Microsoft UX Design Case Study:

Yumly

A Mobile App for Planning Meals

Project Overview

Yumly is a mobile app concept designed to help users stay on track with their food goals by allowing them to view all of their planned meals in one place. The project focuses on simplifying meal planning by reducing clutter and avoiding overly complex features, making it easier for users to quickly understand what they plan to eat.

Empathize

Understanding User Needs

Rather than focusing on calorie tracking or strict goal enforcement, this project prioritizes clarity and visibility. The experience was designed around the assumption that users want a fast, low-effort way to see their planned meals without navigating complex features.

The primary user need identified was the ability to quickly understand what meals were planned, helping reduce decision fatigue around food choices.

Key user needs:

View planned meals at a glance
Reduce mental effort when deciding what to eat
Avoid overly complex or feature-heavy food apps

Define

Problem Statement

The problem:

Users who plan meals often lose track of what they intended to eat because their plans are spread across notes, apps, or memory. Without a clear and centralized view of planned meals, it becomes harder to stay consistent and make confident food decisions.

The goal:

Design a simple mobile experience that allows users to view all of their planned meals in one place, helping them quickly understand their food plans without added complexity or unnecessary features.

Ideate

Generating Solutions

During the ideation phase, I explored multiple layout concepts through paper sketches to identify a structure that felt natural on a mobile screen while keeping interactions minimal. Paper wireframes allowed for rapid exploration and comparison of layouts before moving into digital design.

After exploring several variations, I narrowed the concepts down to a small set of layouts that best supported clarity and ease of use. These selected wireframes were then refined into cleaner, more intentional sketches that represented the final direction for the design.

Several directions were considered, including list-based layouts and grouped meal sections. The strongest concept emphasized:

A single primary screen showing all planned meals
Clear visual separation between meals
Minimal navigation to support quick, intuitive use

Prototype

Digital Wireframes

The selected concepts were translated into low-fidelity digital wireframes using Figma. The prototype includes a small set of static screens with limited interactions to demonstrate layout, content hierarchy, and overall flow.

Due to the scope of the certification project, the prototype focuses on visual structure rather than full functionality. Interactions are minimal, and not all features or menus are represented.

The Yumly mobile wireframes emphasize:

Clear organization of planned meals
Simple layouts optimized for mobile screens
Early exploration of how meal information could be presented

This prototype serves as a foundational concept rather than a complete product experience.

MicrosoftUXDesign_Yumly.mp4

Test

Feedback & Evaluation

Due to the scope of the certification project, formal usability testing was limited. Informal feedback was gathered from individuals unfamiliar with the design, who shared positive general impressions regarding clarity and overall usefulness.

While this feedback did not lead to specific design changes, the design was reviewed using usability heuristics such as clarity, consistency, and ease of navigation. This evaluation highlighted opportunities for improvement, including:

Strengthening visual hierarchy between meals
Making key information easier to scan quickly
Refining spacing for improved readability on mobile

If this project were continued, the next step would be to conduct structured usability testing to validate assumptions and guide further iteration.

Microsoft UX Design Certification

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