User Research
User Research
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Once we determined our problem and audience, we were able to begin our preliminary research, including secondary sources and online articles. This informed the questions for our primary user research, seen below. Because our topic was so expansive, we determined the most appropriate method for collecting user data was semi-structured interviews. We crafted many interview questions, listed below, that cover topics such as meal planning habits, shopping habits, cooking practices, inspiration, and motivation.
User Research Questions
User Research Questions
How do young adults approach meal planning?
How do young adults approach grocery shopping?
What difficulties do young adults encounter when meal planning and grocery shopping?
What influences young adults’ meal choices?
What motivates young adults to plan their meals and grocery shopping?
How does one’s financial situation affect how they plan their meals?
Interview Script
Interview Script
Tell me about the last time you cooked.
Why did you cook that dish?
Is that normally how you decide what to cook?
Do you normally cook for yourself or for/with other people?
Do you have any dietary restrictions or preferences?
How do those restrictions/preferences influence your cooking decisions?
You mentioned that you [do / don’t] like to cook. Why is that?
For the days that you cook, walk me through how you plan what to cook for your meals.
How do you decide that’s what you’ll have each day?
Do your plans ever change?
Can you describe the last time you were grocery shopping?
What kinds of foods do you typically buy?
What determines what you buy at the grocery store?
Do you follow sales/promotions?
Do you buy local or in-season produce?
What grocery store do you go to?
Do you usually go there? Why?
Do you follow a list?
Is the list physical or digital?
How often do you buy something not on your list? Why?
What happens if something is out of stock?
Do you set a budget?
Do you have a weekly amount?
How often do you eat out vs cook at home?
Do you set a budget specifically for eating out?
If you could change anything about the way you prepare meals, what would it be?
Is there anything that I haven’t asked about that we should discuss?
Follow Up Interview Script
Follow Up Interview Script
Has anything changed since our last interview that you would like to mention regarding your cooking habits and anything else?
Imagine you're browsing recipes online. What catches your eye?
What criteria do you use to filter and select recipes? Why are those criteria important to you?
How often do you repeat recipes? Could you give me an example?
Do you make variations when you repeat it?
When do you typically check what ingredients you have in your kitchen?
How confident are you in what you have at home?
If you’re only using a portion of an ingredient for a recipe (4 potatoes from a bag or a half a container of quinoa), how do you determine what you are going to do with the rest?
Are you interested in improving your meal prep?
Are there any strategies or tips that have helped you improve your meal prep?
How often do you use these?
Would anything help you use these strategies more?
Has anything not helped you? Can you give an example?
User Research Findings and Analysis
User Research Findings and Analysis
After we completed 5 user interviews, we came together to sort our data in an affinity map to better understand our audience and were we can best help in our final solution. Despite our initial belief that budget was a big component of the problem, we did not find that as a trend among the users we interviewed. We got a very broad range of participants, from those who meal prep on the weekends to those those who mostly eat out or get their meals delivered.
To represent our different users, we created two different personas: Sage and Olive. Both personas, as all of our users expressed, see the value in cooking for themselves, however, Sage enjoys finding and exploring new recipes, whereas Olive values quick meals that don't require a lot of planning. Finally, we considered the actions and emotions of our personas at the different stages of cooking and planning to create a journey map.
From this research and analysis, we determined that our participants' pain points were most prevalent in three main areas: Inspiration, Planning, and Shopping. This was the focus as we began the ideation process, and it is reflected in our final design.
Affinity Map
Affinity Map
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Personas
Personas
Sage - Intrinsically Motivated
Sage - Intrinsically Motivated
Olive - Extrinsically Motivated
Olive - Extrinsically Motivated
Journey Map
Journey Map
This was the first version of our Journey Map. Since we had two different personas with two different motivations when related to cooking, we strived to create a narrative that both personas would relate to. In this first version, you will noticed that their both struggle In the inspiration, planning, and shopping phase.
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