UX CASE STUDY
POTLUCK
HOW MIGHT WE...
find new and exciting recipes, so we can spend less time in the kitchen and more time with good company at the table?
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be able to expand our cultural food pallet and share stories through food?
Potluck is a community based app consisting of chefs and foodies alike, sharing their own unique recipes found nowhere else.
Overview
Through user interviews, I discovered in most cases people admitted to cooking only familiar and safe dishes. Factors that included their decision making were dictated by mainly what's in the fridge, difficulty in preparation, and the amount of time spent in the kitchen. Most reported never knowing what to cook until they looked inside their fridge at all. In short, they were willing to cook new dishes and explore recipes if it came from a concise and simple source.
Competitive Analysis
Through research, the competitive analysis was insightful to say the least. The studies included two popular recipe learning apps, Tasty (a Buzzfeed brand), and Food Network Kitchen. Here are some of the key feature comparisons.
TASTY
FOOD KITCHEN NETWORK
It was here that I came to my golden nugget. Although the apps were created to share recipes, it was limited in a sense of where the recipe was coming from, which was ultimately the brand itself. At maximum, users were only allowed to bookmark recipes from the brand, never to upload and share their own unique flavorful dishes. The one that came close was Tasty - where you would see multiple comments from various users, some showing off their own results of said recipe, while others leaving suggestions on how to make Tasty's recipe even more...tastier (badaboom...tsh).
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Simply put, you can see a community of foodies and chefs alike that are trying to help each other within the app, and share their joys and experiences of cooking - but without an easy to use outlet.
Matrix Prioritization
Through research, the competitive analysis was insightful to say the least. The studies included two popular recipe learning apps, Tasty (a Buzzfeed brand), and Food Network Kitchen. Here are some of the key feature comparisons.
NOW
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Answer “Whatever’s in the fridge?” dilemma, looking for recipes that are specific to a user's ingredients around the fridge and kitchen
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Photo/video preview of recipe steps
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Serving adjustments on recipes
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Discover/explore brand new dishes
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Search and filter functionality
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Quick easy steps recipes
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Community gathering and events
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Add friends
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Bookmarked recipe listing
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User uploads and share own recipes
NEXT
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Online classes
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Implement “Where can I get that ingredient?”, to help tie in and support local food markets
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Chat capabilities
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Reviews by users
LATER
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Smart device compatibility
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Daily tips
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Photo filters
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Calorie/nutritional listing
Sketches
Three different sections of the app were to be created, each one built for its own purpose - to work with what's in the fridge, explore recipes, and a community section to directly connect people together.
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Furthermore, a simple and efficient shape consistency was key.
Circles: Profile Users
Boxes: Cards (e.g.,groups, events, recipes)
Userflow
HAPPY TRAILS
Here you can see how Harvey would navigate the Potluck app. Because his commute is so extensive, he can browse and plan from an endless array of untouched dishes that he's yet to explore.
Alternatively, at the very last minute he can simply input which ingredient he'd love to cook with once he arrives home by clicking on What's In The Fridge? section of the app.
Wireframe//Low-Fidelity
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FINDINGS
1. The participant was given a task to create a group. Instead of going to the Group section, user navigated to Friends, trying to select multiple profiles and then create group.
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2. During testing, all participants saw a mid-fidelity prototype. When handed the unfinished product, user was confused by the navigation bar (Currently it is set as Explore, What’s In The Fridge?, Community)
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3. User found no way to navigate to the previous page, as there was no back button.
Wireframe//High-Fidelity
During high-fidelity mockups, I was able to draft a more polished look and feel for the direction I was envisioning with the help of user testing's feedback. Using Sketch, I created each icon from scratch, along with a small circle underneath as an indication of which page is active. In addition, in a round of second interviews, I learned that a huge blocker for some cooks was serving size while trying to prep meals for dinner. Adding a simple option to let the user choose the amount of people that were joining the table for was beyond vital.
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My next goal would be to flesh out another possible idea on how to create groups, looking at inspirations from Facebook, Instagram, or simply native text messaging apps.
Wireframe//Prototyping
Why
The main goal of the app was to provide a platform where people can enjoy new recipes that came from other chefs and foodies alike with ease. To explore unknown territories and create new tastes that you could never imagine you'd cook up.
But upon working on the project, I've learned that the community was just as important. As respectable as the big named brands were, should they always be the source that we look into? Couldn't it be possible your neighbor two houses down has a dish no other restaurant knew? Or your everyday mailman held the secret recipe from his grandmother that brought his family together every Thanksgiving meal? You want an authentic Thai food experience? Connect with a foodie from Thailand and learn the secret sauce that goes well with Khao Soi!
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Our current lifestyles in the states are tough, and it seems that people are just being pulled away - taking sides, lines drawn, and miscommunication everywhere. It seems like most of the time we're directed to be misdirected. We're living in an impossible chaotic and tension filled times, (Covid-19, Black Lives Matter, political differences, etc.) and I feel like it'd be great to have an app that could share not just recipes - but to create gatherings, cookouts, events, and connect people and have communities come together when all this is over.
Let's get cooking. Let's bring the food to the table and go further - bringing strangers, communities, and backgrounds together. Let's start talking again during meals. Let's create new moments and new memories.
Let's Potluck.
Conclusion & Plans
For my next few steps I'll be adding more features from the NOW/NEXT/LATER list, and of course, refine some more after several sessions of user testing - simply put, solve a problem then solve another. Furthermore, one of my main objectives that I'd love to get into is to somehow incorporate and support local food business, rather than having affiliations with giant establishments such as Walmart.
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A big thank you to Jean Tschanz-Egger and Taylor Ridgway for bouncing ideas back and forth (and breaking my things!). You guys were great to work with.
Method & Madness
Adobe XD
Flowmap
Product Strategy
User-Centered Research
Data Analysis
Persona Development
Information Architecture
Sketch
Sketching
Wireframing
Visual Design
Rapid Prototyping
Identity Development
Copywriting
Graphic Design
Product Naming