DES100 - Deliver Phase

How might we create a platform that motivates Andrew to cook more for himself so that he won't have to buy his meals all the time?

DECISION TO FINAL CONCEPT

Through talking to my client about his problem space within cooking, amongst all his different problems, I realised they were all related to motivation. So I decided to focus on this app concept which uses incentives to encourage him to cook. My choice to do a digital solution as opposed to a physical solution was because cooking for/with other people means you have to cater for everyone's needs. However, when you cook by yourself, with this app, you can cook the same thing and still connect with them but also cater to your own taste. It also shines a positive light on "cooking alone".

FINAL CONCEPT FEEDBACK

• Colour - Likes the warm colour as it makes people feel more hungry - Make it more red toned rather than brown - Add white background with accent colour rather than a full colour background - Colour of the text could be different from just black - looks 'uncomfortable' with the nice background colour

• Logo - Looks like a background asset rather than a logo - Knife blends in with background - Could make the app name the logo itself instead of having a separate logo

• Text - Font doesn't suit app, doesn't look professional and looks basic - Titles of each section doesn't stand out enough and they get lost with what they're looking at

• Purpose/Usability - Thought it was for people to share food opinions like Zomato - Without explanation, it's hard to understand how the app works - to help, it should include a short instruction pop up when opening the app for the first time - Confused about app's purpose - knows it's food related but not specific use of it - Instead of the recipe page first, a profile page with past recipes and avatar would make it feel more organised

• Client's Questions - How do I switch to different pages on the app? - Are there any more vouchers besides Countdown? - Where can I find more recipes? Or is there just one recipe per day/meal? - Can I find the creator of each recipe?

COLOUR PALETTE

• orange - stays within the warm colour palette but also symbolises motivation

• turquoise - symbolises relaxation which is what cooking is to him. It shouldn't be stressful or feel like a chore

• white - clean look, less overwhelming

• orange and turquoise are complementary colours based off the colour wheel

APP NAME AND LOGO

• For the second logo, I added a tagline to make it seem more obvious that it was a cooking app. I placed a chef hat on EAT to make it seem like cooking rather than eating, while making some of the letters resemble cutlery but it ended up looking too busy

• For the third logo, I decided to have a separate logo next to the app name which is a chef hat and a fist. It represents the potential that people have to be their own chef when they find the motivation. I changed the app name to digichef as my tutor brought up the idea of my app concept being a digital dinner table, and as I wanted to focus on the cooking aspect, I used "chef". I also changed the tagline as it was more direct in the purpose of the app.

• For my final logo, I kept the tagline the same as well as the logo but placed it on top of the app name to make it more balanced. I also decided to remove the 'e' after 'EAT' as it was unnecessary and didn't add anything to the name. I had almost decided on using the third logo as my final, but other people liked motivEAT as it was more clear on the app's purpose. I ended up choosing motivEAT as my final because I wanted my app to be unique and different to the typical cooking/recipe apps that people currently use

APP FEATURES

App feature brainstorm

FINAL APP FEATURES

Reminders - to build cooking habits instead of spending money on buying meals, otherwise the app will takes points away from you.

Daily cooking challenge - all users get the same challenge (e.g. cook with a specific ingredient given) that they can participate in and then share their creation. Users can see other people's take on recipes and use it as inspiration. I created this feature as Andrew lacks inspiration and tends to cook the same things all the time.

Recipes - users can try other people's recipes and share their own, and they can simultaneously follow a recipe with others by 'inviting' them. This brings people together and creates a community where people can share an appreciation for food.

Rewards & Tracking your progress - the user can earn vouchers (for grocery shopping/buying meals) based off how often they participate in daily challenges. I kept this aspect as Andrew cared about having special discounts on the app. They have a food avatar ranking based off points they earn from trying and sharing recipes as well as sharing pictures of their cooked meals. This allows users to show off their food avatar ranking to others on the platform, allowing them to track their progress and compete with others.

APP EXPERIENCE & CLIENT FEEDBACK

To simulate using the app, we both chose recipes to share with each other and then cooked it at home. I chose to share my family's Spring Roll recipe because I make it with my sister on special occasions and it’s always fun to prepare and eat it them with my family. Andrew shared me his Nori Teriyaki Tofu Sticks recipe which was really fun to cook and was simpler than I thought it would be. After I cooked them, I gave some to my family to try and they enjoyed it 😋 Andrew found trading the recipes a fun and exciting experience as it was his first time doing it. He thought it was a unique app due to the voucher system and suggested to improve the UI design and formatting.

Future developments:

• The recipe's ingredients will link to where the creator buys their ingredient from, as an option, can be delivered or ready for click and collect. Local shops/supermarkets can be a partner of the app (Andrew struggles with knowing what to buy for recipes and how much of it to get)

• Recipe randomiser button to help give him a recipe as he's indecisive

• Users can choose their starting (newbie) avatar

• Make changes to the logo as the lecturer said the chef hat looks like a mushroom cloud and the logo looks a rebellion symbol since it also has a fist 😬

• Each person’s profile is viewable so users can connect with others easier and find their favourite home chefs to motivate them

• At the start, there could be a questionnaire for the users to choose which types of motivation relates to them so that the app's features can cater to them

REFLECTION

During this whole process to solve my HMW statement, I noticed that I was getting too attached to certain ideas. It was getting to the point where I would try to fit everything else around them when I should actually be changing and developing my ideas based on what my client wants, not what I want. I also realised that this app is suited to people beyond those who live alone or are students due to the different motivational features. The communication between Andrew and I was always easy and there were no troubles so it made getting feedback pretty easy. The development stage was crucial for me because I tend to jump to solutions in my head thinking it will be the best and final one. Therefore, I had to backtrack and think about how I got there, hone into each of my ideas, and take it apart to get more feedback. It was after that, that I was able to come up with my final product that was quite different to how I originally thought it would be. It was also very time consuming to get feedback for everything because I had to make sure my ideas were relevant to solving Andrew's motivation problem. Despite all of this, I was able to work work collaboratively with Andrew to develop and deliver a meaningful solution, allowing him to cook more at home and save his money at the same time.