Ux / UI Design
Dishio Home Cooking App
An gamified app that makes eating-in a more convenient, rewarding, and social experience.
September 2022 to May 2023
An gamified app that makes eating-in a more convenient, rewarding, and social experience.
September 2022 to May 2023
Design strategy & research,
UX/UI design
Blender, Figma, After Effects
This academic year-long project served as my thesis and marked the conclusion of my four-year studies in the Digital Experience Design program at George Brown College.
Awarded the Best Overall Digital Experience Design Thesis Project during the 2023 Year End Show.
Despite the negative effects on both health and household spending resulting from the high frequency of dining in or getting takeout food, eating-out remains the most popular indulgence for Canadians.
Using the iterative design thinking methodology with an agile process, a series of activities were conducted during each phase of the project.
Secondary Research
According to a survey from Capital One Canada and Credit Canada, eating out is the most popular indulgence for Canadians.
54% of Canadians eat out once a week or more.
39% eat out less than once a week.
Only 8% Canadians did not eat out in the past month.
Through literature review and mind mapping, I discovered that 52% of Canadians eat out as a treat or to socialize, while 40% eat out for convenience.
Research has shown that even if it means spending more than the recommended 10–20% of the family’s total budget on food, people will often still opt to eat out for convenience. Food that is served at restaurants is often high in fat and sugar and Sayde Beeler, a registered dietitian, states that these types of foods “stimulate the brain’s reward system, the same pleasure center that gets activated when you take drugs”.
Primary Research - Journey Maps
As part of my research, participants were engaged in an activity where they created three journey maps illustrating their decision-making processes when it came to eating-in, eating-out, or intending to eat-in but ultimately opting for eating-out.
The objective was to gain insights into the elements that contribute to the convenience, rewarding, and social aspects of dining-in or getting takeout food.
How might we enable a more social, convenient, and rewarding home dining experience to encourage Canadians to make healthier and more cost-effective food choices?
How can we integrate these positive attributes commonly associated with eating-out, rather than solely fixating on its consequences?
Brainstorming
I started brainstorming ideas by using a Venn diagram that concentrated on the three primary categories (convenient, social, and rewarding).This allowed me to generate ideas for overlapping features leading to potential solutions.
An gamified app that recommends recipes based on your ingredients, tracks your ingredient stock, and allows you to host collaborative cooking events while providing achievement rewards upon reaching cooking or hosting goals.
User Flow & Sketches
To understand how many pages would be needed for the app and how they would interact with each other, I developed a user flow diagram. This diagram became my reference point as I started sketching and designing.
Additionally the sketching helped determine how the interface pages would look.
Initial High-Fidelity Prototype Testing
The first iteration of the prototype was tested in-person with five participants.
I implemented improvements to the prototype from the user testing and created the final design system, pages, and interactions.
Home Pages
The app's home pages resemble a virtual kitchen that can be customized and modified by the users.
Main Page
The main home page shows a fridge, stove, and trophy that can be clicked on.
Dining Table
Clicking on the arrow moves you to the dinning room where you can host cooking events with friends who also have the app.
Editing Kitchen
Ability to edit your kitchen by completing your goals.
Fridge Flow
Fridge Zoomed In
Clicking the fridge zooms in on it where you can choose whether to open it or view your grocery list.
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Grocery List
Your grocery list includes all the items you've added with the ability to add ingredients.
Food Database
Inside your fridge, you will find all the ingredients you currently have in your home. The ingredients are categorized.
New Groceries
To add new ingredients, you simply need to scan a receipt using your phone camera.
Recipes and Hosting Events
Recipe Search
Clicking on the stove leads you to the recipe search page where you can see your liked recipes, your filters, and all the recipes recommended for you.
Recipe Page
On the recipe page, you can see the ingredients you need to make a recipe, directions, and reviews.
Hosting an Event
You can host an event by inviting your friends, generating recipes based on your friends selected filters (allergies, preferences), and scheduling.
Scheduling
You're able to set time and meal options for your event. You can allow guests to contribute ingredients to a recipe and/or to keep the recipe a surprise.
Goals & Rewards
Completing goals
After completing a cooking or hosting goal, you get a gift as a reward!
Promotional Video
Detailing all the features and benefits of using Dishio.
Promotional Poster
The project was shown at the George Brown College year-end show where it received valuable feedback and won the Overall Best Digital Experience Design award of 2023.
Ability to see your friends' virtual kitchens and Monetization
Many people mentioned they would love the ability to see their friends' virtual kitchen to view their progress in the app and how they've designed their home pages. Introducing purchasable customization items could serve as a monetization strategy when launching the app.
Adding substitution options and expiry notifications
Having options to substitute ingredients would be ideal especially for recipes that don't require you to be specific. Adding expiry notifications would also be helpful to prompt users to use them before they go to waste.
Artificial Intelligence and Development
To make this app a reality, extensive research would have to be made to train the AI for scanning ingredients from receipts as well as further user testing the design to locate UX issues before moving to development.
Outcome
By focusing on convenience, providing rewards, and fostering a social atmosphere, this app has the potential to reduce the frequency of dining out/getting take out and transform eating-in into a more enjoyable and engaging experience.
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