A New Pizza Experience is ready

Duration: 6 Months
Platforms: Mobile
Team/Role: UX Designer
App: Is not coded yet

Initially, the research was geared toward designing an app. But that plan changed a couple of months into the project. The owner just wanted a standard and mobile version of their website. The information that came from this research can still be used in the standard and mobile versions.

The Challenge

The Client is the Owner of Vera. He wanted an app with a modern but family vibe that included an element of reward with each purchase. He also wanted just a couple of items for the kids’ menu. My role was to build a branding guide, compare food apps that are already available, and design an app that was different and more efficient in showing the complete purchase total in real-time.

The major problem was the many of the pizza apps do not have very accessible lists of ingredients and customizable options. An additional side problem was many of the apps lacked visual appeal.

“We eat with our eyes first”

Research

To find out what the public thought, I sent out a survey. The survey asked questions about what apps people use for ordering food, what they do and do not like, and the value of listing the ingredients. The client also wanted to explore the idea of customization with each pizza.

Design Phase

I took the menu and its ingredients and started to build a hierarchy between this information and the approved images. The quick links and current purchases total would always be at the bottom, making it easy for the user to see the total and access links without having to dig for information.

The site map went through a couple of rounds before it was ready to present because we needed to find the correct place for the customization element. We wanted it to be easily accessible but not slow the user down if they did not want to use it.

The rewards/gamification system would exist in the background and only appear in their cart and as a mobile once during their ordering process.

Final Outcomes

The client loved the high-fidelity images that I presented. As we walked through the demo, his original concern about the brand presentation was relieved.

Takeaways

When it came to how the user would access the customization menu, the client had some concerns because I did not have anything to show him when we were discussing that stage. This made the client nervous at first; after a couple of days, I produced some sketches that eased the client's worries.

When creating a food app, it is important that the menu is current and locked in before you start with your high-fidelity mockups. The navigation on the home page had to be redesigned a couple of times because of the changes.

Mobile Layout