Designed a platform for Mend-A-Meal, improving home-chef ease to use Conducted usability testing to refine user flows, reducing click rate by 18% and enhancing overall navigation efficiency.
CONTEXT
​Mend-A-Meal is an app designed to help home chefs expand their customer base by offering a platform for exposure, secure online payments, and flexibility to work from home without needing marketing. For consumers, it provides an affordable, convenient way to access healthy, customizable home-cooked meals, with options for daily or weekly meal plans.
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MY ROLE
Led end-to-end research and design for a 0→1 product as a UX/UI designer, using usability interviews and qualitative data analysis to shape user flows, boost engagement, and drive strategic decisions
TIMELINE
16 weeks
projected based on product design, user research, and competitive analysis.
METHODS
Usability testing, Heuristic evaluation, Competitive analysis, focu group, mental model,
Refine user flow, Data analysis
WHY DID I CHOOSE FOR MEND-A-MEAL TO COME TO LIFE?
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Navigating food choices with dietary restrictions, health goals, or limited time can be frustrating. Many users struggle with scattered recipes, confusing nutrition labels, and a lack of personalization. Mend-A-Meal was created to simplify that experience, offering tailored meal recommendations, ingredient swaps, and nutrition insights that empower users to make informed, healthier choices with ease.
HOW I CONTRIBUTED
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My goal was to design Mend-A-Meal as a seamless experience for both users seeking personalized meals and chefs providing recipes. I focused on building intuitive flows that balanced both perspectives, ensuring users could easily discover, customize, and save meals while enabling chefs to upload, tag, and manage recipes efficiently. My contributions included:​
User Research
In-depth research with both users and chefs to identify key friction points in meal planning
Dual-Flow UX Design
Designed parallel, role-based experiences, streamlining the journey for chefs and users
Strategy & Iteration
Refined navigation and content structure to guide diverse users
MY DESIGN PROCESS
BEFORE JUMPING INTO THE FINAL DESIGNS, LET’S FIRST UNDERSTAND THE OBJECTIVE AND TYPE OF USERS
OBJECTIVE​ ​
To empower home chefs to easily share nutritious meals while ensuring users can make informed, health-conscious food choices through intuitive design and clear nutritional insights.
To simplify meal planning by offering personalized recipes and ingredient swaps tailored to individual dietary needs and preferences.
To understand daily food ordering behaviors, meal expectations, and the struggles of aspiring home chefs, focusing on diverse user groups, including busy individuals, health-conscious eaters, culturally rooted users, and passionate home cooks aiming to turn their craft into a business.
TYPE OF USERS
Mend-A-Meal serves two key user types: home chefs, who want to share and monetize their recipes, and everyday users, aged 18–45, seeking convenient, personalized, and healthy meal options.
Number of Chef Surveys
Fifteen Chefs
Number of User Surveys
Forty Users
Competitive aplication
CookUnity and Factor
Empathize
​KNOWING USERS FIRST: UNVEILING THE NEEDS BEHIND MEND-A-MEAL
GOOGLE SURVEY QUESTIONS AND ANALYSIS
The below results are the responses by people who choose to be chef
What I analyzed
1. I found that most of the chefs I interviewed did not have a license to cook, since most were home chefs. They do use social media to advertise their skills, and Instagram was the most popular platform.
2. About half of the chefs I surveyed said they need an app like Mend-a-Meal to help them with delivery and expand their clients. More than half of the home chefs would be willing to obtain a license to improve their business/ratings.
The below results are the responses by people who choose to be user
What I analyzed
1. The survey indicates that there is a potential demand for an app that connects customers with home chefs, with over 70% preferring home-cooked meals over restaurant meals.
