Step 2: Competitive Analysis
In order to get a comprehensive understanding of the current meal plan/delivery service market, we conducted research about competitors of different niches. For example, we chose Hello Fresh as the most mainstream, Platejoy for our weightloss and health focused, and Mealime for a meal planning focused competitor.
We were beginning to get a sense of our target audience; now it was time to pry (professionally and respectfully) on our competitors. In order to get a comprehensive understanding of the current meal plan/delivery service market, we conducted research about competitors of different niches. For example, we chose Hello Fresh as the most mainstream competitor, Platejoy for our weightloss and health focused competitor, and Mealime for a meal planning focused competitor.
Our competitive analysis taught us that most meal prep and delivery apps go by a similar handbook: a set of questions to gather user information about their dietary habits, a variety of plans that users can choose from, and clean, friendly UI to give a friendly, approachable feel to the users.
However, we found that many apps were limited in their scope of customization, accessible pricing, and connection with the users.
We were beginning to get a sense of our target audience; now it was time to pry (professionally and respectfully) on our competitors. In order to get a comprehensive understanding of the current meal plan/delivery service market, we conducted research about competitors of different niches. For example, we chose Hello Fresh as the most mainstream competitor, Platejoy for our weightloss and health focused competitor, and Mealime for a meal planning focused competitor.
Our competitive analysis taught us that most meal prep and delivery apps go by a similar handbook: a set of questions to gather user information about their dietary habits, a variety of plans that users can choose from, and clean, friendly UI to give a friendly, approachable feel to the users.
However, we found that many apps were limited in their scope of customization, accessible pricing, and connection with the users.
Most meal service apps go by a similar handbook:
a set of questions to gather user information about their dietary habits
a variety of plans for users to select
clean, friendly UI to give an approachable feel to the users
However, we found that many apps were limited in their
scope of customization
accessible pricing
lasting connection with the users
Most meal service apps go by a similar handbook:
a set of questions to gather user information about their dietary habits
a variety of plans for users to select
clean, friendly UI to give an approachable feel to the users
However, we found that many apps were limited in their
scope of customization
accessible pricing
lasting connection with the users
Our competitive analysis taught us that most meal prep and delivery apps go by a similar handbook: a set of questions to gather user information about their dietary habits, a variety of plans that users can choose from, and clean, friendly UI to give a friendly, approachable feel to the users.
However, we found that many apps were limited in their scope of customization, accessible pricing, and connection with the users.
Step 3: Initial Interviews & Survey
Interviews: We chose working adults who were either single or in a committed relationship
key insights:
Health is valued, yet compromised due to lifestyle hurdles (eg: time, convenience, money)
Users want more personalization and customization in their meals
Cooking is time consuming (1-2 hours per meal)
Interviews: We chose working adults who were either single or in a committed relationship
key insights:
Health is valued, yet compromised due to lifestyle hurdles (eg: time, convenience, money)
Users want more personalization and customization in their meals
Cooking is time consuming (1-2 hours per meal)
note: We did both video interviews and surveys so that we could get more intimate, qualitative data from interviews and more general, quantitative feedback from surveys.
Interviews: We interviewed individuals to get a more thorough and personal insight on potential user’s experiences and opinions on meal prep/delivery services. We chose working adults who were either single or in a committed relationship (ie living together or married) to understand different types of households' outlook on meal prepping.
Some key insights include
Health is valued, yet compromised due to lifestyle hurdles (eg: time, convenience, money)
Users want more personalization and customization in their meals
Cooking is time consuming (users take 1-2 hours for each meal)
Survey: The initial surveys acted as a supplement to the information we gathered from our interviews. There were questions about income and grocery expenses to gauge appropriate pricing for our meal as well as questions about ranking app features to decide which features to add to our app.
For insights, there was one particular question, "what words would you use to describe your image of apps like Hello Fresh and Uber Eats?", got me thinking. While there were positive adjectives like "professional," and "clean," there were others that were more critical.
"Overpriced" "Confusing" "Impersonal"
Out of these words, "impersonal" stood out to me. It was true that larger meal delivery companies lack the personal connection or community feel of smaller, local restaurants, making them seem impersonal or transactional.
Remember the problem of people feeling lonely? I connected loneliness and pre-existing meal apps feeling impersonal and realized there could be a solution for both issues: something as simple as socializing the meal service experience.
Survey: There were questions about income and grocery expenses to gauge appropriate pricing for our meal as well as questions about ranking potential app features to gauge user interest.
One particular question,
"What words would you use to describe your image of apps like Hello Fresh and Uber Eats?"
got me thinking. While there were positive adjectives like "professional," and "clean," there were others that were more critical.
Survey: The initial surveys acted as a supplement to the information we gathered from our interviews. There were questions about income and grocery expenses to gauge appropriate pricing for our meal as well as questions about ranking potential app features to gauge user interest.
For insights, there was one particular question, "what words would you use to describe your image of apps like Hello Fresh and Uber Eats?", that got me thinking. While there were positive adjectives like "professional," and "clean," there were others that were more critical.
"Overpriced" "Confusing" "Impersonal"
Out of these words, "impersonal" stood out to me. It was true that larger meal delivery companies lack the personal connection or community feel of smaller, local restaurants, making them seem impersonal or transactional.
Remember the problem of people feeling lonely? I connected this sense of loneliness with the impersonal nature of existing meal delivery apps and realized both stem from a deeper issue: a lack of meaningful human connection. This insight became the foundation of our goal.
Out of these words, "impersonal" stood out. It was true that larger meal delivery companies lack the personal connection or community feel of smaller, local restaurants, making them seem impersonal or transactional.
Remember the problem of people feeling lonely? I connected this sense of loneliness with the impersonal nature of existing meal delivery apps and realized both stem from a deeper issue:
a lack of meaningful human connection.
This insight became the foundation of our goal.
Our Goal
Goal: how to socialize customers of a meal delivery service app.
My Role: I worked in a team of UI/UX designers and researchers. I took on the idea I proposed: the socials page.
It was our own twist on generic delivery apps by making the app community based. This would allow our users to connect with one another through their food and lifestyle. The social feature was important to achieving our greater goal of elevating our users’ sense of satisfaction in food and life.
A good example of the improvements we made after receiving feedback is from the social page.
Problem: When executing the task of looking for users to send a friend request to, instead of clicking on the search bar to look for people like we expected, many would click on the "friends" tab of the social page and end up lost and confused.
The fault was in the search bar's location, which was counterintuitive for such reasons:
Misleading Information Hierarchy: The search function sitting on the top of the subsections made it feel like a global search bar, which is not what we intended
Clutter: Having the search button near the header creates visual clutter, preventing users from being able to locate it easier
Solution: We relocated the search bar inside the “For You” subsection to improve visibility and provide a more intuitive experience.
Q: why is the search bar not in the "friends" subsection?
A: Because a "For You" page encourages new exploration, making search a natural tool to have, while a "Friends" page focuses on fostering existing connections (hence the "friends" button replacing of search bar)
