Zippy
Experience Local Flavors Handpicked Culinary Journeys with Expert Chefs
At a glance
Embark on a delightful culinary adventure with local chefs who skillfully craft regional flavors from native ingredients. Discover exclusive dining events where artistry and local essence come together. Savor community-inspired menus at vibrant food festivals, tastings, and celebrations, all created by passionate chefs who bring their culinary expertise to life.
In this case study, I explore how our platform enhances dining with Location-Based Food Flavors, Affordable Culinary Delights, and Chef-Curated Recipes. Users can book chefs online, create events, and share wishlists with friends and family. The platform emphasizes bringing people together through memorable and engaging food experiences.
MY ROLE
As a UX Designer at Echidna Software, I led the UX strategy and execution for the Zippy project, guiding it from early concepts to successful design. Collaborating closely with the project team, I gathered insights from client calls and Business Requirement Documents (BRDs).
My responsibilities included aligning cross-functional teams, incorporating client feedback into new features, and crafting conceptual wireframes. I managed the entire design process, ensuring a cohesive and impactful solution that met our objectives and enhanced user experience globally.
Problem
Users seeking unique and memorable dining experiences struggle to find regional culinary events that highlight local flavors and expertise. There is a need for a platform that connects food enthusiasts with local chefs and culinary artisans, offering access to exclusive, community-inspired menus and events.
The goal is to create an immersive experience where users can discover and enjoy distinct regional flavors, participate in gastronomic gatherings, and explore diverse cuisines through expertly crafted culinary adventures.
The Business Needs
- Develop a user-friendly platform for connecting food lovers with local chefs and regional culinary experiences.
- Offer diverse events, including tastings and festivals, featuring community-inspired menus.
- Integrate interactive features and local ingredient highlights.
- Implement effective marketing strategies to attract users and ensure a seamless, engaging experience.
DEFINING GOALS
Key Objectives
- Product and Business Objective: Our platform aims to connect food enthusiasts with local chefs who expertly craft unique regional flavors. We strive to deliver engaging culinary experiences through interactive events and affordable, community-inspired recipes. By focusing on personalized content and effective marketing, we seek to enhance user engagement and drive growth, offering an unparalleled gastronomic journey.
- Design Objective: Our design goal is to create an intuitive and visually appealing platform that highlights regional culinary experiences and chef-curated recipes. We aim to deliver a seamless user experience with easy navigation, engaging content, and interactive features. By focusing on personalized recommendations and immersive event experiences, we intend to captivate users and foster a deep connection with local culinary artistry.
Let’s Start The Design Process
Research & insights
Zippy Survey
- Before starting the design process, I took the time to research and survey the key stress points faced by Zippy stakeholders. This revealed that the current user experience on the Zippy app was causing considerable stress and discomfort for users.
- Many users encounter frustration with hotels and restaurants due to long wait times and limited options for sampling religious or regional foods.
- 80% of users experience dissatisfaction and homesickness due to missing familiar home-cooked meals while relocating for job or educational purposes.
Key Insights for Creating an Engaging Customer Experience
- Regional Flavors: Discover unique regional dishes created by skilled local chefs, blending traditional ingredients with contemporary culinary techniques.
- Expert Craftsmanship: Engage with master chefs who are experts in regional cuisine, bringing a high level of gastronomic expertise and innovation to each dish.
- Culinary Artistry: Experience food that intertwines with the essence of the locale, offering a personalized and immersive dining adventure.
- Diverse Culinary Events: Participate in a variety of food-centric events, from gastronomic festivals to intimate tastings, celebrating a broad spectrum of culinary traditions and styles.
- Community Connection: Enjoy menus inspired by local communities, reflecting the rich cultural and culinary heritage of the region.
- Tailored Experiences: Benefit from curated food experiences that cater specifically to individual tastes and preferences, enhancing your overall dining journey.
Pain Points
While summarising my research, I found the following observations:
- Difficulty in finding authentic regional dishes and local flavors when away from home.
- Frustration with extended waiting periods at hotels and restaurants for food, especially for those craving specific regional or ethnic cuisines.
- Difficulty in finding culinary experiences that cater to personal tastes and preferences in new locations.
- Expensive dining options that do not always reflect the quality or authenticity of the food.
Persona
Focusing on Michael Brun, a dedicated food blogger who travels extensively to explore new tastes, we can address his specific challenges. Michael often faces difficulties finding unique regional flavors, navigating long waits at popular dining spots, and ensuring consistent quality in his reviews. He also encounters obstacles related to dietary restrictions and the search for authentic local experiences. Additionally, organizing and managing culinary events can be time-consuming for him.
