Menu
The Hometown Cafe app is a go-to app for a warm and inviting culinary journey. Whether you are a foodie craving new flavors or a busy individual craving special café delights without the hassle, our app has got you covered.
Busy workers and users who order for groups lack the time necessary to order in person.
Design an app for Hometown Café that allows users to easily order and pick up fresh, healthy delights.
Design Hometown Cafe mobile app
Figma
UX designer designing an app for Hometown Cafe App from conception to delivery.
July 2023 to August 2023
I conducted interviews and produced empathy maps. Working people who don’t have time to prepare their own delights and order for groups were one of the main user groups discovered through research.
This user group confirmed initial assumptions about Hometown Café App customers, but research
also revealed that time was not the only factor limiting users from going to cafes.
Other user problems included obligations, interests, or challenges that make it
difficult to go all the way to restaurants in person.
Legibility: Text-heavy menus in apps are often difficult to read and order from
Problem statement: Alfie is a busy working
adult who needs easy access to healthy food ordering options because he wants to save time by using a compatible food ordering app.
Mapping Alfies user journey revealed how helpful it would be for users to have access to a dedicated Hometown Cafe app.
Taking the time to draft iterations of each screen of the app on paper ensured that the elements that made it to digital wireframes would be well-suited to address user pain points. For the home screen, I prioritized a quick and easy ordering process to help users save time.
Using the completed set of digital wireframes, I created a low-fidelity prototype. The primary user flow I connected with was ordering a coffee, so the prototype could be used in a usability study.
I conducted two rounds of usability studies. Findings from the first study helped guide the designs from wireframes to mockups. The second study used a high-fidelity prototype and revealed what aspects of the mockups needed refining.
Round 1 findings
Users want the option of special items in detail.
Users want more customization options.
Users found the checkout to be confusing
Round 2 findings
Users finds the need to add customer reviews.
Users want the option of rating the items.
Early designs allowed access to the menu but after the usability studies, I added an additional button for special items of the day. I also revised the design so users find the navigation to be easy.
The final high-fidelity prototype presented cleaner user flows for ordering and checkout. It also met user needs for a pickup or delivery option as well as more customization.
Provided access to users who are vision impaired through adding a play button to listen to the texts.
Used icons to help make navigation easier.
Used different options like categories, special items, and menus so that the users can save time.
The app makes users feel like Hometown Cafe App really thinks about how to meet their needs.
One quote from peer feedback:
“The app made it so easy and fun to order for a group! I would definitely use this app as a go-to for a delicious, fast, and even healthy meal.”
While designing the Hometown Cafe 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.
Conduct another round of usability studies to validate whether the pain points users experienced have been effectively addressed.
Conduct more user research to determine any new areas of need.
