Project Overview

June 2024 - July 2024

I served as the sole UI/UX designer and researcher for my project, BakeBook. Over six weeks, I conducted multiple rounds of wireframing, prototyping, and user testing to design a mobile app that empowers bakers to develop and store their recipes. By the end of the project, I delivered a fully completed app design and a comprehensive design system.

Problem Summary

Bakers need a simple, intuitive way to develop, store, and access their recipes efficiently.

Initial User Research

I conducted early user research with seven participants, representing a range of baking experience levels, from home hobby bakers to professional pastry chefs. The goal was to identify the key functions and features most important to users for adding recipes, iterating on them, and accessing their stored recipes with ease.

Key Research Questions

Recipe Development and Storage

  1. What challenges do you face when developing or iterating on recipes?

  2. How frequently do you create or modify recipes?

  3. How do you currently document, store, and organize your recipes?

    • What aspects of your system work well?

    • What frustrations or limitations do you encounter?

Recipe App Usage and Features

  1. What features would be most helpful in a recipe development and storage app?

  2. Do you currently use any recipe-related apps (e.g., for kitchen, grocery, or bakery purposes)?

    • What do you enjoy most about these apps?

    • What could be improved?

Collaboration and Sharing

  1. What would your ideal recipe collaboration experience look like (either in person or virtually)?

  2. What types of interactions or collaborations would you like to see in a recipe-sharing platform?

  3. What would motivate you to actively participate in discussions or provide feedback on others' recipes?

Our Users' Wants

  1. A centralized and searchable recipe storage system with categorization by type, ingredient, or cuisine

  2. Features to save and track edits, including notes specific to their preferences

  3. Tools for scaling recipes and ingredient substitution

  4. A way to understand how modifications and substitutions will impact their recipes to make informed adjustments with confidence

Our Users' Frustrations

  1. Losing track of recipes written on paper or stored on cumbersome systems like Google Drive

  2. Forgetting changes made during recipe experimentation or failing to record exact measurements

  3. Difficulty scaling recipes or finding substitutions for missing ingredients

  4. Existing apps lack personalization and don’t effectively support features like tracking iterations or private sharing

Once in Figma, my primary goals were to design a simple and intuitive user flow, utilize prominent call-to-action buttons, and address key research findings based on user wants and frustrations:

  1. Centralized and searchable recipe storage: A system that enables users to organize recipes by type, ingredient, or cuisine for quick and easy access.

  2. Tracking edits and modifications: Features to save user-specific notes and changes to recipes over time, ensuring their adjustments are not lost.

  3. Scalability and substitutions: Tools for adjusting recipe sizes and understanding how ingredient modifications or substitutions affect the final product.

  4. Customization and personalization: Providing users with a tailored experience that reflects their unique preferences and needs.

  5. Quick accessibility for frequently used recipes: Features like "Recently Used" or "Most Used" sections to help users quickly access their go-to recipes.

Initial Wireframing & Ideating

User Experience Research Study

The research goal was to identify specific usability challenges bakers encounter when adding, modifying, and organizing recipes. This unmoderated usability study involved 5 participants, each representing different baking experience levels, from hobbyists to professionals. At the end, I included a section for open-ended feedback, in addition to the questions.

Key Research Questions:

  1. How intuitive is the process for adding a new recipe, including name, category, and details?

  2. Can users easily edit an existing recipe and save modifications?

  3. Are users able to organize and navigate through recipes efficiently?

  4. How seamless is the experience of scaling recipe portions?

  5. What general feedback do users have about the app?

Prompt 1: Add a new recipe

  • Add a new recipe, including a name, category, and at least two ingredients.

  • Question: How easy or difficult was it to add a new recipe? Is there anything you would change about the process?

Prompt 2: Edit an existing recipe

  • Select and update an existing recipe by adding a new note or modifying an ingredient.

  • Question: How easy or difficult was it to make and save modifications? Were you able to easily view/access the saved changes?

Prompt 3: Scale a recipe

  • Select a recipe and adjust it to make double the portions.

  • Question: How easy or difficult was it to scale the recipe?

Hi Fi Mockups

Colors

After initial color research and experimentation, I created a base color scheme for the app that resembles old recipe books.

Components

I started developing components to use throughout the app.

Log Book Feature

Based on user feedback, I made the following adjustments

  1. Log Book Feature: Added a function that allows bakers to log multiple attempts and iterations of the same recipe, enabling them to review and track their adjustments over time.

  2. Streamlined Recipe Storage and Search: Redesigned the main recipe storage page for a cleaner layout and added a more intuitive search functionality.

  3. AI Tool "butter": Introduced an AI assistant to help users with modification questions, substitution suggestions, and achieving specific recipe goals.

  4. Simplified Ingredient Selection: Made it easier for users to select and adjust ingredient amounts when adding recipes, improving efficiency and usability.

Key updates based on user feedback

Streamlined Recipe Storage and Search

Simplified Ingredient Selection