main causes of food waste at home are related to consumer behavior, either because items do not meet the requirements of shape, size, or appearance that we usually associate with "quality."
  • The use of delivery applications during mandatory isolation increased by 400%.

Problem definition

To understand the situation, we analyzed:
  • People who hold highly demanding formal jobs.
  • They have acquired less agility in organizing and coming up with varied and nutritious homemade meals.
  • Frequent consumption of low-nutritional quality foods made outside the home.
  • Lack of knowledge about their composition, impacting their health and economy.

What can be improved?

To help these individuals improve their interest and skills in spending time in the kitchen:
  • Use motivation.
  • Expand the necessary knowledge about how food influences health.
  • Show the impact on their health.
  • Emphasize the importance for their economy.

How can it be achieved?

Create an application that provides ideas, suggestions, and recommendations for meals with ingredients available at home:
  • It can observe the composition.
  • Status.
  • Quality.
  • Quantity.
  • Specifications based on a list of pantry products and encourage the challenge of cooking.

Why is it necessary?

Responsible and intelligent nutrition can promote sustainable solutions, encouraging interest in viewing cooking as an important aspect in the growth of human values and demonstrating the environmental impact generated by uncontrolled consumerism that leads to more plastic and organic waste.
This aligns with the United Nations' 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

  • HEALTH AND WELLNESS
    "Promote interest in healthy, reliable, and conscious nutrition by stimulating domestic activity, with the purpose of reducing disease risks."

  • RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION
    "Become aware of our level of consumption and expenses that influence the capacity of resources for waste processing."

Archetypes

Gabriela

Social communicator

She likes to go for walks and spend time with family, especially hosting friends. Apart from work, she is capable of including other activities. She likes to use social media. When it comes to cooking, she doesn't mind. With what she has at home, she can imagine what to make and what she might crave. She tries to do grocery shopping every week to ensure that what she buys will be fresh during the week. She doesn't worry much about expiration dates of some products, but she invests a lot of time in keeping track of things.

Empathy map

Carlos

QA Analyst

He shares with friends; among his activities apart from work and university, he cooks for himself or when he gets together with friends at his house, although he is not an expert. He tries to be responsible with what he has learned, cooking according to what he has and craves. Sometimes he takes pictures of the dish. He does grocery shopping every week, without a list of products, buying what he thinks of, looking for economy.

Empathy map

BECHMARKING

#1

Whisk:A recipe app that allows creating activities such as networks between communities.
  • Strengths
  • Search with a lot of variety.
  • Navigation is intuitive and direct.
  • Explanatory and personalized information.
  • It is very flexible with the needs of users.
  • Consistent between screens.
  • Icons, buttons, and images are relatively easy to understand.
  • It encourages users to stay within the application by providing access to social media content.
  • Weaknesses
  • Search is difficult due to distractions from other content.
  • It is difficult to quickly find information as expected.
  • There is a lack of space between elements.
  • Ingredient icons can make reading complicated.
  • Desirable to have it in Spanish.

#2

Sidechef: A recipe app with more formal content and also the creation of groups and communities.
  • Strengths
  • Quick search with necessary information.
  • More specialized content.
  • Consistent between screens.
  • Icons, buttons have easy readability.
  • Weaknesses
  • Does not allow returning to an interrupted query.
  • Desirable to have it in Spanish.
  • Moderately encourages users to stay within the application for other content interests.

#3

SuperCook: A recipe app that presents multiple alternatives, but its content is based on recommendations from internet pages.
  • Strengths
  • Provides quick alternatives to what users need.
  • Allows planning based on available ingredients.
  • Simple navigation and direct search options.
  • Offers recipes that users may not have thought of.
  • Weaknesses
  • The design does not encourage users to stay engaged.
  • Navigation between screens is not consistent.
  • Lack of personalization for specific user needs.
  • Desirable to have it available in Spanish.

