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Project Overview

BUTTER is a local bakery known for its freshly baked goods, including artisanal bread, sandwiches, pastries, and a variety of beverages. The bakery has built a loyal customer base over the years but recognized that in order to stay competitive and reach new customers, it needed to improve its online ordering system. BUTTER had an outdated website and mobile app that lacked modern UX principles, causing friction during the food ordering process. Customers struggled with navigation, order customization, and transparent delivery information. To address these challenges, BUTTER decided to create a more seamless, user-friendly, and visually appealing mobile app to allow customers to order their favorite bakery items with ease.

The Problem

The primary target audience for BUTTER's mobile app includes working professionals and busy families. These individuals often juggle long work hours, family responsibilities, and a fast-paced lifestyle, leaving them with little time or energy to prepare meals after a hectic day.

The Solution

BUTTER's mobile app aims to reduce the stress of meal preparation for it’s target audience by providing convenience, security, and confidence to easily navigate their food ordering experiences. I included modern UX features to make the BUTTER app familiar and enjoyable to users. After usability testing, I conducted additional research and analyzed the findings to inform the final design.

User Research

PRIMARY RESEARCH

The primary user group consisted of adults aged 25-45 with one or more children, who face challenges with grocery shopping, meal planning, or cooking dinner. I conducted one-on-one interviews with five participants, exploring their daily use of food ordering apps, the factors influencing their decision to order delivery, and their experiences with delivered meals.

USER RESEARCH INSIGHTS

Users seek a seamless, error-free ordering experience and require fast, efficient delivery to avoid disruptions in their schedules. Cooking at home presents challenges due to the time needed for grocery shopping, meal preparation, and cooking, often leading to scheduling conflicts. Additionally, family dynamics make it difficult for users to travel for dinner or dine at restaurants. In designing the app, I prioritized streamlining the ordering process, enhancing delivery transparency, and enabling order customization.

Personas

The following personas are based on user interviews.

“I am navigating motherhood with a giant iced coffee and Cocomelon on replay.”

Ari Lexington is a dedicated therapist and a first-time mother navigating the challenges of balancing her professional and personal life. She and her husband, Dre Lexington, recently achieved a significant milestone by purchasing a luxurious penthouse in the heart of downtown Houston, TX. As Ari transitioned into motherhood, she chose to work from home during her maternity leave to maintain her therapy practice while being present for her 5-month-old, Shai. She anticipates spending the next year conducting virtual therapy sessions and tending to her baby’s needs. Given her demanding schedule, Ari prefers ordering food delivery. This allows her to focus on her patients without interruptions and eliminates the logistical challenge of traveling with an infant. For Ari, an ideal food delivery experience would be fast, reliable, and highly customizable, ensuring the meals are safe and aligned with her dietary needs.

“Success at fatherhood supersedes my career goals.”

Ali Nadir is a decorated software engineer working for a Fortune 500 company. He and his wife, Ani, maintain a structured Monday-to-Friday work schedule. Ani is a realtor, and they both struggle to balance their demanding careers while raising their 4-year-old son, Malik. Malik has cerebral palsy and requires frequent therapy sessions in the evenings, making their daily routines highly structured and time-sensitive. Dining out as a family is often challenging, as many restaurants do not have accessible seating options that comfortably accommodate their son’s specialized equipment and medical bags. As a result, Ali and his wife often opt for food delivery to avoid these difficulties altogether. Ali has dyslexia, which makes reading and processing written information more time-consuming. He strongly prefers using food delivery apps, which allow him to review options at his own pace, customize his meals, and avoid the potential embarrassment of miscommunicating his order. For Ali, an ideal food ordering experience includes a highly accessible and user-friendly app with digestible menus, voice search functionalities, and customization features that ensure a simple ordering process.

“I am an Olympian with two gold medals: my 15-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son.”

Irsha Fedorov is a devoted mother of two and a Senior Design Specialist at a highly reputable furniture company. As a new divorcee, she manages a packed schedule and balances her career with her children’s active lifestyles. Her daughter, Ivasha, plays on the junior varsity softball team, while her son, Stone, is deeply involved in soccer. Their after-school commitments result in most evenings shuttling between school, practice fields, and occasional stops at friends' houses. Despite her demanding schedule, Irsha prioritizes dinnertime at home as a crucial moment for family connection. However, with limited cooking time after long workdays and back-to-back pickups, preparing home-cooked meals is often unrealistic. To ensure her family still enjoys meals together, she frequently relies on food delivery throughout the week. For Irsha, a seamless food ordering experience is essential. She needs a service that offers quick, reliable delivery with minimal effort, allowing her to place orders while on the go. Since her children have different preferences and nutritional needs, she values customization options and swift reordering processes.

