A social cooking Progressive Web Application born in the days of physical distancing and designed to allow users to connect and share the joy of cooking together virtually from the safety and comfort of their own kitchens
#Product Thinking#Interaction Design#Visual Design#Branding
CookSpace is an engaging PWA created to address certain social needs of people in a time when many people around the world feel isolated due to the pandemic. The pandemic is shaping home cooking trends, and mental health has become a very relevant concern. We know that food has the power to bring people together and actively engaging with others through some activity can contribute to personal wellness. I was among a team of four for this project: two other designers and one developer.
How might we create a space to help those who are isolated connect with others in a fun and engaging way?
A social cooking application that allows users to share fun cooking experiences virtually from the safety and comfort of their own kitchen.
The pandemic has been tough on many, so my team and I wanted to create a product that would help address certain issues exacerbated by the pandemic. We listed as many problems we could think of: lack of accessibility to health services, unemployment, homelessness, home school challenges, etc... We decided to focus on the loneliness/isolation aspect of the pandemic and started researching mental health trends both related and unrelated to the pandemic as well as research-based solutions.
There is a market of Gen-Z and Millennials always connected to their phones and who use video chat apps to socialize with friends. Are they being productive while scrolling through feeds? Is it hurting or helping their mental health? Why not create a product that will allow them to bond through some type of collaborative activity while also helping them to be productive and satisfy another basic physiological need - a cooked meal.
According to HUNTER, over half of Americans started cooking more during the pandemic and stated they will continue to do so after the pandemic. This is the market where we found the opportunity to innovate on a new trend. We also surveyed and tested our concept early on before embarking on this product journey. We started with our competitors. We conducted a competitive analysis for various recipe and video chat products and used the SCAMPER method to develop our secret sauce, a unique and innovative product that builds on users’ existing mental models and combines the best features of their favorite relevant products.
Aim: To figure out how users are trying to solve the challenges of virtual co-cooking on their own & how we can make it easier
Before conducting user research, we ideated a few different features we assumed users would enjoy. However, after the insights listed below, we were able to narrow the scope of the MVP from 1) allowing users to cook with anyone around the world to just allowing users to cook with people whose username they know, 2) an app focusing on gamification of food challenges to an app that accommodates a broader range of cooking levels.
Finally, we had gathered enough research to form an idea of who our target audience would be for our MVP:
• Simple, concise recipe pages without the recipe story
• Merge event invitation and share recipe steps
• Include instructions and video chat on the same page
• Send an email prior to the event with a reminder to complete prep work
• Recipe review screen pops up upon ending the call
Some design decisions for the MVP were made based on certain financial constraints regarding development. We designed the MVP to run on free APIs. Our developer helped us narrow down the scope of the project based on what was and was not feasible for development. We used several patterns from competitors to build on users’ mental models & ease the learnability of our product.
Shopping list that lives on the app for
convenient access
Engaging feed, showcasing popular recipes and
a “Recipe of the Day”
Large, appetizing photos
Fixed video screen with scrollable recipe and
ingredients for a convenient view of both
Clean filter modal for increased real estate on the main screen
and a more spacious layout of filter options with no distractions
This product presented a unique challenge as we wanted users to have the option to conveniently create a cooking event from the event page without completely redirecting them to home where they would typically search for a recipe. The solution we decided on was a continuous modal when first selecting to create an event from the event page, which would open the “search for a recipe” flow in a modal. Using modals allowed us to keep the user focused on the task at hand and greatly reduced the potential for error prior to task completion.
Users wanted profiles to be engaging and allow for community building, but it was not possible to allow users to post their own food photos to their profile or have stored messsaging capabilities. Instead, we included a profile section where users could display their saved recipes and friends list. This double functioned as a place to conveniently access their favorite recipes as well as a place to add more personalization and character to their profile.
Adding “edit” and “delete” buttons to pesonal reviews allowed us to work in tolerance for error.
A 3-hour branding design sprint helped us develop branding that fits our product and market. Red and orange were selected because studies show they are the most appetizing colors. The minimalist design was used to reduce cognitive load and create a pleasant user experience. Soft gradients and rounded corners were used to produce a fun and organic feel and gain mass appeal.
We could not find any direct competitors with the same product concept, so we filled our competitive landscape map with indirect competitors.
In the future, there are several features that can be added to improve the product and lead to product growth:
