Recipe app redesign

The Challenge

MyRecipes is a recipe app available on the App Store, currently holding a rating of 2.3. As a UI/UX developer, my objective is to transform MyRecipes into a platform that attracts a substantial user base, fosters an active community, offers diverse recipe options, and encourages engagement.

Specifically, goals for this project include:

  • Achieving 100,000 registered accounts

  • Attaining 50% profile completion

  • Ensuring an average of 3 'follows' per user

  • Enabling each user to save an average of 100 recipes

What do our users want?

My research revealed that the existing MyRecipes app falls short in meeting user expectations. Our target audience seeks:

  • Easily accessible and practical recipes

  • A straightforward and intuitive user interface

  • Features that enhance convenience, such as:

    • Simplified navigation

    • Options for printing recipes

    • Ability to create a favorites list

    • In-app shopping lists

For users, while tutorial videos can be valuable, they are non-essential. Users also find excessive advertisements distracting, preferring a streamlined experience that focuses on recipes and helpful tips.

The clearest thing my research showed was that overwhelmingly, users of recipe blogs and other food-related websites value simplicity above all else.

The original app design seen here is clunky and challenging to navigate.

user personas

ann

Age: 40

Stay-at-home mom

Ann enjoys cooking and frequently searches for recipes on Google and Pinterest. She values the ability to print recipes and store them for later use, especially healthy dinner options for her family.

matt

Age: 25

Recent grad

Matt is starting to learn how to live on his own. As a novice cook, Matt relies on his iPhone to find recipes using available ingredients. He seeks straightforward cooking solutions tailored to his limited experience.

Danielle

Age: 21

Student

Danielle has limited time for browsing lengthy recipe blogs. She prefers using her laptop to find quick recipes and add them directly to her shopping list or online cart.

COMPETITORS

Allrecipes.com

  • Well organized, many categories

  • Well-established platform

  • Tips/techniques section

  • Suggested recipes feature

Tasty

  • Visually appealing and user-friendly

  • ‘Community’ bar for user tips/suggestions

  • In-app grocery list integrated to Walmart

  • Shopping list & direct purchasing features

  • Favorite categories for easy organization

Food Network Kitchen

  • Integrated shopping list feature

  • Recommendations for meals

  • Cooking class videos in the app

  • Kitchen basics and how-to guides

Recipe Keeper

  • Easily adjustable serving sizes

  • Clean typography

  • Easy printing options and grocery list integration

  • Recipe planning capability

Information Architecture

The user experience is paramount in digital design. My research emphasized the importance of refining the user journey before moving on to prototyping.

As it is, the app I’m redesigning is very basic, yet difficult to use. It lacks essential search filters, forcing users to navigate through nested folders and long lists of recipes. My redesign aims to enhance simplicity and convenience while integrating engaging features to optimize user experience.

The redesigned information architecture includes new sections informed by user research. Some, like the Discover and Profile pages, are common to the industry, while the Allergy & Diet settings fill a gap in the industry that I noticed personally and chose to include for accessibility.

wireframing

Wireframing is a crucial component in designing mobile and web interfaces. These wireframes demonstrate how specific user flows will function, such as:

  • Adding meals to a planner

  • Setting allergy and dietary preferences

  • Incorporating meal ingredients into a shopping list

By assessing user behavior through testing, I was able to determine areas of complexity and make necessary adjustments to navigation and layout. Testing paper prototypes allowed me to streamline user flows, ensuring clarity for users unfamiliar with the platform.

prototyping

final design

The final prototype visually represents the ultimate design of the MyRecipes app.

The vibrant pink color scheme serves multiple purposes: it retains a connection to the original branding while discarding elements that hinder usability, such as the overly decorative background. This choice not only differentiates the app from the typical food blog branding, but also establishes a distinctive and inviting aesthetic that is neither overly feminine nor unappealing, especially when paired with the deep eggplant background.

Through this comprehensive redesign process, MyRecipes is poised to elevate user engagement and satisfaction, ultimately driving growth and fostering a vibrant community of cooking enthusiasts. This project served as an excellent test for how I would handle a large-scale simultaneous brand and UI overhaul.

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