Research has shown that there are many positives to staying connected with family and friends in your life.
Those who have been known to stay connected to their family and friends have stronger bonds, increase happiness within their personal relationships, and feel a sense of security and comfort in their life.
UX researcher
UX designer
Visual design
September 2021
Frecipe was 10-15 hour design challenge where I was given a prompt to design a cooking app for friends and family who are living separately. The unique challenge: friends and family should be able to share and follow along with recipes while cooking together across their different households.
Frecipe. Frecipe is an interactive mobile app that connects friends and family together through the joy of cooking, within real-time, and through activity.
I wanted to get a deeper sense of how friends and family are currently staying connected. My initial user research gave me some insights into the different ways friends and family stay connected when they are separated by factors such as distance.
Some of the different ways people are staying close together are through:
🍊 Video chats via Facebook messenger, Whatsapp, Facetime, Zoom, and Wechat
🍊 Messages via Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Twitter, and Whatsapp
🍊 Phone calls
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users could not find Stephanie's home design portfolio
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users did not like the inconsistent font style, size, and formatting
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned an overwhelming amount of information
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned the navigation bar was confusing
The most common key pain points I identified through conducting user research further assured my predicted assumptions of challenges users were facing while navigating through the website.
👉 Overwhelming amount of information
👉 Inconsistent design across website
causes confusion
👉 Information scattered across the website
👉 Portfolio is hard to access
👉 Users want access to the most important
information (i.e. services, portfolio, contact
information, about, testimonials)
👉 Users want to view credentials in order to
establish SBS as credible
Although being able to connect with others has gotten easier with technology, my research led me to find out that family and friends miss out on the experiences they have when they are in the same place with their loved ones. A lot of people missed a lot of different things, but the pain points that came up the most were:
Video chatting, sending messages, and calling your loved ones are all great ways of staying connected, but they aren’t great ways to keep connections strong.
Connecting through food and activity seems to be a major part of everyone’s life, and the pain point that came up the most during my research.
How might an app help connect family and friends and help them to form stronger bonds regardless of the distance between them?
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users could not find Stephanie's home design portfolio
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users did not like the inconsistent font style, size, and formatting
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned an overwhelming amount of information
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned the navigation bar was confusing
The most common key pain points I identified through conducting user research further assured my predicted assumptions of challenges users were facing while navigating through the website.
👉 Overwhelming amount of information
👉 Inconsistent design across website
causes confusion
👉 Information scattered across the website
👉 Portfolio is hard to access
👉 Users want access to the most important
information (i.e. services, portfolio, contact
information, about, testimonials)
👉 Users want to view credentials in order to
establish SBS as credible
Friends and family are unable to form stronger bonds through everyday video chatting, messages, and phone calls because they can’t partake in everyday activities together.
How might an app help users to form stronger bonds with their friends and family by allowing them to partake in an activity together?
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users could not find Stephanie's home design portfolio
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users did not like the inconsistent font style, size, and formatting
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned an overwhelming amount of information
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned the navigation bar was confusing
The most common key pain points I identified through conducting user research further assured my predicted assumptions of challenges users were facing while navigating through the website.
👉 Overwhelming amount of information
👉 Inconsistent design across website
causes confusion
👉 Information scattered across the website
👉 Portfolio is hard to access
👉 Users want access to the most important
information (i.e. services, portfolio, contact
information, about, testimonials)
👉 Users want to view credentials in order to
establish SBS as credible
Because there were many types of users during my initial research, I wanted to take the time and narrow down the scope to one user.
I wanted to understand their pain points, their wants, and their needs.
This is Jessica's user story and explains why this app would be useful to her and her loved ones
Not being in the same place as her loved ones does not mean all connections have to be lost.
"As a heavily involved high school senior, I want to save time completing writing assignments, so that I can spend more time playing volleyball, tutoring kids, and being involved in school.
Users would need a clear understanding of the app and the sequence of steps required in order to use Frecipe
Scheduling time to meet and cook with your friends and family will keep friends and family more engaged into the event itself
Communicating with your friends and family is the most essential with trying to stay connected and build strong relationships
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users could not find Stephanie's home design portfolio
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users did not like the inconsistent font style, size, and formatting
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned an overwhelming amount of information
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned the navigation bar was confusing
The most common key pain points I identified through conducting user research further assured my predicted assumptions of challenges users were facing while navigating through the website.
👉 Overwhelming amount of information
👉 Inconsistent design across website
causes confusion
👉 Information scattered across the website
👉 Portfolio is hard to access
👉 Users want access to the most important
information (i.e. services, portfolio, contact
information, about, testimonials)
👉 Users want to view credentials in order to
establish SBS as credible
Because this was a design project with limited time for research, these were some of the key assumptions I had going into this project:
🍊 Users are looking for a mobile app to help them stay connected with their friends and family
🍊Users are willing to schedule time to stay close with their loved ones
🍊Users specifically want to be able to share recipes and cook with their loved ones
🍊The app will generate all recipes
After understanding who my user was, I took pen to paper and started figuring out the flow of the app and how the user would get from initial onboarding to successfully completing a cooking event with their loved one.
