Gatherlicious - A Cooking app to join people at home and around the table

"The most important social media platform in the world is not Facebook, it's FOOD." With this in mind we created a cooking app were the main focus was to join the people we love most (friends or family) and share recipes, at home and at the table. Making food and sharing recipes was the focus to aggregate people, experiences and moments.

The name was the easiest: Gather + Delicious = Gatherlicious

Challenge

How can we design an app that not only makes it easy to share and discover recipes but also fosters meaningful social connections between users, whether they are cooking together in person or sharing meals virtually?

Key Points to Address:

User Engagement and Social Interaction: The focus is on creating a way for users to share recipes and experiences in a natural and personal manner.

Bridging Digital and Real-Life Experiences: The idea is for the app to facilitate real-life gatherings, like family dinners or barbecues with friends, by offering features such as collaborative shopping lists, a list where each friend can choose which dish to prepare and bring, and a tool to split the cost of the meal and even make payments directly through the app.

Accessibility and Ease of Use: The app needs to be easy to use for all levels of cooking skills, from beginners to experienced chefs. The technology should enhance the experience without becoming a barrier, offering simplicity along with advanced features.

Research: Understanding Users' Habits and Motivations

As part of the development of our cooking app, I conducted a series of user interviews to better understand their cooking habits, needs, and motivations, as well as to determine if the app would add real value to their social events and gatherings. See the process below:

Copy Paste from Figma

The first step was listening to our users.
I conducted a user interviews to understand their habits, motivations and ambitions

As a result of the previous step, we built our personas based on the different profiles and their specific needs.

Copy Paste from Figma

We developed several customer journey maps based on our personas, which allowed us to identify users' pain points and understand where we should focus our efforts. This helped us visualize the entire user journey and highlight the areas that require the most attention to improve the overall experience.

Key Insights

Lack of Organization: Many users expressed difficulties in organizing recipes and meal plans, especially for social events. This created an opportunity to introduce features like collaborative shopping lists and organizing recipes by occasion.

Social Motivation: Several participants mentioned that cooking and sharing recipes was not just about the food but also a way to strengthen bonds with friends and family. This reinforced the app’s focus on being a social platform for connecting people through food and sharing tasks and bill

Preference for Simplicity: While some users were experienced cooks, many preferred quick and easy recipes, especially when hosting events. This insight led us to create a simple and intuitive interface, with filters to find quick recipes.

Framing the challenge

Before moving on to wireframes, I decided to sketch out my ideas. This is a major part of my process in the early stages, as it helps me see my ideas more clearly, quickly, and easily.
Of course, the sketches then evolve into wireframes, which are shared with the team, where I also explain my next steps and ask for feedback.

Throughout the project, I followed a design thinking methodology to empathize with our users, define their needs and ideate creative solutions to their problems. I prototipe concepts and interated based on a real feedback.

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andreza.martinez86@gmail.com | View my full-profile on linkedin