the chef's lab
An online learning platform for college students and young adults looking to learn how to cook for the first time.
my role:
Researcher
UI/UX designer
Wire framing
Branding
Prototyping
timeline:
5 months
June 2022 - October 2022
tools:
Figma
Background
College-aged students that are living on their own for the first time often don’t know how to cook.
Majority of people would agree that cooking is a top priority skill. Knowing that...
How can we guide users in their journey of learning how to cook as well as hold them accountable each step of the way?
Research Participants
What level of cooking experience does the average college-aged student have? What are their culinary goals?
I interviewed 5 participants aged 18-25 on their frustrations when it came to learning how to cook and their culinary goals moving forward.
Research questions
How would you rank cooking as a priority in your life?
What cooking tools did you have access to in college?
What resources, if any, did you use to learn how to cook?
What are your motivations and goals when it comes to learning how to cook?
What was an obstacle for you when learning how to cook and why?
"I didn’t really start cooking until I moved out of my parent’s house so I basically had to teach myself the fundamentals. I ended up burning a lot of stuff and had a lot of dishes come out bland or too salty etc. and not understand why."
Key findings
Almost all participants agreed that eating a balanced diet was important for performance at school and that learning to cook was a high priority skill.
Users felt inefficient in the kitchen
Cooking times and temperatures were confusing
They were cutting themselves with dull knives
Competitive analysis
After interviewing my participants, I conducted a competitive analysis of three popular online learning websites to gain insights into how they approach user experience. By examining key features such as course discovery, navigation, and learning resources, we identify areas where my website can improve and differentiate itself from competitors.
User flow
Through user research, I gained insight into the need and behaviors of my target audience. This allowed me to create a flow that was tailored to their needs and goals
Low fidelity and mid fidelity wireframes
On the left I began with low-fidelity wireframe sketches where I was able to experiment with different design elements and iterate on the layout until I achieved a desired result. Through user testing and feedback, I was able to refine the design, ensuring that the website was both aesthetically pleasing and intuitive to use. The end result was a set of mid fidelity wireframes that created a solid foundation for the final design of the product.
UI kit: designing an engaging and intuitive experience
My goal was to create an engaging and intuitive experience that could guide users in their journey of learning how to cook. I created UI kit with a set of design elements that I could easily customize to match the look and feel of my brand while maintaining consistency throughout the website. By using this kit, I could quickly and efficiently design the website, ensuring the user interface was aesthetically pleasing and easy to use.
Prototyping: from concept to creation
These are the first high fidelity screens that were created for testing a user flow that involved enrolling in a course online. I expanded on the course content from the mid fidelity wireframes by adding a list of courses to choose from, and pages for post enrollment in a course. The first video of the course inlcudes previews to next videos as well as a comments section on the video.
These high fidelity screens were then created for the user flow that involves creating a community post including the ability to add a photo.
Usability testing
5 participants tested the prototype and were asked to complete two tasks:
Find the Knife Skills course and enroll in the course.
Create a post in the community forum and include a picture.
The goal of usability testing was to see how the average user navigates through the prototype and to spot any errors during the process.
There were some small errors but users generally found the site easy to navigate.
Iterating: designing and refining
Using the comments and data gathered from my usability testing, I was able to refine the prototype to optimize it further for user experience.
The final prototype: a user-centered website to teach young college students how to cook
The final prototype features an inviting and fun design with clear and concise intrusions to guide users through the cooking process. I’ve included a variety of features and resources including instructional videos and recipes, as well as shopping lists to aid users in developing their skills and confidence in the kitchen. Through the iterative design process, I’ve created a product that meets user needs and delivers a seamless and enjoyable user experience.
What I learned:
Overall, my first UX project was challenging but a great learning expeirence. Researching turned out to be more time consuming than anticipated as well as the iterations through low and mid fidelity. Once I started high fidelity screens and prototyping I found myself much more excited to see the outcome of my hard work and making sure it met user needs and goals!
Next steps:
Creating more features respective to their user flows
Continue testing and iterating
Finalizing the product to be released to the public
