Savor is a social platform dedicated to creating a harmonious space for foodies to form authentic communities and find trusted recommendations.
Try the prototypeUX/UI Design Capstone
8 weeks
UX Designer
UI Designer
UX Researcher
Product Strategist
Figma
InVision
Otter.ai
My idea for Savor came from observing how my friends and I would find restaurant reviews and recommendations. I quickly noticed that in order to form an informed decision on where we should eat, it required visiting multiple platforms to read reviews, sort through photos and view the menu. Even after this entire process, we were still left unsure and wished we could turn to the foodie community for their trusted opinions. After conducting secondary research for this topic, I was able to define a valid problem space.
There is no current space that serves as a community for foodies and information regarding restaurant recommendations is fragmented.
I designed an iOS app that serves as a social platform for foodies to connect with one another and share trusted recommendations.
Once I discovered the problem, I wanted to understand the process by which foodies obtain restaurant recommendations and reviews, where they go to connect with or find other foodies, and gain insights as to how this task can be made more convenient while also providing a sense of community.
For my exploratory research, I quantified my problem space by analyzing sources that discuss the influence on dining decisions, the importance of communities and the millennial foodie generation.
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As a means of assessing the attitudes, desires and experiences users have when making a dining decision and connecting with other foodies, I conducted one-on-one interviews with 5 millennial foodies. After conducting my user interviews, I sorted my findings into the key themes and insights seen below.
Improve the community aspect for foodies and overall search process for restaurant recommendations and reviews by providing a centralized solution that decreases frustration and information fragmentation, and allows foodies to connect with one another.
How might we create a harmonious space for foodies to interact with one another in order to form an empowered community and provide trusted recommendations?
Based on my user interview insights, I created a persona that reflected the target users’ pain points, motivations and goals. My persona served as a reference tool during the design process to assure my design was user-centered, met the target user’s goals and solved their pain points.
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In order to identify the areas for opportunity, I created a visual representation of the user’s current experience for finding a new restaurant to visit. This allowed me to identify the exact areas where users are experiencing pain points.
In order to demonstrate product functionality from the perspective of my user, I constructed 25+ user stories. From this, I was able to choose one task that aligned with my value proposition and the goals of my user persona.
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Once I decided on my core task, I began to translate my ideas for the design through sketches.
After sketching the screens and features I wanted to create for my task flow, I then created low fidelity, gray-scale wireframes.
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As part of the design process, I conducted two rounds of usability tests with 10 users to see what they thought about the product and how they navigated through it to complete the task. Following this, I was able to collect valuable insights that were used to improve the design and overall experience.
Users wanted the image to be tappable, not just the description
Made the entire friend’s list card tappable.
User expected to be able to tap the restaurant name or image to take them to the restaurant page instead of just the “Visit Restaurant Page” button.
Made the restaurant name and image tappable and changed “Visit Restaurant Page” to just “View.”
Users could not easily notice the “Save” button at the top of the restaurant page.
Moved the “Save” button next to the restaurant information.
I started the process of determining the visual identity by creating a list of adjectives I believed my brand embodied. I then explored possible names that led me to my winning brand name. With the adjectives and brand name in mind, I began to look for inspiration and created a mood board that reflects the aspirations of my brand.
After deliberating between a list of possible names, I chose “Savor” because it’s easy to remember, has a connection to food vocabulary, and is defined as something to delight in and enjoy it completely.
For my mood board, I searched for images that matched the aspirations and values of my brand. Some of the keywords I used to describe this board are: happy, bright, lively, appetizing, colorful and alluring.
I decided on adding the “yum” emoji face to replace the “O” for my logo because it fit the fun mood I wanted to portray for my brand. It also ties into the brand name and concept of “Savor.” I decided to go with the slightly rounded font, “GT Pressura” because it also tied in with the concept of feeling fun.
In order to keep the design elements consistent across different screens, I created a UI Library. Below are a few examples of some of the elements that make up Savor’s visual identity.
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After determining the brand’s visual identity, I transformed my previous wireframes to a high-fidelity prototype. I made adjustments to some of the cards to remain consistent thoughout the design and improve the overall interface and experience. I also included additional search frames to follow consistency and standards of when a user is typing into a search bar.
Below are the high-fidelity wireframes used in the final prototype for Savor.
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I predict that the social impact Savor will provide for foodies will be immense. They feel more confident in their dining decisions because of the trusted reviews and recommendations they now have access to. Also, foodies will now have their own digital space to build their network with other likeminded tastemakers, leaving them to feel a greater sense of community.
I can foresee Savor having a significant impact on increasing business for local establishments. During COVID-19 local businesses were impacted the most. Restaurants are beginning to open and need business to pick up now more than ever. With Savor, users will organically promote restaurants in their area or when traveling.
In the future, I plan on expanding Savor’s features and offerings. For instance, I would like to include an events and meetups feature that allows users to interact with other foodies either online or in-person to enhance the community experience. I would also like to setup email marketing that sends users weekly recommendations based on their likes and preferences to encourage continued use of the app.
I learned that by taking time to be intentional about design decisions, this can lead to a more effective and impactful task flow. While researching UI inspiration and sketching did take longer than I originally intended, I believe this allowed me to create an intentional design that allowed users to successfully complete the task flow during user testing with only minor obstructions.
As this project often crossed over with other deliverables during the 10 weeks, time management was one of my biggest challenges. I’ll admit that I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist and this means that sometimes I spend way too much time on one task trying to make it perfect. I learned to prioritize certain tasks and allot myself a specific amount of time to complete those tasks.
While I already understood the importance of user feedback, I really saw this come to life during my user interviews and testing. By thoroughly listening to my users, I was able to generate lots of ideas and features that would improve the overall experience. I also learned to prioritize feedback to focus on the most important recommendations or concerns.
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