Gourmand

In the lives of busy working adults, who often find themselves staying late at work and lacking time to cook at home, we recognized an opportunity to address their challenges and provide a solution.

Through conducting interviews, we gained valuable insights into the day-to-day experiences, the obstacles they encounter, as well as the useful features and limitations of existing food ordering apps they rely on.

Armed with these insights, we developed a new app designed specifically to assist individuals in conveniently ordering their favorite meals and making table reservations at the Gourmand restaurant.

Research Phase

Project background and steps

We conducted 3 user testing sessions and improved the app along the way based on the user feedback we received.

After 3 iterations we built the final product.

We conducted interviews and created empathy maps to get a better understanding of the potential users and of their needs and pain points.

With those insights, we decided on two distinct user groups, based on their similar goals, interests, and concerns.

With these two user groups in mind, we built two personas.

The first user group identified through research was represented by busy young adults with almost no time to cook at home. This user group has a vast experience with lots of ordering apps. For them, delivery tracking is especially important, but also the possibility to have the food delivered at work without having to change the current address in the app every time.

The second group consisted of users with limited digital exposure, that use technology only for accomplishing important tasks. This group has to overcome the lack of trust when it comes to buying online and entering their credit card or personal details. For this group was also important to have a search bar to find what they are searching for easier and also to have uncluttered screens with big writing.

The overall research process revealed that there is a need to make the ordering process easier, intuitive, and without the need to store much user data.

User Research

We started by gathering a deeper understanding of our potential users to find out what are their needs and pain points when ordering food through an app they currently use.

For this purpose, we interviewed 5 people, using the following questions:

What are the difficulties or disadvantages that you encountered in the ordering process in an application?
What do you think could be the way these difficulties could be solved?
What makes a delivery app effective?
What were the biggest advantages you encountered in a delivery app you used in the past?
What makes you choose a delivery app at the expense of others?
What elements and information do you expect to find in such an application?
What are the features that you use most often or that you consider most useful in a delivery application?

Empathy maps (selection)

After gathering the answers, we built an empathy map for each person that was interviewed.

Please find below an example of 3 empathy maps.

Pain points

Considering the empathy maps, we were able to define the main pain points of our potential users.

Time

Working adults face time constraints that prevent them from cooking meals at home on a daily basis

Accessibility

Users seek to avoid text-heavy menus, small fonts, and unreadable color combinations that hinder their ability to read and comprehend information effectively

Data Storage

Users are frustrated by the repetitive task of entering their card details in every app they use, which creates inconvenience and potential security concerns

Delivery

Users experience frustration due to the absence of delivery tracking and the need to repeatedly change their current address when ordering food or arranging a pick-up, causing inconvenience and a lack of flexibility in their ordering process

Personas

After sorting the answers and the empathy maps, we concluded on 2 personas.

Luca Bonomi

Luca is a busy working young adult who needs to order food fast and schedule the delivery because they work late and don’t have time to cook dinner at home.

Age: 28

Education: Master's degree in Economics

Hometown: Italy

Family: Lives with a partner

Occupation: Junior software developer

"I have a busy life and I don't always have time to cook. I also care a lot about the food quality and the delivery speed."

GOALS

Work hard to get a job promotion
Spend quality time with family and friends
Use multiple apps for purchasing online food and products

FRUSTRATIONS

"It's annoying that I have to enter my card details in every app I use"
"I don't like when I don't know when the food will arrive or that I can't schedule when to arrive"

Luca made a career change and became a junior developer. They have a busy life because they are also working on personal projects in their free time to prepare for the future promotion they pursue. They value the time spent with their partner and friends, and food is always ordered at such gatherings. Because they work late sometimes, when ordering near the restaurant's closing time the order is rejected and have to wait for a refund.

Olivia Costa

Olivia is an Architect and also a parent that wants to surprise their family with interesting food recipes.

