Apron Up
2023
overview
Apron Up is a concept app born as my first project from my pandemic cooking experiences, is a recipe app designed during my early interaction design studies. Faced with limited ingredients and kitchenware, I recognized the need for an app that adapts to such constraints.
The initial basic version of Apron Up aimed to match recipes with users' available resources, offering detailed instructions and videos. One year later, I undertook a week-long redesign of the app.
Role
UX/UI Designer
- Brand Strategist
- User Research
- Interface Design
- Prototyping
- Usability Testing
Duration
2022(1 month) — 2023(1 week)
Goals & Challenges
During the pandemic, I noticed the limitations of traditional recipe apps while cooking at home with limited ingredients and time. This led me to design "Apron Up," an app that suggests recipes based on the kitchenware, seasonings, and food materials users already have, complete with detailed instructions and videos.
The primary challenge I faced with this project was that it was my first attempt at both designing and redesigning a digital application. This involved learning and applying new design principles and techniques, which was a significant learning curve but also an invaluable part of my development as a designer.
Research
I conducted a competitive analysis of products used for accessing recipes, encompassing apps, websites, magazines, and platforms. This analysis is visualized in a matrix that plots simplicity against usability and frustration against richness. In this analysis, the placement of each brand reveals the trade-offs between content depth and user experience. A trend emerges showing that high richness often comes with increased complexity, potentially leading to user frustration if not balanced with thoughtful usability.
In talking with friends for user interviews, it became clear that many users face challenges with recipe apps. They find themselves grappling with interfaces that are too complex and lack personalized recipe suggestions. Meal planning also proves cumbersome, as users can't easily compare recipes or tweak prep times. The lack of social sharing features and questionable reliability of user-generated content are additional pain points. Moreover, an inability to adjust recipes for different serving sizes often leads to food waste and extra hassle, adding to users' woes with these products.
The future of recipe apps lies in personalization and smart integration. AI will tailor recipe suggestions to users' tastes and pantry stocks, while smart appliances will sync with apps for interactive guidance. Sustainability features will rise, aiming to cut food waste and support eco-friendly choices. Meanwhile, AR tutorials will revolutionize home cooking, simplifying complex techniques with immersive, step-by-step visuals. These innovations promise a seamless, sustainable, and educational culinary journey for home cooks everywhere.
Early Mockups
Following my user persona and journey mapping, I've pinpointed essential goals: simplifying kitchen inventory tracking for users, guiding them to discover recipes and instructional videos based on their ingredients, and enabling quick and easy culinary learning. To initiate this vision, I've developed an initial mock-up:
Refelctions
Reflecting on the first mock-up, I recognize several areas for improvement. The design style, while functional, feels somewhat outdated and lacks the contemporary appeal that users often expect. This could potentially be addressed by adopting modern design trends and more engaging visual elements. Inconsistency is another issue that stands out. The visual language and user interface elements vary throughout the mock-up, leading to a disjointed user experience. Consistency is key to user trust and ease of navigation, so ensuring uniformity in colors, typography, and layout across the application is essential. Illegibility is a concern as well. Certain text elements are not as readable as they could be, which may be due to font choice, size, or color contrast. This hampers usability, especially for users quickly trying to reference a recipe or follow a tutorial. Improving contrast and font legibility will be a priority to make the app more accessible and user-friendly.
After a year of gathering insights and learning, I've decided to undertake a week-long redesign of Apron Up to address these issues!
Redesign
Final Prototype
Learning
Never be satisfied with complacency; always strive for continuous improvement and learning. Nor should one shy away from the courage to explore and try new things!
