Link to the “Part 1: Who is the User?” sectionPart 1: Who is the User?
Link to the “Interviews” sectionInterviews
The team and I ran eight interviews. Two interviewees were professional chefs. The rest were cooking enthusiasts or people who saw cooking as a necessary evil.
The most interesting findings:
- Cooking for a family with different diets is hard. If one person is allergic to an ingredient, you find a workaround in the best case. In the worst case you cook twice.
- People forget about missing equipment or ingredients. One participant started baking a cake and ran out of baking paper halfway through.
- One interviewee kept a "compilation recipe note." They jot down ideas from online videos. Next time they cook the dish, they try the ideas and keep or drop them.
- Prep and cook time strongly affects whether someone tries a recipe.
- Scrolling online recipes mid-cook is awkward when your hands are dirty.
- One interviewee listens to songs while cooking and guesses timing from song length.
- Ingredient lists are not localized. Two interviewees did not understand imperial units.
Link to the “Personas” sectionPersonas
Interviews surfaced plenty of friction with the sites and apps novice cooks rely on. We focused on that group and on making it easier to find and adapt a recipe.
Emily
, 27
- Experienced home cook.
- Loves cooking and French cuisine
- Thin budget, but doesn't mind spending a bit more for a better ingredient.
Nino
, 24
- Indifferent to cooking. Cooks out of a necessity.
- Vegetarian.
- Appreciates good food, but isn't particular about what to eat as long as it gives him energy.
Andy
, 25
- An exchange student from the US living in Paris.
- Only understands imperial units.
- Rarely cooks. Usually eats out.
Link to the “User Profile” sectionUser Profile
- Novice cooks who find recipes online and want to change them before they cook.
- They hate converting units in browser recipes and scaling ingredients for different group sizes.
- They cook for friends and family with special diets or allergies. They need to adapt recipes for those diets and know exactly how much of every ingredient is needed.
Link to the “Part 2: What is Possible?” sectionPart 2: What is Possible?
Link to the “Brainstorming” sectionBrainstorming
We brainstormed in two passes. First we met, mapped interview breakdowns, and dumped ideas into a shared doc without judging them. For a few days everyone added thoughts on their own. That gave us a wider pool than one session would have.
The next time we met we went through all the ideas and voted on our favorites. We liked mixing ingredients from different recipes and letting users adjust them to their needs.
Link to the “Design Dimensions” sectionDesign Dimensions
Link to the “Part 3: What Should it Be?” sectionPart 3: What Should it Be?
Link to the “Design Concept” sectionDesign Concept
From the breakdowns, workarounds, and ideas we aimed for an app that turns static web recipes into something you can use while cooking with less mental overhead. Cooking is personal and demands attention. Most online recipes are not built for that mode.
Link to the “Participatory Design Workshop” sectionParticipatory Design Workshop
We ran a participatory design workshop to stress-test interactions. Participants did three exercises:
- Look up a recipe online and save it in any way for later. Modify it so you can cook for 6 people.
- You get four recipes printed on paper. Combine them into one recipe that seems to work best.
- You get four recipes printed on paper. Combine them into one recipe without using a pen.
Several interactions in the video prototype came from that session. Next time we would book a follow-up brainstorm. We ran out of time after the workshop.
Link to the “Video Prototype” sectionVideo Prototype
We sat down with paper, markers, scissors, and tape and built a paper prototype. Check out the final result below.
Link to the “Part 4: Does it Work?” sectionPart 4: Does it Work?
Link to the “Design Walkthrough & Design Crit” sectionDesign Walkthrough & Design Crit
Three colleagues and I walked through the video prototype and picked apart interactions one by one. We found suggestions we simply did not have time to implement.
Every person we talked to had their own cooking story. Everyone adapts the process to their needs. The design crit was no different. Cooking is personal. It sparked a lot of ideas. Participants wanted to add that one extra thing that would make their lives easier.
Almost everyone cooks sometimes. The domain is huge. Fixing one narrow pain point can still help a lot of people.
Link to the “Improvements” sectionImprovements
Wishlist for further iterations:
- More extreme characters would stress the concept: heavy allergies, athletes, tight budgets, big gatherings, minimal kitchens. Seeing the idea through a few of those lenses would help.
- The concept centers ingredients. Preparation methods are the next layer.
- Time management: let users plan their days around the prep time of specific meals.
- Another round of tighter, topic-focused interviews.
Link to the “Design System” sectionDesign System
Still in progress, but here is a working export of the EdiTable design system:
