Investigating the existing products in the market. Before diving into primary research I wanted to analyze the products already existing in the market today. Are they providing what the user needed? Are they enough helpful to the user to keep them engaged for long-term usage? To figure out the app goals and target market we asked for app reviews from people who use them.
Two apps were considered for the competition review that is Yummly and SideChef.

• Difficult to navigate: Some users had trouble figuring out how to use the app.

• Confusion with meal types: No clear distinction between vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals and no option to filter recipes based on meal type.

• Lack of customization: Recipes were not personalized to individual preferences and no recommendations for specific meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner).

• Missing ingredients: Users were discouraged from using the app when they were unable to find the necessary ingredients for a recipe.

• Limited control: Users would have preferred the ability to see recipes customized to their preferred ingredients.

• Limited options: Few options are available, and most of them required a paid membership.

• Disconnect with kitchen items: Recipes did not align with items available in the kitchen.

A total of 30 individuals took part in the survey and the target audience was people aged between 20 - 40 years. Online surveys are a part of quantitative research so as to include more individuals in the research process to understand the small details of their experiences. Survey questions majorly included questions about the user’s visitation to the grocery store, frequency of food wastage, and time is taken to decide on meals. The target audience was mostly young college people who stay in shared spaces, single professionals, and married working women with family.

Survey Questions

• Which age group do you fall in?

• How frequently do you go grocery shopping?

• How do you know what to buy at the store?

• Do you get swayed by offers and discounts and end up buying something which you did not plan to buy?

• Do you spend money on unnecessary food items?

• Would you prefer buying small amounts and having frequent trips to the store or buying in a bulk a wait for it to finish?

• How much time does it take for you to decide on a satisfying recipe with the grocery left in your kitchen?

• Do other members of the house inform you when an item is expired or needs to be re-stocked?

• Do you have storage issues due to excess variety and unused food?

• How do you feel about throwing food items?

In-depth user interviews were conducted with 10 potential users on how they manage their dietary requirements, how they manage their groceries, whether are they successfully managing the food flow in and out of the kitchen, are they using any tool for it. User interviews helped us understand minute details about the problems the user faced in the kitchen, be it spending a lot of time every day making food or they are happy with their traditional pen-paper method of tracking and shopping. We chose a particular group of interviewees who get affected by these problems.

• To understand how they manage their kitchen in shared living spaces. Do they have any tools for doing it?

• Are they successfully completing their dietary requirements? Are they facing problems due to an unhealthy diet?

• Do they have all the items needed to make food whenever required?

• How do they manage their grocery shopping? Are they satisfied with the money they spend?

• Are they ready to adapt to a digital way of managing or will they stick to the traditional pen-paper method?

• No time to make, eventually order food

• Lack of recipe knowledge, do not know what to buy from stores. Ends up buying attractive products which might not be needed.

• No tools to manage the kitchen, half of the time the items get expired, food and money wastage

• No fulfillment of a healthy diet, facing health issues

• Pen paper shopping list which gets misplaced most of the time, which makes them miss items to buy

• Visiting the store many times irritates them

• Missing items when trying to make something

To empathize with the users and try to find a solution to their problems, We made three personas. The personas helped to prioritize the type of users and also gave a clear idea to execute combined solutions to their problems. Building personas gave direction to the solving process and opened new design opportunities. Below presented are the personas made, click on them for a clear image.