In these unprecedented times, COVID-19 has imposed a series of unsolved
challenges to governments, communities and people. 

How can we improve the economic stability of “at risk” industries such as hospitality?

Our business solution is Foodie Box, designed to create an alternative source of income
for restaurants and cafés all while tending to the needs of our target customer group by helping them spice up their weekly cooking routine. 

We would like to offer Foodie Box as an option for Australians to duplicate
local restaurant recipes through an informative and engaging medium.

The value we aim provide goes beyond the means of a traditional application, it takes form as a sensory restaurant experience that we aim to provide customers at the comfort of their own home. 

We interviewed 6 people, which is an extremely small sample size, however due to time and limitations, our team concluded that it was vital to prioritise getting deep personal insights on our customer base as soon as possible to improve and consolidate our ideas in the early stages. 

Our questions collected basic demographic information and in depth analytics on cooking schedules, cooking skill levels, eating habits and restaurant preferences based on  convenience, health, value, mood. We also asked interviewees to evaluate a recent new restaurant experience in order to analyse their motivations and expectations for trying new restaurants.

The affinity diagram allows us to frame and draw insights from large amounts of primary data compiled from our interviews. Data is categorized by similar user needs and these needs are then separated into 4 distinct themes. Doing this allows us accurately define our the problem areas we aim to address

1. Writing out all our interview findings

2. Grouping findings into 7 common user needs and experiences.

3. Further categorise based on user needs.

4. Group user needs into 4 main themes: Cultural Shift, Mindset, Experience and Values.

Upon identifying key insights from our interviews, we attempted to frame these insights through an affinity diagram and separate data into 4 main themes: Cultural shifts, Restaurant Experience, Cost-Value-Convenience and Cooking Mindset.

From the data gathered, the major key patterns that were identified. 

1. save money

2. customise their meals

3. challenge their cooking skills 

4. experience a sense of accomplishment 

5. connect with culture

When choosing their meals, users suffer from limited time, prioritising cost-value and the need to budget. Hence, the convenience of prepared meals outweighed any benefit to learning how to cook. 

​​​​​​​

Why do users eat out at restaurants?

-> a means of leisure and social activity

-> a way to try new or authentic dishes

-> a way to enjoy unique and restaurant experiences

-> a way to enjoy a unique ambiance or aesthetic interior design

By analysing these themes and comparing them to user demographics we created user personas of our targeted audiences for Foodie Box.

The ideation process involved brainstorming, sketching and storyboarding our ideas, then critically analysing and comparing each one to see if they fit our user needs and related strongly to the design brief of COVID-19 solutions. First we brainstormed together as a team about how we could help restaurants reach more customers during times of limited dining capacity due to social distancing laws. We then used sketching to roughly visualise how each of our ideas would work and critique on whether or not they fit the design brief and would actually help the hospitality industry.

In particular, we sketched 3 main ideas for helping the hospitality industry struggling with limited capacity rules for dine in leading to lowered profit: 

(1) a conveyor belt takeaway system similar to sushi trains to limit human contact, 

(2) an at-home cocktail making kit, and 

(3) a service similar to Hello Fresh where raw ingredients are delivered for each recipe ordered, except struggling restaurant who would then get a commission for sharing their own recipes as part of our recipe collection on our website. 

Using a decision matrix, we settled on the ideas for a restaurant meal box kit as was most relevant to our brief and generally ethically more viable when pitted against the other ideas as it engaged as both a restaurant and customer experience service.

Further developmental iteration was conducted from feedback from tutors and interviewees, collecting primary and secondary data and experimental prototype testing in order to further refine our concepts. Conducting user feedback provided insight to peoples eating habits and our promise is to give a full customer experience through the 5 senses which are sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.

Restaurant owners would also be more incentivised to join our service if we actively promote their brand, motto, history and unique charm through video introductions and “day in the life” of the chefs or staff who work there. This way users will have a more personalised “behind-the-scenes” connection to each restaurant when recreating their recipes at home, further immersing themselves in the cooking experience. They become a part of the restaurant itself, which gives users more incentive to come in person later and try the original recipes they have cooked out of curiosity.

We also added additional new features according to the ‘5 senses’ to recreate the unique charm of each restaurant experience. 

Smell / Taste/ Touch: The aroma, taste and feel of the food and spices would be enough to stimulate their appetites while cooking. Making sure the ingredients are high quality is essential creating an enjoyable user experience.

Sound: A music playlist for each restaurant or cuisine, for example classic or jazz music for gourmet dishes, or music uploaded by the restaurant itself. This could be potentially linked to a Spotify playlist or be embedded with our website or application.

Sight: Users can upload their finished dishes through social media or on the app to share with others or compile together as a “cooking story.” A video tutorial instead of reading the recipes on the food would allow users to freely use both hands and learn important cooking techniques from chefs to improve their own skills.

How did we do it?
Having identified the purpose of our design, the high-level requirements and user needs,
the team brainstormed features, pages and various elements of the prototype that we
aimed to build. Having gone through a brainstorming session allowed to easily build a
mid-fidelity prototype on Figma after establishing a desired aesthetic. 

Challenges
While we were first focused on building a low fidelity prototype, during our market
research and interviews, we were able to identify features straight of the bat that we
know we wanted to include. This eventually resulted in building a mid-fidelity prototype
instead.
Doing this did have a minor negative impact as during the interview process, in some
instances, testers were focused on the colour scheme and the aesthetics rather than the
functionality. However after a second round of testing, we were eventually able to focus
on the functionality features itself.

After creating the prototype, the way in which we aimed to conduct usability testing was by asking 3-5 people from our target market to engage in a walk-through. During the walk through of the prototype, they will be given prompts that will guide them through the application.

We asked questions such as: you are a new customer, set up an account, look for
restaurants in The Rocks and use the filter to adjust by ratings.

During testing, each member was assigned a role, one would prompt the user, one would record their actions and the other would assist in navigating through the prototype. Their responses were recorded into a table with answers to each question and a yes or no, based on whether they were able to achieve the task. We then used the result to make improvements to the prototype.

After coming up with the name, I used Adobe Illustrator make logo design mockups for our new service.

With the implementation of the Foodie box, we believe that both the hospitality
industry and consumers will greatly benefit from using our service. 

Restaurants and cafes will be given an opportunity to expand through an online platform which allows for existing customers to continue ordering from these restaurants without
them having to risk their safety by visiting physical stores. 

It also acts as a platform for restaurants to advertise themselves to reach a wider audience and potentially gain new customers. With the combination of these benefits, restaurants and cafes are highly likely to regain some of the lost revenue caused by COVID-19. 

On the other hand, through our service, customers are able to once again enjoy
restaurant quality food at the comfort of their own home without having to worry
about preparations before cooking. It provides an opportunity for them to learn
more about cooking and gain a better appreciation for their favourite foods. New
customers are also able to use our platform as a method to find new restaurants
and recipes around their area that otherwise may go unnoticed.