Age: 55

Education: Bachelor's degree in Architecture

Hometown: Italy

Family: Married, with 2 children

Occupation: Architect

"I love to cook, and I often order from various restaurants to gather inspiration for my next recipes"

GOALS

Cook new meals for family and friends
Maintain a healthy lifestyle
Start a new chapter in their life after their kids moved into their own home

FRUSTRATIONS

"I can't always read small or cluttered writing on my mobile phone"
"I am often reticent to add my credit card details to shop online"

Olivia is about to start a new chapter in their life after their two children moved into their new homes. Olivia has sight problems, and this makes really challenging to read complex, cluttered, or small writing on a screen. They use different apps for ordering food, but at the same time they are not relying on technology and don't trust the internet with their personal details.

User Journey

Competitive audit

Our key competitors in the Venice area are RistoPub Rossini, a top-rated steak house; Deliveroo, a food delivery app for restaurants in Italy and other countries; VgOloso, a top-rated vegan and vegetarian restaurant in Venice and Glovo, a food delivery app for restaurants in Italy and other countries.

Competitors’ strengths

RistoPub Rossini’s strengths include:

accessible in two languages
offering menu in two languages

Deliveroo’s strengths include:

great classification of food
great application flow
great pictures and animations
lots of filters
group order
good cart overview

VgOloso ’s strengths include:

allergens form
good overview of the cart items

Glovo ’s strengths include:

simplistic design
able to translate into English
classification: most sold, new products, delivery only
great pictures and animations
GlovoPrime feature with free delivery for a monthly fee
FAQ and customer service
call the driver/ restaurant

Competitors’ weaknesses

RistoPub Rossini’s weaknesses include:

PDF menu
ingredients missing from some dishes
low-quality images
take away and ordering feature on the home page

Deliveroo ’s weaknesses include:

allergen form for customized offers
order as a guest

VgOloso ’s weaknesses include:

application flow and in-app ordering
inconsistent brand (website vs menu vs ordering app)
language accessibility
menu issues when ordering
consistent color scheme and brand

Glovo’s weaknesses include:

group ordering feature
allergen form for customized offers

order as a guest

Opportunities

Some opportunities identified include:

Give the possibility to order without having an account
Provide rewards or perks for users
Provide price milestones for free delivery or discounts
Provide a group ordering feature
Give the possibility to order in advance
Fingerprint log in
Zoom features
Expand language options

Wireframes

Paper wireframes

Crazy 8s for Gourmand Homepage

Digital wireframes (selection)

User Flow

UX Research and Early Concept Testing

Usability Study

For this application, three usability studies were performed: one on a low-fidelity prototype and two on a high-fidelity prototype. Below you can find the details for the last testing session.

In the end, the insights that will be presented will consider all sessions of testing.

Research Questions

What frustrated users most about ordering through the app?
Are there any parts where users are getting stuck?
How long does it take for a user to order a meal or book a table in the app?
What can we learn from the user flow, or the steps that users take to order a meal or to book a table?
Are there more features that users would like to see included in the app?
Is the payment process easy for the customer?

Participants

In the study were included participants who use a food-ordering app at least once a week. This includes full-time workers and students with full-time jobs.
The participants were three males, and two females, between the ages of 25 and 55. One participant is a person with a visual impairment.

Methodology

For the food ordering app, I conducted a moderated usability study.
Five participants ordered a meal and booked a table through the app. Each participant completed a questionnaire on their experience.
Location: Romania, remote (each participant completed the study in their own home, being guided online by the moderator).
Date: Sessions took place between October 10 – 15 2022.
Length: Each session lasted 20 - 30 minutes and included an introduction, a list of tasks, and a short questionnaire.

Script

Task 1: Create an account and go to the Home page.

Follow-up: How easy or difficult was this task to complete? Is there anything you would change?

Task 2: Choose “Cheesy Pizza” from the menu and personalize it. After this, add the pizza to the cart.

Follow-up: How easy or difficult was this task to complete? What are your feelings about the amount of time it took to complete? Is there anything you would change?

Task 3: Purchase the pizza and complete the checkout process by choosing the "Work Address" and "Pay with card" in the app.

Follow-up: How easy or difficult was this task to complete? What are your feelings about the amount of time it took to complete? Is there anything you would change?

Task 4: Track your order, wait for it to arrive, and give your feedback in the app.

