Smart Cooking
Project overview
The product:
Smart Cooking is an educational tool focused on teaching kids how to cook healthy food . Smart Cooking’ primary target users include kids who would like to learn more about cooking
Project duration:
August 2021- September 2021.
This project was a part of Google UX Design Certification program.
My role:
UX designer leading the app and responsive website design from conception to delivery.
My responsibilities:
Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, iterating on designs, determining information architecture, and responsive design.
The problem:
There is a lack of knowledge among the kids about cooking and limited understanding about healthy food
The goal:
Design an app that will help educate kids on the topic of cooking healthy food and help them improve cooking skills.
Understanding the user
User research summary:
I conducted user interviews with different social groups and ages. Most interview participants reported lack of resources to help kids learn how to cook healthy food. The feedback received through research made it very clear that users would be happy to use teaching tool to improve cooking skills and gain more knowledge about healthy food.
Personas:
Persona 1.
Problem statement: Mila is a full day school student who needs to improve cooking skills and learn how to cook healthy food because it will make her more confident and healthier.
Persona 2.
Problem statement: Anna is a mother of 3 kids. She also has a full-time job and needs to find some tools for her kids, so they can learn how to cook healthy food by themselves at home.
Starting the design
Low-fidelity prototype
After ideating and drafting some paper wireframes, I created the initial designs for the Smart Cooking app.
To prepare for usability testing, I created a low-fidelity prototype that connected the user flow of learning process.
Usability study
Study type: Unmoderated usability study
Location: Seattle, remote
Participants: 5 participants
Length: 30 minutes
These were the main findings uncovered by the usability study:
Users need more languages to be able to use this app
Users need a more simple way to find right lesson
Young users need video to be included as an option for accessibility
Refining the design
Mockups
Based on the insights from the usability studies, I applied design changes like providing a video player to make learning process more accessible.
High-fidelity prototype
The high-fidelity prototype followed the same user flow as the low-fidelity prototype, including design changes made after the usability study.
Accessibility considerations
Added language and audio settings to maximize accessibility
Used icons and contrast colors to help make navigation easier.
Responsive Design
Sitemap
With the app designs completed, I started work on designing the responsive website. I used the to guide the organizational structure of each screen’s design.
The designs for screen size variation included mobile, tablet, and desktop. I optimized the designs to fit specific user needs of each device and screen size.
Going forward
Takeaways
Impact:
Users shared that the app can help to learn kids how to cook healthy food. One quote from peer feedback was that “I would like to share this tool with my kids. It is a good impact to community.”
What I learned:
While designing the Anchorhead Coffee app, I learned that the first ideas for the app are only the beginning of the process. Usability studies and peer feedback influenced each iteration of the app’s designs.
Next steps
Add more educational resources for users to learn about cooking healthy food.
Conduct more user research to determine any new areas of need.
Let’s connect!
Thank you for your time reviewing my work on the Smart Cooking tool !
If you’d like to
see more or get in touch, my contact information is provided below.
Email: oligachebot@gmail.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/olga-ce