Kitsune Sushi App
Project Overview
The Product:
An App for ordering food online from a Sushi restaurant in San Francisco. This app helps users with food intolerances and allergies by listing allergens in menu items and filtering menu by type of food allergy or intolerance.
Project duration:
May - August 2021
My role:
UX Designer
Responsibilities:
Market research, user research, wireframing and prototyping.
The problem:
Online ordering is difficult for users with food allergies and intolerances, because allergens aren’t often listed on menus, necessitating that the user calls the restaurant to make sure if the food is safe to eat for them.
The goal:
To help users with food allergies and intolerances by listing allergens present in menu items and filtering the menu based on specific allergy and intolerance types. So that the user doesn’t have to call the restaurant to make sure.
User Research
I wasn’t sure what to expect when beginning the user research for this product. I thought I might encounter participants who wanted the same things I did from a food ordering app: convenience, accuracy, and low price; and the participants did want those things, but they also wanted a way to screen for food allergies and they cared about where their money was going. Most participants wanted the restaurant to benefit the most from their order. So it made me think about how to solve both problems.
Pain Points:
Food Allergies
Users with food allergies find it difficult to be certain if food items are safe for them without calling the restaurant to make sure.
Inaccurate Delivery
Users who live in apartment complexes are sometimes difficult to find for delivery drivers and items can be misplaced.
Tips
Some users are uncomfortable knowing that their money is going to third-party companies rather than the restaurant.
Expense
Some users don’t like paying extra for delivery and would rather pick up their food because it’s cheaper.
Persona: Robert Michelson
Problem statement:
Robert is a busy Data Analyst who needs a way to order food for dinner that he knows is safe for him because of his food intolerance to wheat, without having to call the restaurant to make sure.
Persona: Rajhdeep Agarwal
Problem statement:
Rajhdeep is a mother of two who works at non-profit and cares about her local community. She wants to give her money to local businesses and not third-party corporations.
User Journey Maps
The goal is to help personas like Robert order food online with the certainty that that food is free of allergens and safe for consumption. This app should tag menu items with present allergens and provide a filter feature on the menu.
The goal is to help personas like Rajhdeep tip their local restaurant over instead of a third-party app. Give users the option to tip the restaurant or the driver when they check out.
Starting the Design
Paper wireframes
I thought of different ways to integrate an allergen filter and information telling the user they could choose to tip the restaurant at checkout with the usual elements like a search bar, a nav menu, and a restaurant menu. Ultimately I chose 3 elements from the first drawing, 1 from the third, and 1 from the fourth for my final iteration.
Digital wireframes
I needed to create a menu that could be filtered by food allergen. So I chose the four most common food allergens for a user to toggle on and off.
The second problem to solve was how to give users the power to choose where their money goes. I designed a toggle for tips on the payment page.
Low-fidelity prototype
Link: https://tinyurl.com/ckasda34
I made a lot of connections for each toggle, on and off, in the allergy filter for the home page menu so that users could use the filter and make their order.
Usability study: parameters
Study type:
Unmoderated usability study
Participants:
Two males. Two females, and one nonbinary individual, between the ages of 18 and 75. Two participants have food allergies or intolerances.
Location:
USA; remote
Length:
5-10 minutes, based on a list of prompts.
Usability study: findings
Users wanted an easier way to achieve tasks like filtering allergens and tipping the restaurant.
Account Page
Users want an easier way to close the account page
Allergy Filter
Users want to be able to toggle allergy filters on and off and select more than one allergy filter at a time
Tipping
Users want to be able to input tip amount when they choose who to tip
Refining the Design
Mockups
Participants in the usability study wanted the option to choose more than one food allergy at a time for the menu filter.
After the second usability study, I decluttered the homepage design by removing the nav icons at the bottom and the search icon. This serves to simplify the user flow.
High-fidelity prototype
Accessibility Considerations
To help users with low literacy in English, links are added to both images and text throughout the user flow.
On the last page, users are given the option to either call or text support if they have any questions or concerns.
Information and colors are high contrast so that users who have color blindness can still navigate the app easily.
Going forward
Takeaways
Impact:
The app is the first food ordering app to make it easier for people with food allergies and intolerances to order food conveniently and safely without having to call the restaurant.
One quote from a usability study:
“I didn’t know I needed an app like this until I used this one, but this would help me order for family members and friends without worrying about making them sick.”
What I learned:
While designing the Kitsune Sushi App, I learned that the first ideas for the app are only the beginning of the process. Usability studies and peer feedback influenced each iteration of the app’s designs.
Next Steps
Conduct another round of usability studies to make sure the pain points users experienced have been addressed.
Conduct more user research to determine any new areas of need - like giving more food allergy options to filter on the menu.
Let’s Connect!
Thank you for your time reviewing my work on the Kitsune Sushi App! If you’d like to see more or get in touch, my contact information is provided below.
Email: jeanniestivers7@gmail.com