Graphic Design & Photography
The Kitchen Witch UX Design
The Product: The Kitchen Witch Sandwich Shoppe is a gourmet sandwich shop located in multiple metropolitan locations. They offer a variety of healthy sandwiches, salads, and sides at competitive prices. The Kitchen Witch is targeting the commuter on the go who doesn’t want to sacrifice their health for convenience.
The Challenge: Commuters and busy professionals want the convenience of fast food without sacrificing their health in the process.
The Goal: Design an app for The Kitchen Witch Sandwich Shoppe that enables users to place customizable orders easily and enjoy healthy food options that fit into their fast-paced lives.
Project duration: January 2023 to April 2023
My role: UX Designer designing an app for The Kitchen Witch Sandwich Shoppe from conception
to delivery.
Responsibilities:
User research, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and iterating
on designs.
Research: I conducted interviews and created empathy maps for the users I would be designing for to find their specific needs and wants. A primary user group that was identified through my research was busy working professionals looking for healthy options to maintain their work-life balance.
The research confirmed initial assumptions about The Kitchen Witch’s clientele but also illuminated other wants and needs. Other problems the users identified were the need for customizable menu options, clear tracking of their orders, and an expedited checkout process.
Personas:
Key Insights:
Through my research I discovered some definitive user needs.
Time
Busy working professionals who don’t have time to cook want quick and healthy meal options
Accessibility
Food ordering apps are not equipped with assistive technology
Customizations
Users need fully customizable menus for the picky eaters in their lives
Ideation: I began designing wireframes based off the user research I conducted. I conducted a competitive audit of successful food ordering apps from competing companies. I selected elements from each that would address user pain points. For the home page I chose to prioritize quick ordering and checkout access to save the user time. Once I had an initial plan in place I began sketching paper wireframes and then transitioning them into digital versions.
Paper wireframe of the homepage design for The Kitchen Witch Sandwich Shoppe app
Process: Expedited ordering was a key user need that was revealed during the user interviews. I incorporated two different features into the initial designs to help the user find past orders and items marked as favorites to expedite the ordering and checkout process.
Home page digital wireframe
Menu page digital wireframe
Rewards page digital wireframe
Group Order page digital wireframe
With the digital wireframes built using the findings from the user research and interviews I created a low-fidelity prototype in order to test out the function of the elements I designed.
The low-fidelity prototype can be
viewed here.
Usability Study Findings: I conducted two rounds of usability studies, using the findings from the first round to iterate the mockups that would be used for the second round of studies. The second study involved providing users with a high-fidelity prototype to determine what aspects of the mockups needed refining for the final product.
Solution:
The initial usability study revealed that users need clarification and visual cues to help them navigate the group ordering feature. I added a group ordering icon to all pages within the app so the user can begin a group order at any time during their navigation of the app.
Another issue brought to my attention during the first usability study was the lack of clarity around the mobile wallet and gift card functions. I streamlined the functions and created a drop down menu that would enable the user to add mobile funds from an account of their choosing or upload a gift card to their mobile wallet.
The final high-fidelity prototype presented shows cleaner user flows with enhanced visual cues to aid with navigation. It also meets users’ needs for expedited ordering, customizable menu options, and was designed with accessibility standards in mind for all users. The high-fidelity prototype can be accessed here.
Conclusion: The Kitchen Witch app design makes users feel like their needs and wants were taken into consideration to elevate their user experience.
Throughout this design process I’ve learned that the initial design process is just the beginning. Using feedback and findings from usability studies helped to elevate the designs and bring about the finalized product that addresses all of the users wants for the app.
A quote from one of the study participants:
“The ordering process seems pretty straight forward. I love that I can fully customize the menu items!”