Chef-In-Training
Efficiency has never been this delicious!
My Role
Design Lead
Competitive analysis, market study, UI design strategies, wireframing and prototyping.
Team
Radhika Phansalkar
Gilbert Espinoza
Project Duration
February and March 2024
6 weeks
Skills
UX Research and UI Design
Prototyping
Tools
Figma
Project Need
Empowering users to make smarter food choices and combat the growing global health crisis, Chef-in-Training is an innovative app integrated with nutritional data, a budget tracker, and a meal calendar to provide nutritious and customizable recipes that fit seamlessly into even the busiest schedules, making it easier than ever to maintain a balanced diet despite a fast-paced lifestyle.
The Opportunities
The global health & wellness food market is projected to reach $1 trillion by 2027
Needs Addressing a Global Health Crisis
Nearly 60% of adults cite lack of time as a major barrier to cooking at home, often resorting to unhealthy fast food and processed meals. This is an opportunity to answer to this crisis by making nutritious home -cooked meals more accessible and meet the modern consumer's needs.
Booming Market and High ROI Investment
According to a GlobalData survey, nearly 60% of consumers are willing to pay a premium for healthier food options. With a global shift toward preventive healthcare, people are increasingly investing in products that support long-term health.
Future Wave of Tech-Enabled Nutrition
The rising demand for AI-driven health apps is a prime opportunity for venture capitalists and corporate investors to be at the forefront of the food-tech revolution with personalized recommendations and integrations across wearable devices and smart kitchen appliances.
“Chef-in-Training”
Your Personal Culinary Companion for a Busy Lifestyle!
Product Design Solution
Video 1: Plan your meals with calendar and track your budget
Video 2: Use Voice Assistant
"Hey Chef" for hands free cooking
The Process
Product Planning​
Kickoff Meeting
Establish Project Brief
Develop Project Plan​
Research​
Competitive Analysis
User Interviews and Surveys
Product Strategy
Validate
Information Architecture
LoFi and MidFi Designs
User Testing
Refine
UI Design Styleguide
Final Prototypes
Final Presentation
Design Strategy
Leveraging user research and adaptive UX
Empathy-Driven User Mapping and Competitive Analysis
Conducting qualitative research through user interviews - Tightly align UX decisions with measurable user satisfaction and task success.
Implementing usability testing at each product phase to form a feedback loop with real users - Ensuring the product evolves based on user expectations, not assumptions.
The Research
Identifying product touchpoints thorough competitive research and user interviews
The aim was to gather insights into industry trends, competitor strategies, and user needs. This in-depth analysis helped identify gaps, opportunities, and key design elements, laying a solid foundation for the product app, ensuring it aligned with both market demands and business expectations.
User Interviews
We conducted interviews with a target audience of urban professionals to get a view of their daily pain points
Limited Time
"I barely have time to cook, so I need recipes that are quick and easy to follow."
AI and Multitasking
"Using the app handsfree s the biggest need. I'm gonna be cooking while on the app."
Sustainable Use
"I hate throwing food away—I’d love recipes that help me use what I already have."
Limited Ingredients
"I don’t have a lot of fancy ingredients, just the basics."
Budget Oriented
"I want to save money, so budget-friendly meals are really important to me."
Competitive Analysis
We conducted in-depth competitive audit of websites of 6 cooking apps
Through this process, we analyzed the business goals, product UX and visual design, analyzed content structure and usability and finally synthesized research.
Current Issues Analyzed from Competitive Analysis
1
Strong Utility Undermined by Poor Signifiers and Visual Hierarchy
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While the apps offer unique features like utensil affordances and an AI assistants, the lack of strong visual signifiers and an overwhelming homepage diminish user experience.
2
Ingredient-Centric Approach Lacks Modern Aesthetic Appeal
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Though the apps' ingredient-first layout are informative, their outdated visual design hinders engagement. The UI components and interactions do not cater to user behaviors.
3
Business proposition: High-Value Content Is Gatekept Behind Subscription
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Valuable features such as advanced search filters and technique expansions are locked behind a paywall, limiting accessibility. Features are inflexible and cause hinderance during usage.
Turning Issues into Product opportunities
Reframing issues as opportunities for innovation
​Streamline product use with a focus on multitasking through improved visual hierarchy and clearer signifiers.
Focusing on visual design and microinteractions to enhance delight, responsiveness, and add polish to the user experience.
Introduce business opportunities - tiered access to unlock key features and reduce friction. Users explore value before they commit—build trust, then convert.
Product Objectives
UX research paved way to set product objectives:
Who said busy lives can’t have nourishing and great meals?
Track and Plan nutrition
Offer tools like meal prep calendars, automated grocery lists, and budget trackers to make meal planning and grocery shopping experience seamless.
Aid Multitasking
Integration with voice user interface assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant could enhance hands-free meal preparation, adding to the app's convenience.
Information Architecture
After conducting user interviews, we designed 3 keys user flows to determine to core functionalities and layout the product requirements with focus on integrating VUI Hey Chef feature.
Sitemap
Developing a research intensive sitemap
After the intensive client workshop, based on the insights from the competitor analysis and stakeholder interview, we developed a site map. This approach allowed us to involve the client directly and align the design with their preferences and business goals.
Design Styleguide
We developed a comprehensive design style guide to deliver a cohesive visual experience
Mid Fidelity Designs
Setting the design rationale and assessing usability with 6 users
Categories are structured through iterative content hierarchy to minimize cognitive load and establish a clear information architecture.​
By grounding design decisions in a deep understanding of user needs, high-priority actions and decision-making features are strategically emphasized.
Visual design elements—such as iconography, and consistent component placement are intentionally applied to guide users and support seamless interaction.
Mid Fidelity Design Critique
Informing Interaction Patterns and Enhancing User-Centered Thinking with intense studio reviews
"Ensure that color choices and font sizes meet accessibility standards for all users"
"Explore a wider variety of card layouts or styles to improve content hierarchy and overall readability."
"Thoughtfully distributing elements and whitespace for a clean, user-friendly interface."
High Fidelity Designs
Meal Planner : Search recipes and add to calendar
High Fidelity Designs
Budget Tracker : Add expenses and update monthly budget
High Fidelity Designs
Hey Chef : Voice User Interface AI assistant
Product Prototype and Feedback
Chef-In-Training : Efficiency has never been this delicious!
"This product represents a compelling market opportunity with strong potential for user adoption and growth."
"The integration of the Voice User Interface (VUI) is a valuable enhancement, adding both convenience and accessibility to the user experience."
"The attention to microinteractions significantly enriches the overall digital experience!"
Video 1: Plan your meals with calendar and track your budget
Video 2: Use Voice Assistant
"Hey Chef" for hands free cooking
Reflections
Effective interaction design begin with a well-defined strategy
Effective Execution Under Time Constraints:
Successfully delivering a project during a crunch period highlights strong prioritization, adaptability, and team coordination. I learnt crucial traits for maintaining quality and meeting deadlines without compromising the user experience.
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Delivering within crunch time:
Microinteractions provide immediate visual or tactile responses to user actions, which helps users understand the system's behavior and builds trust in the app's responsiveness.
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Support Hands-Free Multitasking: Integrating Voice User Interface features allows users to interact with the app while performing other tasks (e.g., cooking), increasing accessibility and convenience- especially for users in motion or with limited screen access.
Sneak Peak
A sneak peak into our archives
