Brief
I completed this project in my second year of University as part of a user-centred design module. We were briefed by IBM to follow a user-centred design process to design and prototype an app in the food industry. The project was focused on researching a real problem and designing an inclusive app that provides a relevant solution. In response to the brief, I designed a restaurant reservation app prototype that makes restaurant booking easier for users with specific dietary needs.
mockup of home page
The Solution
Table42 fills a gap in the market for an application that makes restaurant booking easier than ever before with menus that are transparent and tailored to your dietary needs. Table42 does the work for the use and creates a sense of security that options are available for them. On the first opening of the app, the user will be asked about their diet before they are provided with tailored results as well as a visual indication of which restaurants cater best to their diet. The in-app menu is automatically toggled to the user's requirement (this can be toggled off to reveal a full version of the menu, with the typographic hierarchy still supporting the user's needs). The menu is also interactive, allowing users to view and upload real images of dishes that they love or hate with a review of the food item. Your local pub might only have one vegan option, but 8 other vegans love it so much they have posted a review on Table42.
Design Process
user research
User research was an important part of my design process to establish a lifelike persona with user needs and pain points that I could solve for. The persona I solved for was Jackie, a vegan who needed a new way to find restaurants she could eat at with her friends.
competitor analysis
Another important part of the research phase was looking at what competitors had the same aims as the app I wished to develop. I analyzed 3 restaurant reservation apps; HappyCow, OpenTable, and TheFork.
wireframing
Before applying visuals to the app screens, I developed low-fi and mid-fi wireframes to bring Table42 to life and develop how the user would search and navigate the features of the app.
prototyping
The final stage of the project was prototyping, I applied a set of brand guidelines to my screens to bring the prototype to life.
Table42 prototype walkthrough
Project Takeaways
This project introduced me to the world of inclusive, user-centred design and was the first time I had the opportunity to work on a user-experience design process. During this project, I found my passion for digital design and the UX process. I developed skills such as learning about personas, identifying user needs, wireframing and prototyping using XD.