Role: UX/UI Designer
Tool Used: Figma
Introduction
FindFood is an app designed to facilitate meal reservations at restaurants, with four main tabs: Search, News Feed, Favorites, and My Account.
The Search tab is the primary function of the app, allowing users to browse restaurant cards, filter results, and make reservations. Users can apply filters by tapping the pills at the top of the screen, which opens modals specific to each filter. Reservations are made by tapping the restaurant card button, which opens a modal that asks for the number of attendees, displays open dates/times, and enters the payment flow. The "Share with a Friend" feature allows users to send restaurant cards to in-app friends.
The News Feed tab displays reviews written by friends and app-generated restaurant news, sorted by recency. Tapping news feed posts opens restaurant cards, through which users can make reservations.
The Favorites tab displays cards for all restaurants the user previously gave a 4+ star review to, and users can book new reservations through these cards.
The My Account tab contains personal information, payment details, and the user's in-app friends list.
Objective
To improve the shopping experience for FindFood and boost utilization among existing users, the following steps can be taken:
1. Improve personalization: FindFood can enhance the personalization features of the app by leveraging user data to create tailored experiences. This can include recommendations based on past reservations, suggested restaurants based on dietary preferences or location, and special deals for frequent users.
2. Enhance the social aspect: The app can focus on building a more social experience by encouraging users to connect with friends, share recommendations and reviews, and earn rewards for inviting new users. This can create a sense of community and increase engagement.
3. Streamline the reservation process: FindFood can make the reservation process more seamless and convenient by allowing users to make reservations with a few clicks, without having to navigate multiple screens or fill out extensive forms.
By implementing these strategies, FindFood can revamp the shopping experience and increase utilization among existing users. By focusing on personalization, social features, and convenience, the app can provide a more engaging and satisfying experience for its users, leading to increased utilization rates and a more loyal user base.
Research phase
As my first approach, I reviewed the project brief’s objectives, scope, and requirements and oultined any information about the brand story, which can be used as a reference throughout the project. Below are key element’s about FindFoods’ brand history and app user values, concerns, and unique selling proposition. By keeping this information readily available, it helps to ensure consistency in the brand's messaging and a more cohesive end product.
Background Data:
Based on the provided data, it appears that the user is quite active and engaged with the app, making an average of two reservations per week and uses filters, particularly price and rating, to find suitable restaurants. They also enjoy looking at restaurant pictures, indicating that visual content is essential to them. The average user has 4 friends on the app and posts a review after every five reservations, showing they value social interaction and feedback.
Additionally, the user tends to stick to restaurants they've previously eaten at, with 70% of their reservations being repeat visits. They also have a list of favorite restaurants, with 30% of reservations being made at those establishments. Interestingly, 30% of reservations at favorite restaurants are booked through the "Favorites" page, indicating that this feature is crucial to the user's experience.
Regarding reservation timing, 50% of reservations are for the same day, and 80% are made for sometime within the next two days, highlighting the user's need for spontaneity and convenience. However, there is a risk of no-shows, with 5% of same-day reservations not showing up, and this number increases to 15% if the reservation is made more than 3 days in advance. This insight suggests that the app could benefit from implementing a cancellation policy, reminder system, or other measures to reduce no-shows and enhance the user experience.
User Interviews:
Beyond this background data, some customers spoke about their experience interacting with the FindFood app. Some important highlights are as follows:
- Ease of use and personalization features are crucial for creating a positive user experience.
- Social validation and trust play a significant role in users' decision-making process, highlighting the importance of providing reliable reviews and recommendations.
- An overwhelming selection of options can lead to unexpected and disappointing experiences, indicating that developers should aim to strike a balance between offering variety and simplicity.
- Catering to various needs and preferences, such as dietary restrictions, is crucial to ensure that all users feel included and satisfied with the app.
The feedback also indicates that there is room for improvement in the app's filtering options to better cater to users with dietary restrictions. Overall, these insights provide valuable information for developers looking to create a user-friendly and satisfying experience for their customers that demonstrates the importance of catering to various needs and preferences.
User Flow
Next, a user journey map was created to identify bottlenecks, gaps, or redundancies in the user experience.
1. Opening the app: The user opens the app and is directed to the home screen, which displays the four main tabs: Search, News Feed, Favorites, and My Account.
2. Browsing restaurants: The user navigates to the Search tab, where they can browse restaurant cards and apply filters to refine their search.
3. Making a reservation: The user selects a restaurant card and makes a reservation by specifying the number of attendees, selecting a date and time, and entering payment information.
