UniFood
Overview
Role:
UI/UX Designer, UX Researcher
Time Period:
Oct 2023 - Dec 2023
Tools Used:
Figma, Excalidraw, Keynote, Figurative, GPT-4, Claude-3, and Good notes
Problem Statement
Within Lovely Professional University (LPU), a diverse range of food stalls offers students an array of culinary choices. However, the current lack of organized information makes it challenging for students to discover new stalls and cuisines. This leads to a repetitive dining pattern, missing out on gastronomic exploration. Additionally, the abundance of options leaves students uncertain about their choices, hampering their dining experience. To address these challenges, a dedicated solution is required.
Project Goals
Encourage Discovery: Inspire LPU students to try new food stalls and cuisines, expanding their culinary experiences on campus.
Easy Information Access: Provide a user-friendly platform for students to access food stall details and menus conveniently.
Personalised Suggestions: Offer tailored food recommendations based on individual preferences. This way, students can discover new stalls and new food items everyday.
Boost Vendor Engagement: Enable better interaction between students and food vendors, promoting diverse food offerings
The Process
Empathize
In designing Unifood, I immersed myself in the campus life of students, faculty, and staff to grasp their dining needs and desires. Through heartfelt interviews, I uncovered their daily challenges, dietary constraints, and the quest for a better dining experience. My design journey was fueled by their stories of hurried meals and the search for satisfying, convenient optio
User Survey
User Interviews
User Personas
Empathy Mapping
Define
Campus life revealed a pressing need: quick, personalized dining options are scarce, leading to long lines, limited choices for special diets, and dining frustration. My solution aims to streamline ordering, tailor meals to individual needs, and improve campus dining by saving time and respecting dietary diversity. Insights from our community showed a hunger for variety and personalization unmet by current services, highlighting significant time lost in queues or searching for the right food.
Stakeholder Mapping
Ideate
With a clear problem statement in hand, I moved into the Ideation phase, aiming to generate a wide range of creative solutions that address the defined needs of the university community for the Unifood project. This stage was about pushing the boundaries of conventional thinking and exploring innovative concepts that could revolutionize the campus dining experience. Here's how the process unfolded:
Brainstorming Session
I organized several brainstorming sessions that brought together diverse teams comprising designers, developers, students, and even dining service staff. The diversity of perspectives was crucial in generating a broad spectrum of ideas. We focused on creating solutions that could make food ordering convenient, personalize the dining experience, and cater to various dietary needs and preferences.
HICK's LAW
The time it takes to make a decision increases with the number and complexity of choices.
The LPU Dining Experience features over 100 food stalls, each offering a diverse array of culinary delights. With such a variety, it's easy for diners to feel overwhelmed by the choices. To streamline this selection process, a smart suggestion feature, inspired by Hick's Law, could enhance user experience by simplifying decision-making and personalizing options, ensuring every meal is both delightful and effortlessly chosen.
Overcome decision fatigue at mealtimes! "Magic Assist" feature uses AI to become your personal food genie. By analyzing your past orders, preferences, and trending dishes, Magic Assist intelligently recommends food stalls, food courts, and even specific meals you might crave. This eliminates endless scrolling and simplifies your search, helping you discover new favorites and save valuable time.
RECIPROCITY
Reciprocity is the social norm of responding to a positive action with another positive action, creating a cycle of mutual benefit.
Harnessing social connections can revolutionize on-campus food delivery. Imagine students leveraging their existing network to bypass long lines. By requesting nearby friends to pick up orders, we create a win-win situation. Students save time, and the concept fosters reciprocity within the campus community. In the future, the person who helps can return the favor by picking up food for their friend, both receiving benefits from this cycle of mutual assistance.
Ditch the long lines with "Ask a Friend to Pick Up!" We all know the struggle – delicious food, but a frustrating wait. This innovative feature leverages your existing social network to save you precious time. When placing an order, see if any friends are nearby. With a simple request, your friend can become your personal food runner, picking up your order and delivering it to a designated meeting spot within the app. It's a win-win – you avoid the line, and your friend might appreciate a free meal or a chance to lend a hand!
Information Architecture
Prototype
Wireframing - Low Fidelity Prototype
High Fidelity Prototype
Community talks is a place where students can share their reviews on food stalls, suggest places to visit and review food items.
Profile page with previous month's stats
Testing
Findings from User Testing of UniFood
Magic Assist (AI-based Suggestions):
The Magic Assist feature received positive feedback for its accurate and personalized food suggestions. Students found it particularly helpful when undecided about what to eat, with the AI reliably matching their preferences and dietary needs.This feature was noted to enhance user satisfaction by streamlining the decision-making process, especially during peak dining hours
Ask Friend to Pick:
The "Ask Friend to Pick" feature was highlighted as an innovative social tool, fostering a sense of community and interaction among students. It was frequently used during group study sessions or before meetups.Feedback suggested that this feature not only made meal decisions more interactive but also added an element of surprise and fun to everyday campus dining.
Overall User Engagement:
The combination of practical tools and interactive features led to a high level of user engagement. Students reported using the app daily to plan their meals.The app’s interface was described as user-friendly and visually appealing, which contributed to a positive overall user experience. Users also appreciated the Commmunity talks feature that allows users to review, rate and suggest to other users
Suggestions for Improvement:
Requests were made for more detailed nutritional information to be available within the app, aiding students in making healthier food choices.
Product Experience
Lunch time? Order your meal right from your class.
Overwhelmed by the choices? Use
to get AI-based reecommandations!
Avoid long lines by pre-ordering your food and simply pick it up when it's ready.
Busy and unable to pick-up your order?
Use and get your food delivered to you by your friend.
Enhances engagement between vendors and customers while bringing attention to previously underappreciated food stalls.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyze user needs and behaviors to effectively integrate AI-based suggestions into the app, enhancing personalization and user satisfaction.
- Develop and refine information architecture to ensure intuitive navigation through various sections like food items and food stalls.
- Implement and assess the effectiveness of interactive elements within the app interface, optimizing for ease of use and user engagement.
- Evaluate user feedback and app analytics to continuously improve the UI/UX design, focusing on usability, accessibility, and overall experience.
- Explore the impact of visual design choices on app usability and user decision-making, using A/B testing to determine the most effective UI elements.