UX & UI Design
UX Research
Food Discovery App
MUNCH helps users discover new restaurants through gamification.
Team of 5
Oct-Dec 2023
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Overview
In popular food apps like Google Maps and Uber Eats, it can get overwhelming for users to decide where to go because of the number of choices presented to them.
MUNCH helps individuals narrow down their choices based on their personal preferences and restrictions, while motivating users to discover new restaurants through challenges and rewards.
This app was conceptualized by myself and four peers for GBDA 210 – Introduction to User Experience Design at the University of Waterloo. My roles in the development of this app include UX research, mobile UI design, prototyping, and project management.
User Research
Through semi-structured interviews, we aimed to understand users' previous experiences using food discovery app competitors and understand their unfulfilled needs.
Our research revealed that users often defaulted to familiar, "safe" restaurants they had visited before, leading to a lack of diverse dining experiences that sometimes left them feeling dissatisfied.
Despite wanting to try new places, the overwhelming number of choices, combined with considerations like dietary restrictions, price, and convenience, made the decision-making process time-consuming and frustrating, ultimately pushing them back to familiar options.
Ideation
A crucial activity in shaping our final product was our group participating in a fast sketching exercise called Crazy 8s. This exercise allowed us to explore and propose options quickly while suspending judgment.
Among our ideas was a shared vision to gamify our app.
Taking inspiration from Pokemon Go, we focused on engaging social connectivity and creating motivation to discover new restaurants through a challenge reward system.
List of Requirements
We refined our ideas into a list of requirements. We organized them using the MoSCoW framework to prioritize must-have, should-have, could-have, and won't-have features.
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Low-Fidelity Prototypes
I created the mobile low-fidelity prototypes using pen and paper to quickly visualize key features and user flows. This process allowed for rapid iteration and feedback before committing to digital designs. By sketching out various layout possibilities, I was able to explore different navigation structures and ensure a user-friendly experience.
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Mid-Fidelity Prototypes
My team member designed the mid-fidelity desktop prototype, while I created the mobile prototype.
We used FigJam for its collaborative features and limited design capabilities, which helped us stay focused on functionality and user flows rather than visual design.
High-Fidelity Prototypes
Building on our mid-fidelity prototypes, we developed high-fidelity designs that closely resembled the final product in both aesthetics and functionality. A team member and I were responsible for creating the mobile high-fidelity prototype, while two other teammates worked on the desktop version. Our goal was to refine the user experience by incorporating branding, color schemes, typography, and interactive elements.
Throughout this process, we ensured consistency by frequently collaborating, sharing feedback, and making iterative improvements. We refined our initial requirements list, carefully evaluating which features to include in the final version and which to exclude based on feasibility and user needs.
Once completed, our high-fidelity prototypes were tested through heuristic evaluations conducted by a team member, who provided insights based on usability principles. This feedback helped us refine our designs, ensuring they were intuitive, visually engaging, and met the needs of our target users.
Reflection
My team member designed the mid-fidelity desktop prototype, while I created the mobile prototype.
We used FigJam for its collaborative features and limited design capabilities, which helped us stay focused on functionality and user flows rather than visual design.