4. Verifying reservation information is correct
5. Submitting reservation request
6. Sharing with friends: The user can share the restaurant card with friends through the "Share with a Friend" feature.
7. Reading reviews: The user can view reviews in the News Feed tab, including reviews from friends and app-generated restaurant news.
8. Booking through favorites: The user can navigate to the Favorites tab to view all restaurants they have previously given a 4+ star review to and book new reservations through these cards.
9. Accessing account information: The user can view and edit their personal information, payment details, and in-app friends list in the My Account tab.
Wireframes
The user journey described became the blueprint when creating wireframes. Here are some areas where the user experience can be improved optimized to ensure that the app is designed to meet the needs of its users:
1. Simplify the reservation process: The app can improve the reservation process by minimizing the number of steps and making it more intuitive. For example, the app can offer a one-click reservation option when selecting reservation times or auto-populate frequently used reservation details, such as the number of attendees, to avoid having to input the same information repeatedly.
2. Enhance the filtering options: The app can improve the filtering options to make it easier for users to find restaurants that match their preferences, including dietary restrictions. This can be achieved by offering more filter options, such as cuisine type or specific dietary requirements, or by allowing users to save their filter preferences for future searches.
3. Increase social engagement: The app can encourage users to engage more with the social features by incentivizing them to share recommendations with other app users after their reservation has been confirmed. An alternative could be a link that directs the user to review created by their personal FindFood Friends.
4. Enhance personalization: The app can leverage user data to create more personalized experiences, such as offering tailored recommendations on the Search page based on past reservations, or providing personalized deals based on the user's preferences and behavior in the app. This can increase user engagement and loyalty by providing a more relevant and satisfying experience.
Additional Suggestions could be:
- Improve review management: The app can make it easier for users to manage by allowing users to filter reviews by rating or date.
Overall, by simplifying the reservation process, enhancing filtering options, increasing social engagement, and enhancing personalization, the FindFood app can offer a more user-friendly experience, which can lead to higher user retention rates and increased utilization among existing users.
Competitive Analysis
I created a mood board to generate ideas from similar applications to understand the competitive landscape of the app, and identify design elements and features that work well in the market. Analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of these applications provided insights into opportunities to differentiate the FindFood app from its competitors.
Overall, conducting a comprehensive competitive analysis was a helpful tool in ensuring that the FindFood app is designed to meet the needs of its users and stands out in a crowded market.
Selecting a color palette that not only represents the brand but also meets accessibility standards is important for the overall user experience of the app. Some tips considered for selecting colors that are ADA and WCAG 2.0 Level AA compliant:
Contrast: Ensured that there is enough contrast between text and background colors to make it easy to read. The recommended contrast ratio for normal text is 4.5:1, while the ratio for large text (18pt or larger) is 3:1. There are online contrast checkers that can help you determine if your color choices meet these ratios.
Color blindness: Considered how color choices may affect users who are color blind or have low vision. Avoid using color as the only way to convey information, and use other visual cues, such as icons or patterns, to supplement color.
Branding: Choose colors that align with the brand and its personality, while still meeting accessibility standards.
Simplicity: Stick to a limited color palette to avoid overwhelming users and to ensure that the app has a cohesive look and feel.
Overall, the color palette for the FindFood app should be visually appealing, easy to read, and accessible to all users. It is important to strike a balance between branding and accessibility to create an app that represents the brand while being usable by as many users as possible
Conclusion
Next steps would be to conduct some user testing in order to see how users respond to the product in real time. This could lead to discoveries that could enhance the user experience and further differentiate the FindFood app from its competitors. These features could include:
Integration with third-party delivery services: By integrating with popular delivery services, users can order food directly from the app and have it delivered to their doorstep.
Personalized loyalty program: FindFood can create a personalized loyalty program based on user behavior and preferences, offering rewards and exclusive deals to frequent users.
Real-time waitlist updates: FindFood can provide real-time updates on restaurant waitlists, allowing users to join waitlists remotely and receive notifications when their table is ready.
Collaborations with restaurants: The app can collaborate with featured restaurants to create curated lists or offer exclusive deals, increasing brand visibility and engagement.
In-app chat support: Providing in-app chat support can help users quickly resolve any issues they encounter while using the app, leading to a better user experience and increased user satisfaction.
Virtual events and classes: FindFood can organize virtual events and classes, such as cooking classes or wine tastings, allowing users to participate in food-related activities from the comfort of their own homes. This feature can provide additional value to users and increase engagement with the app.
By considering these additional features, the FindFood app can provide a more comprehensive and engaging user experience, helping to retain existing users and attract new ones.
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