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users could not find Stephanie's home design portfolio
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users did not like the inconsistent font style, size, and formatting
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned an overwhelming amount of information
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned the navigation bar was confusing
The most common key pain points I identified through conducting user research further assured my predicted assumptions of challenges users were facing while navigating through the website.
👉 Overwhelming amount of information
👉 Inconsistent design across website
causes confusion
👉 Information scattered across the website
👉 Portfolio is hard to access
👉 Users want access to the most important
information (i.e. services, portfolio, contact
information, about, testimonials)
👉 Users want to view credentials in order to
establish SBS as credible
Having an understanding of the user flow, I started to sketch out my low-fidelity wireframes with the main user flows I wanted to focus on throughout the app: onboarding, calendar, and joining an event
🍊 Onboarding
During the onboarding process, users would be guided through the Frecipe app, keeping users informed of what is happening, ensuring successful understanding.
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users could not find Stephanie's home design portfolio
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users did not like the inconsistent font style, size, and formatting
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned an overwhelming amount of information
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned the navigation bar was confusing
The most common key pain points I identified through conducting user research further assured my predicted assumptions of challenges users were facing while navigating through the website.
👉 Overwhelming amount of information
👉 Inconsistent design across website
causes confusion
👉 Information scattered across the website
👉 Portfolio is hard to access
👉 Users want access to the most important
information (i.e. services, portfolio, contact
information, about, testimonials)
👉 Users want to view credentials in order to
establish SBS as credible
🍊 Searching for Recipes
Frecipe would generate recipes itself, providing users with all kinds of recipes that they can filter by the type of food. Users can access their recently viewed recipes, as well as directly share recipes with their friends.
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users could not find Stephanie's home design portfolio
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users did not like the inconsistent font style, size, and formatting
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned an overwhelming amount of information
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned the navigation bar was confusing
The most common key pain points I identified through conducting user research further assured my predicted assumptions of challenges users were facing while navigating through the website.
👉 Overwhelming amount of information
👉 Inconsistent design across website
causes confusion
👉 Information scattered across the website
👉 Portfolio is hard to access
👉 Users want access to the most important
information (i.e. services, portfolio, contact
information, about, testimonials)
👉 Users want to view credentials in order to
establish SBS as credible
🍊 Calendar
Users have direct access to their calendar and can view there upcoming Frecipe events. From the calendar, users may also schedule time to cook with their friends and family.
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users could not find Stephanie's home design portfolio
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users did not like the inconsistent font style, size, and formatting
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned an overwhelming amount of information
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned the navigation bar was confusing
The most common key pain points I identified through conducting user research further assured my predicted assumptions of challenges users were facing while navigating through the website.
👉 Overwhelming amount of information
👉 Inconsistent design across website
causes confusion
👉 Information scattered across the website
👉 Portfolio is hard to access
👉 Users want access to the most important
information (i.e. services, portfolio, contact
information, about, testimonials)
👉 Users want to view credentials in order to
establish SBS as credible
🍊 Joining and Completing an Event
A live checklist shows users what step their friend or family member is completing. With a live chat feature, friends stay communicated throughout the entire event. Checkpoints are included to keep everyone engaged and having fun.
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users could not find Stephanie's home design portfolio
👤👤👤👤 | four out of five users did not like the inconsistent font style, size, and formatting
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned an overwhelming amount of information
👤👤👤👤👤 | five out of five users mentioned the navigation bar was confusing
The most common key pain points I identified through conducting user research further assured my predicted assumptions of challenges users were facing while navigating through the website.
👉 Overwhelming amount of information
👉 Inconsistent design across website
causes confusion
👉 Information scattered across the website
👉 Portfolio is hard to access
👉 Users want access to the most important
information (i.e. services, portfolio, contact
information, about, testimonials)
👉 Users want to view credentials in order to
establish SBS as credible
After focusing on the underlying UX of my mid-fi wireframes, I created a high-fidelity prototype which reveals all the features and flows available for friends and family to stay connected.
ahh, thank you for reaching the bottom of my case study for Frecipe. Design challenges are something that is still new to me as a designer, but I had a lot of fun figuring it out along the way. I had to learn what to prioritize with the constraints I had within this challenge, such as time and deliverables. Research and user testing was limited, however, I believe with the research I was able to quickly conduct, I was able to deliver a product that would prove to be useful and enjoyable for friends and family who use the app.
looking ahead, I am really excited to take on more design challenges. I hope to do them more frequently to improve my skills as a designer and help myself learn what to prioritize when different kinds of design constraints are involved.
again, much thanks for walking through Frecipe. I'd love to know more on your thoughts on my design challenges, or what you think of design challenges overall. Thank you xx