Design Principles
To ensure the Zippy brand connects seamlessly with various religious cuisines, the logo should be a strong visual anchor. We’ll use a distinct set of icons to enhance brand recognition. The design will feature an orange-and-white color scheme with easy-to-read fonts. Rounded, clean-lined buttons will be used for CTAs. A comprehensive visual strategy guide will outline all branding and design elements.
Following my research and gap analysis in the competitive landscape, I developed design principles to ensure alignment between research findings and UI design.
- Seamless Integration: The experience should effortlessly integrate into existing workflows without adding complexity.
- Familiarity: The design must be user-friendly and accessible, minimizing any UI disruptions.
App/Website Foundations
Few screens are displayed here for reference.
<span data-metadata=""><span data-buffer="">Enhancing User Engagement and Onboarding for Zippy
- Interactive Onboarding: Create a welcoming and interactive introduction that highlights Zippy’s key features, ensuring users quickly understand how to use the app.
- Personalized Recommendations: Leverage user data to offer tailored suggestions, helping users easily find restaurants, dishes, and events that match their tastes.
- Simple Navigation: Design an intuitive layout that lets users effortlessly explore different sections of the app, from restaurant reviews to regional cuisines.
- Engaging Features: Include interactive guides and visually appealing elements to keep users interested and make learning the app’s features enjoyable.
- Easy Feedback: Provide simple ways for users to give feedback and share their thoughts, helping us improve and build a strong community.
- Fun Incentives: Add gamification elements like rewards or badges for exploring new foods or sharing reviews, to keep users motivated and engaged.
User Journey
Let’s explore the user journey from their perspective to enhance design and optimization. By understanding their pain points and discovering areas for improvement, we can create more effective solutions. Next, we’ll use empathy mapping to better grasp their experiences and needs.
Empathy Mapping
Based on the user journey outlined, I’m diving into how users experience and connect with their surroundings. This includes looking at their first impressions, how they engage with the space, and how these interactions influence their emotions and overall experience.
Proposed Solution (Information Architecture)
Elevate Zippy’s user experience with intuitive navigation, a personalized homepage, and robust search features. Offer interactive chef and recipe pages, clear details, seamless checkout, and adaptive learning for personalized recommendations.
Initial Stage - Storyboarding and Wireframing
Start with storyboards to map out user interactions and scenarios. Create wireframes to define the app’s layout, navigation, and content placement. This groundwork will guide detailed design and keep the user experience front and center.
Final Design
I created the final UI design prototype based on the user research and analysis results. Here are some initial experiments with the visual style. The design focuses on three core principles: simplicity, innovation, and tradition, while incorporating the latest design trends.
Navigation/Home Page
From a user experience perspective, the Bottom Navigation Widget provides a quick and easy way for users to engage with straightforward incentives. It’s designed for those who want instant results without needing to invest much time or effort, offering immediate rewards for quick decision-makers.
Recipes/Culinary
Chefs are prominently featured with detailed profiles, high-resolution images, and comprehensive store information. Users can explore chef details, receive personalized recommendations, and use feedback tools to enhance their booking experience and engagement.
You can book recipes from various chefs in your area, using filter and sorting options. Clicking on a recipe will take you to a detailed page where you can view recipe information, see who cooked it, read reviews and ratings, and even purchase groceries needed for the dish. When you book the chef, they’ll bring all the necessary ingredients with them.
<span data-metadata=""><span data-buffer="">Exploring Culinary Experiences: From Booking to Cooking in Your Home
Elevate Zippy’s user experience with intuitive navigation, a personalized homepage, and robust search features. Offer interactive chef and recipe pages, clear details, seamless checkout, and adaptive learning for personalized recommendations.
Conclusion
Developing the Zippy app brought unique challenges and valuable insights through research, strategy, design, and implementation. With limited historical data, we leaned on qualitative insights to shape our UX strategy, uncovering diverse merchant needs and pain points. This phase emphasized the significance of face-to-face interactions for a deeper understanding of the product.
As a detail-oriented designer, balancing high ambitions with practicality was essential for impactful outcomes. The key lesson is that excellence is achieved through incremental progress—each small step contributes to significant transformation. This experience underscored the importance of iterative design, cross-functional collaboration, and adaptability in creating user-centered solutions under resource constraints.