MVP

A wide range of features was proposed, designed to provide users with a seamless and personalized cooking experience. These features include:
  • User Registration: Easy access to create and manage user accounts.
  • Language Selection: Adaptable interface based on users' preferred language.
  • Ingredient Viewer: Allows users to browse their available ingredients.
  • Recipe Suggestions: Provides recipes tailored to the user’s available ingredients.
  • Ingredient Input: Enables users to add ingredients for personalized recipe results.
  • Location Selection: Adjusts content based on the user’s region.
  • Preparation Instructions: Step-by-step guidance to simplify cooking.
  • Diet Selection: Offers recipes aligned with specific dietary preferences or restrictions.
  • Ingredient Calculator: Automatically adjusts ingredient quantities based on serving size.
  • Nutritional Information: Displays the health benefits of each recipe.
  • Brand Challenges: Engages users with gamified cooking tasks and rewards.

USERFLOW

SKETCHING

Initial hand sketches were created using the Crazy 8 technique, dividing the format into 8 sections to develop 4 distinct models for the 2 most critical pages of the application. Afterward, the process continued with hand-drawn prototypes for other key pages, focusing on features deemed important for functionality and usability.

Finally, the best ideas were selected based on their alignment with what was functional, necessary, usable, and feasible. These selections were also consistent with the flows determined by the Information Architecture and User Flow, ensuring a seamless user experience.

WIREFRAMES

This is a minimal representation of the flow, showcasing the relationships between the different screens in higher fidelity. It corresponds directly to the parameters defined for the MVP, ensuring clarity and alignment with the core functionalities of the application.

PROTOTYPE

Here are some screens that showcase the structures designed using Patterns and Guidelines. These elements were carefully developed to incorporate best practices in measurements, grids, and component positioning, tailored specifically for a native Android operating system application.

UI Kit

Now we can explore some of the components that form the foundation of the app's design. These include aspects such as styles, colors, contrasts, icons, buttons, illustrations, and other elements that inspired me to create a cohesive and representative visual identity for this application.
  • Components
  • Cards
  • Icons
  • Buttons

USER TESTING

Test Objective:To verify whether the planned design enables users to successfully navigate the app.
Methodology:Unmoderated Usability Test
Task 1: Register in the app - Scenario: Imagine it's almost mealtime, but you need to cook and don't know what to prepare. You decide to use an app that can help you. Considering this, could you show us how you would register?
Task 2: Log in - Scenario: Assume you have already registered and want to access the recipes quickly. At this point, could you show us how to navigate to the main page of the app?
Task 3: Find the recipe and prepare the food - Scenario: Once you're logged in, you want to search for a recipe and prepare your meal. Would you show us how you find a recipe and follow it until you complete the preparation?
Task 4: Execute other dynamics - Scenario: Now that you've tried several recipes, you're curious to explore other features within the app. Would you be willing to show us any other interesting functionality you discover?
  • What worked
  • 4/4 users successfully registered, achieving a 100% success rate.
  • 3/4 users were able to navigate, read, and complete the entry.
  • 4/4 users successfully completed the task.
  • What didn't work
  • 4/4 users struggled to understand that certain features (e.g., the keyboard) were inactive because it was a prototype. Additionally, they didn’t realize that, as new users, they needed to begin with a new registration.
  • 1/4 users could not successfully complete the task due to technical issues with the platform.
  • 4/4 users experienced confusion when searching for a recipe. They frequently navigated to other modules or pages, which delayed the completion of the primary task.
  • The prototype's lack of color and visual appeal made the interface less engaging, reducing user interest in exploring the app.
  • Applied improvements
  • Adjusted spacing and emphasized the login section to make it more noticeable and user-friendly.
  • Introduced functionality in the stock of ingredients, allowing users to add new ingredients if needed. From there, users are guided to filters and ingredient selection for a more streamlined process.
  • Added a more descriptive text alongside a badge indicating a pending challenge. This feature aims to engage users by highlighting opportunities to earn rewards and encouraging interaction with the app.

¡Thanks for watching!