2. Food quality is a key factor for customers, with over 80% prioritizing it over other factors.
3. Customization options are also important to over 70% of customers.
KEY INSIGHT FROM USER INTERVIEWS
Number of Chef Surveys
Fifteen Chefs
Passionate About Their Work: Emphasizing how chefs love creating culinary experiences that make customers happy
​Values Independence: Showing their preference for freelance work over traditional employment
Number of User Surveys
FortyUsers
Health & Nostalgia: Emphasizes their preference for healthy, fresh alternatives and connection to childhood dishes
Customization & Control: Shows how customers value flexibility in customizing orders, portion sizes, and spiciness
KEY INSIGHT FROM USER PERSONA THAT SHAPED MY APPROACH
Anjali Saran
Age: 24
About
Anjali is 24 year old dedicated acting student. She enjoys Indian food. She likes to explore new restaurants and cafe.
Frustrations
1. Limited time for meal preparation.
2. Difficulty in finding healthy and vegan food.
3. Limited access to home-cooked meals.
Goals:
1. Convenient meal solutions that fit her busy schedule.
2. Healthy and low-calorie meal options.
3. Affordable prices.
Behavior
1. Uses food delivery apps regularly.
2. Searches for healthy and low-calorie Indian food options before placing an order.
Motivation
1. Wants quick and healthy meal options that fit her busy lifestyle.
2. Looks for affordable solutions without compromising on nutrition.
Define
THE FINAL ANALYSIS FROM THE RESEARCH FEEDBACK AND INSIGHTS
Convenience and Time-Saving
People save time and effort in the kitchen by offering meal planning and prepping choices, particularly benefit those with a busy life, like working individuals.
Health and Nutrition
Compared to fast food or restaurant options, home-cooked meals frequently contain fresher and healthier ingredients, getting nutritional value from their meals.
Taste and Customization
Users may delight in dishes that cater to their taste preferences, dietary constraints, and cultural backgrounds, delivering a gratifying and memorable meal experience.
Food Safety
Higher trust in the safety and hygiene of home-cooked meals because they can often evaluate the source of the supplies and the cooking process, ensuring transparency in food preparation.
Yay, finally you're here! Dive into the final designs and see how real user insights transformed vision into visual innovation
Ideate
LET'S SEE SOME INITIAL WIREFRAMES BEFORE THE HI-FI DESIGN
Prototype
BELOW ARE THE FINAL DESIGNS
Curious to see how real users shaped the design? Dive into the user evaluation insights that drove key improvements
Test
USER RESULT AFTER PRODUCT USABILITY TESTING
Usability testing after the survey about idea and final product teting
Diversity of participants interviewed
5 tasks
5 open ended questions
40 minute session
Google Survey
User Interview
Chef Interview
82%
Task success
8.4 s
Avg. time per task
4.25/5.00
SUS score
SUS SCORE RESULTS
Customer satisfaction (4.5/5)
Chef satisfaction (4.0/5)
KEY FINDINGS AND FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS
KEY FINDINGS
Insights were drawn from both structured testing and real-time user behavior
Easy to use
Most users found Mend-A-Meal intuitive
Personalization
Users felt heard when chefs accommodated dietary preferences
Meal Variety
Wide range of cuisines received highest satisfaction scores
Some areas where users and chefs struggled during the task, highlighting opportunities for future improvement
Payment task Issue
Most users struggled adding payment method under "security and privacy"
Biggest Delay
Chefs struggled with the menu layout, which made presenting dishes to users
FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS
Add Hover Labels to Icons
Improve usability by implementing hover tooltips for all icons, especially those not universally recognized.
Relocate Payment Settings
Move payment options out of "Security & Privacy" and into a more intuitive section like "Billing" or "Account Settings.
Enable Quick Access Shortcuts
Add customizable shortcuts or quick-access tabs for frequently used features (like“Audio option”to add new dish)
OUTCOME
Created a user-centric product that seamlessly connects home chefs with consumers, offering convenience, flexibility, and trust. My role ensured that Mend-A-Meal’s design effectively addressed the needs of its target audience, balancing usability with the business's goals.
KEY TAKEAWAY AND LEARNINGS
Dual User Focus
Learned how to balance the needs of two distinct user groups: home chefs and busy eaters through thoughtful UX flows.
Building Trust & Usability
Realized the importance of trust, accessibility, and ease of navigation in designing food-related platforms.
Scalable Design Systems
Developed skills in creating scalable UI components and visual systems that support a seamless and consistent user experience.
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