Design Process

The design process for BUTTER included multiple iterations and refining features based on user preferences and industry standards. A competitive audit provided valuable insights into market trends, analyzing existing food ordering apps, their target audiences, and the unique value propositions of top competitors. This research helped identify gaps in user experiences, allowing BUTTER to create a solution that meets and exceeds user expectations. Early design concepts, which focused on enhancing usability and convenience, included key features, such as a photo-rich menu, a seamless cart functionality for easy order customization, and clear options for delivery and pickup. Each iteration aimed to optimize the user journey, ensuring an intuitive and satisfying experience from browsing to checkout.

Core Wireframe

Information Architecture (Sitemap)

Usability Testing

Usability study i

1. Users want to update the quantity of items in their cart. Users find it more convenient to adjust quantities while selecting menu items rather than in the cart, as they may forget to make changes before checkout. This feature enhances the ordering experience by making it more seamless.

2. Users want to include delivery instructions with their orders. Users identified details such as apartment complex building numbers, business names, gate and door codes, and parking details as essential information for a smooth delivery experience. Providing this option gives users confidence when submitting their orders.

3. Users desire accurate delivery times. Users noted that delivery details, including the address and estimated time, are presented during ordering but are not reiterated later in the process. Ensuring the order confirmation page displays the most up-to-date delivery time helps users plan accordingly.

Usability insights I

• I observed that 5 out of 5 participants had trouble adding items to their carts and updating the quantity of those items. This insight indicates all users struggled to seamlessly complete the ordering process. The option to update quantity on the menu and cart page is included in the final mockup design.

• I observed that 4 out of 5 participants had difficulty understanding when their order would be delivered and were concerned the delivery driver would not find their home. This insight indicates users may not complete their order due to the lack of transparency and information provided. In the final mockup design, a detailed ‘delivery instructions’ text box is added to the delivery address overlay.

• I observed that 3 out of 5 participants were frustrated with the order confirmation page. This insight indicates users prefer reinforcement of delivery address and time and prefer to view their submitted order. In the final mockup design, I added the delivery address and time and an overlay of the submitted order to the confirmation page.

USABILITY STUDY II

1. Users want to update their payment method on the payment screen. Users identified in order to update their payment method, they must navigate to a different page to change the default payment method.

2. Users want to filter their search. Users identified how filters provide a more efficient search for users to easily select food options. This feature ensures users can comfortably browse the menu.

USABILITY INSIGHTS II

• I observed that 3 out of 5 participants attempted to change their payment method while paying in the app. This suggests that users often add multiple payment methods and prefer to select their default option at checkout. To address this, I added an overlay of saved payment methods to the payment screen in the final design. This allows users to switch their default payment method seamlessly without leaving the page.

• I observed that 3 out of 5 participants required accessibility features to navigate the app effectively. They highlighted the importance of filters when browsing larger menus, as it made the experience more manageable. This insight suggests that ease of access is crucial in shaping users' engagement with the app. Based on this finding, I incorporated a filter icon into the search bar in the final design.

Final Mockups

The final mockups showcase a more visually engaging design with realistic photos. The final design was refined based on insights from usability studies, user research, competitive audits, and participant interviews. I enhanced the order summary page by adding more delivery details and incorporated key features such as filtering options and the ability to update item quantities directly in the cart. These improvements ensure a more seamless and user-friendly ordering experience, addressing the needs and behaviors identified throughout the research process.

Reflection

BUTTER’S customers trust they will receive excellent service and a high-quality food delivery experience. Throughout the design process, I discovered that users highly value transparency, detailed order information, and a seamless, error-free ordering experience. These insights shaped the final design, ensuring a user-friendly interface that prioritizes clarity and convenience. The completed app showcases my ability to deeply understand user needs, conduct thorough research, and apply practical design principles to create an intuitive and functional solution. I am confident that BUTTER will be a preference for families who desire to order their favorite bakery items and meals with ease and convenience.