Follow-up: How easy or difficult was this task to complete? What are your feelings about the amount of time it took to complete? Is there anything you would change?

Task 5: Make a reservation for dining in. The date should be June 22nd, and the time is 12 PM. The reservation is for three people.

Follow-up: How easy or difficult was this task to complete? What are your feelings about the amount of time it took to complete? Is there anything you would change?

Final feedback:

How did you feel about this app overall?

What did you like and dislike about it?

Usability study - insights

After testing the first iteration of the prototype, we gathered insights based on common themes.

Conclusions

It was observed that 3 out of 5 participants (had trouble finding the Dine in, Reorder (Homepage), and Home buttons (Full menu page). This means that the buttons should be placed front and centered, respectively as a back button.

It was observed that 3 out of 5 participants (manifested confusion regarding the Order received button, thinking that they are sending the order to the restaurant and the button is acting like a “Complete order” action. This means that there might be useful to have an order confirmation page.

It was observed that 2 out of 5 participants wanted to access the Dine in button from the account setting page. This means that the Dine-in button might need a different way to be accessed.

It was observed that 2 out of 5 participants (expected confirmation of the reservation for Dining in). This means that they should have the option to review their reservation before submitting it.

It was observed that 3 out of 5 participants had trouble finding the profile icon to change the delivery address. This means that the icon should be more intuitive for the users.

It was observed that 4 out of 5 participants did not find the full menu easily and mistaken it for other categories. This means that the menu icon should be more visible than other categories/ the categories should be relocated.

It was observed that 2 out of 5 participants thought that it would be easier to find a product by having categories. This means that categories might be necessary to be added.

It was observed that 2 out of 5 participants thought that the font and images are too small. This means that the font and dimensions should be increased.

Final prototype & user testing insights

The final prototype was created considering all the insights form the user testing sessions.

Gourmand Home page

Insights from our user testing sessions revealed the high significance of categorizing products for our potential users. Additionally, a crucial aspect identified was the inclusion of a search bar to facilitate seamless navigation throughout the app, eliminating the need for users to manually locate their desired products.

Product details page

On this screen, we provide users with the option to personalize their desired product, which emerged as a crucial aspect during testing, reflecting its significance in the purchasing process. To facilitate future orders of the same product with the same customized features, we conveniently save it under the "My Orders" tab.

Confirmation pop-ups

At every significant stage, the app presents confirmation screens to provide users with reassurance that the process is progressing as intended.

Cart screen

The cart screen displays a comprehensive list of products added by the user, granting them the option to easily remove items as needed.

Checkout screen

The checkout screen empowers users to select their preferred delivery details, including the ability to add multiple addresses for the app to remember. Alternatively, users can opt to pick up their order directly from the store.

Based on the insights from user testing, the time of arrival feature was identified as significant. It enables users to conveniently order meals in advance for the current day, alleviating concerns about traffic or restaurant closing times. This feature provides flexibility for users to order lunch at work or dinner at home without unnecessary worries.

To address user concerns about trust and security, the payment method section offers options beyond inserting card details into the app. Users can choose to pay cash upon delivery, as several user testing sessions highlighted a lack of trust in sharing card information.

Review details & Payment confirmation

The "Review details" page provides users with an opportunity to review their order and verify the price before proceeding with the payment.

Once the payment is successfully processed, the "Payment success" page serves as another confirmation, reassuring the user that the transaction has been completed and the order has been successfully placed.

Order tracking

An essential aspect that emerged during user testing sessions was the demand for real-time order tracking. The screens provided in the app enable users to stay informed about each stage of their order and track the courier's progress as they make their way to the designated address.

Dine in

On this screen, users have the option to make a reservation for dining at the Gourmand restaurant. The initial versions of the feature were presented in the first two screens. However, based on feedback from the latest user testing session, it became evident that many users did not immediately realize they needed to scroll down to set the desired time and number of participants.

In response to this valuable insight, we have redesigned this page to ensure that the scrolling behavior does not hinder users from viewing all the necessary steps required to make a reservation.

Dine in screen before the last user testing 1/2

Dine in screen before the last user testing 2/2

The final version of the screen

Thank you!

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