Google Ventures Design Sprint
Through Springboard's Bootcamp, my Design Sprint 's given is about a fresh startup called Savr Recipes that aims to simplify the process of trying out new recipes and preparing delicious home-cooked meals.
Problem
Savr Recipes faced criticism regarding the complexity of certain elaborate recipes with regards to preparation, instructions, and advanced techniques.
Solution
I aimed to improve the user experience for homemade dishes by simplifying the process of following intricate recipes. I achieved this by creating easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions with clear check marks, reducing complexity. This approach saved time that would have otherwise been wasted on searching for substitutes or rewatching lengthy videos.
As I am the only designer on this project, I was responsible for sketching out solutions, designing a prototype, and conducting usability testing. My work was completed in six days following the Google Ventures design sprint protocol.
TOOLS
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Miro
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Figma
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Zoom / Google Meets
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WhatsApp
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An A4 sized paper
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A pencil, pen and black marker
TEAM
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Springboard's given
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1 UX designer
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My mentor's guide
MY ROLE
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UX research
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Script writer
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Usability tester
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Sketcher
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UX/UI design
TIMELINE
One process per day for 6 days
Google Ventures Design Sprint
MY DESIGN PROCESS
DAY 1: Understand
Savr Recipes offers a range of recipes, with reviews focusing on preparation timing, step sequence, and learning and applying new cooking techniques and meal prepping methods.
INSIGHTS 🔎
Users want to be able to have a positive and seamless experience in the kitchen in order to make a good meal for themselves and their company.
PAIN POINTS
Nick lacks confidence in his cooking skills and feels disappointed and stressed when things don't go as expected. This could be due to unclear or unprepared steps and relying on his phone for guidance.
GOALS
Nick wants to cook with ease and confidence to achieve expected results. He also would like to experiment with new and challenging recipes without feeling stressed or chaotic.
Savr Recipes provided me with 8 highlights and 1 person
NICK, 29 - LOS ANGELES, CA
HMW (How Might We ... ?)
I used Springboard's research highlights to guide me in developing features that align with the project's goals and designs. Based on this, I came up with the following HMW (How Might We) questions for brainstorming ideation:
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HMW help users prep enough kitchenware to save time?
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HMW help users prep the cooking ingredients?
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HMW ensure users have clear instructions to avoid cooking-mistakes?
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HMW assure that users are visually on the right track during the cooking process?
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HMW make sure users don’t have to repetitively wash their hands just to go back to their phones?
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HMW help users with their Time Management?
DAY 2: Map
Upon developing my HMWs, using checklists is an effective method for organizing and preparing to clearly develop my step-by-step User Journey
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Create a checklist for ingredients and substitutes.
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Create a checklist for kitchenware.
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Ability to watch videos and with a step-by-step method, get things done.
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Ability go to the next step with “Mark as Completed” CTA with ease.
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Ability to see exactly how things should be done and what they should look like.
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Ability to share recipes with friends.
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Ability to share a picture of your own dish and rate its difficulty level.
Click HERE to view
To prioritize user-friendliness, in my next step I selected websites that are easy to navigate and follow cooking instructions seamlessly, keeping busy hands in mind. Drawing inspiration from these websites, my design will provide clear visual representations of the end result, helping users anticipate and achieve their desired outcome.
USER JOURNEY MAP made on Miro
DAY 3: Sketch
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
I first began by reviewing Springboard's interview highlights from Day 2 in order to construct potential sketch solutions using the CRAZY 8S method. Then, I ran an online competitive with three cooking websites I already use (and very much enjoy).
In their respective order, these websites are Tasty, Allrecipes and Delish.
Tasty
Tasty is my favorite platform because of its appealing step-by-step visuals, easy-to-follow video tutorials and great reviews.
This platform taught me to cook!
Allrecipe
Allrecipes -About ten years ago, before I discovered Tasty, I started following Allrecipes online. It was so easy I felt like I was cheating my way into learning to cook.
While it didn't have videos like Tasty, it was still easier to use than my Gramma's recipe books
Delish
Delish - The website's recipes always has huge photos of mouth-watering recipes, with a step-by-step numbered list that is easy to follow.
My Takeaway
I learned that these cooking websites provide valuable resources for learning new techniques through recipes. For SAVR, my takeaway was to focus on clear instructions, measurements, and enticing visuals like photos and videos. I will also need to include bonus features like nutritional info, ingredient substitutions, and user reviews to enhance the cooking experience.
Now, it's time to sketch using the CRAZY 8S method based on my research.
CRAZY 8S
The first thing I started with is designing the menu bar: Home, Recipes, Inbox and Profile in order to design for corresponding pages depending on selected icons.
Sketch of my menu bar icons
On the second interface on the bottom row, the cursor is checking off progress as the user prepares. This step-by-step feature is to provide people like Nick with an easy user experience.
⏱️ 8 minutes ... rapid iteration ... Aaaaaand GO! 💨
DAY 4: Decide & Storyboard
I created a storyboard addressing our personas' pain points with a red route solution. It included CTA buttons, preparation videos with checklists, and tailored images. I also took notes on my UI patterns and designs. For the video, I created sketches that showed items coming into view as the user checked them off.
Please view below slide deck 👇🏼
DAY 5: Prototype
WIREFRAMES
Following my persona pain points, goals and HMWs, Figma and its renowned community, Figma was the tool I utilized to create solutions to my low-fidelity interfaces.
VIEW SAVR Recipes WIREFRAMES ON FIGMA 👉🏼 HERE 👈🏼 or a slide deck of them here 👇🏼
My wireframes recognizes potential mistakes caused by unclear instructions during meal preparation and offers solutions for each step without users needing to refer back to their phones. Although designing some screens was challenging due to time constraints and a flurry of ideas, I remained focused to produce effective high fidelity screens.
DAY 6: Validation
USABILITY TESTS
I conducted a usability test with five users via Zoom, thanks to accessibility through WhatsApp within 24 hours. Users examined the screen and provided feedback, which I took notes on for improvements.
Click here to see a detailed list of my user feedback
Elias Khalil
Sany AB
Marc Cattan
Vikki Boustani
Sany AB
Problem
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Icons don't make sense
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Photos aren't appetizing enough
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Buttons are too small
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Ingredients aren't very legible
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Black color is too aggressive
Iteration
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Change icons to something recognizable by everybody
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Use mouth-watering pictures
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Make buttons bigger
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Space the lines
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Change most blacks to a darker orange / brown
HIGH FIDELITY SCREENS
CHALLENGES & TAKEAWAYS
As someone who values attention to detail and has been working with tight deadlines and diligent strategists for the last two decades, applying the CRAZY8s was a walk in the park.
Despite my initial apprehension about being the sole person working on the project, adhering to the prescribed methodology proved that it can yield great results.
The CRAZY8 methodology will be my preferred method in my career in UX and have a team to work with in a professional setting.
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