Competitive Analysis

Research into similar apps on the market shows two models: a high-end subscription base with detailed analytics for restaurants and a bare-bones generic inventory app, with no in-between. Through surveys and interviews, I was able to pinpoint which features were desired, necessary, and unnecessary to make the most efficient and accessible version possible.

Some apps overly complicated the user experience by adding too many features or complicated the account sign up process with unnecessary questions. Other apps were limited by the opposite- a lack of options. The inability to scan barcodes with the camera app or capping the number of items you are able to add made many of the simpler apps unusable.

Research

Initial research


Prototypes

The first iteration of prototypes implemented designs that were common in popular apps- hamburger menu, central "add" button, top-right search button placement. Once I started conducting usability studies, it became clear that these were not the most efficient designs for this app.



went from hamburger menus to nav bar at the bottom. went from bottom middle add button to top right plus symbol. simplifiied the menu to give an overall view of current status at first glance


Wireflow

Challenges

  1. Back to Square One

In a previous iteration of the landing screen, many users stated that they weren't sure where to begin. The first iteration had a large circular "Add" button that remained static on the screen. My thinking was that since it was large and in a bold color, people would notice it and recognize the plus symbol as an "Add" button but that was incorrect. User research showed that having the add button in the standard upper right hand corner was more intuitive to people than the large red button.


2. Eyes on the Prize

As I was getting in to the redesign, I lost sight of what the purpose of the app was. I was hyperfocused on making the app visually appealing to the users, thinking I needed images and flair on every page, when in reality it can detract from your app.

Earlier versions had a large image on the recipe page. It took up nearly half the screen and ended up being an eye-sore, especially since most users opted to not take a photo of their final dish. Having a photo on the recipe page meant more work for very little payoff. The redesign took this in to account and focused on making the recipe card more organized by grouping ingredients by location.

Working on Sous has been an enormous learning experience. I learned what it truly means to design for a specific need, the importance of keeping your goal in focus as you design. I learned a lot of FIgma tricks. The internet has so many resources and tutorials that anything feels possible. I also learned when to step away. I found that the more I worked on something, the more I wanted to make it better and better. Overall, I had a lot of fun on this project. Please check out my other projects, coming soon!