Redesign of a Digital Cookbook
How can we redesign a recipe website to deliver more value for a specific user group within strict time and budget constraints?
For this school project, we redesigned the Danish recipe website Alletiders Kogebog. Our focus was on balancing user needs with limited resources, prioritizing high-impact solutions through personas and story points. We developed a high-fidelity clickable prototype and validated it with user testing. Insights from those sessions led to improvement of features and increased usability and engagement for our target users.
PRIMARY ROLE
Facilitator
Research/testing
DELIVERIES
TOOLS/METHODS
Figma
Persona
Affinity Diagram
How Might We
User Stories
Story Points
Heuristic Evaluation
Think Aloud Protocol
TEAM
3 Designers
TIME
2 Weeks
Family With Challenges - Persona
Affinity Diagram
Persona
This persona represents a family with busy parents who want fun, stress-free cooking with their kids. Allergies and picky eating make mealtime challenging, so they seek quick, enjoyable dinners that everyone can prepare together without frustration.
Affinity Diagramming
Due to the complexity of our persona, we used affinity diagramming to organize insights. This helped us clarify what we know, identify areas to explore further, and capture new general observations.
How Might We Questions
User Stories
How Might We
After categorizing insights, we turned each into a “How Might We” question and brainstormed out-of-the-box and playful ideas. This approach helped us explore a wide range of solutions without self-imposed limits.
User Stories
We dot-voted on our brainstormed solutions, then created user stories for each “How Might We” question. After another round of dot voting, we selected the most promising stories to inspire new features.
Desktop Research
Featurelist
Desktop Research
We analyzed the digital recipe website to identify what works well, what doesn’t, and uncover the site’s story. This helped us determine key areas to focus on when designing new features.
Featurelist
With only 10 story points, we chose not to redesign visuals, as this didn’t align with the persona’s needs. Instead, we focused on three key features to address user frustrations: one high-cost feature (8 points) and two low-cost features (1 point each).
Sketches
Wireframes with Annotations
Sketches
We used sketches to quickly visualize each feature, helping the team explore ideas and communicate solutions more clearly.
Wireframes
Wireframes were a core part of the process, with clear annotations linking each feature to its user story. This ensured a smooth transition to the prototyping phase.
High-Fidelity Prototype
The prototype closely resembled the real website, incorporating our three new features while maintaining the original design.
Kid-friendly Cooking Steps
Feature 1.1
Easy-To-Swap Ingredients
Clear Time Estimations
Hidden Veggies Theme
Feature 1.1
Color-coded steps allow parents to assign tasks to each child based on age or skill, fostering independence, inclusiveness, and active participation in the kitchen.
Feature 1.2
Users can select dietary preferences directly within a recipe, automatically adjusting ingredients and instructions without navigating to separate versions.
Feature 2
Clear time estimates help parents quickly determine if a recipe fits their schedule.
Feature 3
A curated theme highlights recipes that cleverly incorporate hidden vegetables, making mealtime easier for parents with picky eaters.
User Test
Heuristic Evaluation
Think Aloud Protocol
After prototyping, we tested the features to see if they felt intuitive, engaging, and easy to find. Users completed a set of tasks while thinking aloud, revealing valuable feedback for improvements.
The 10 Heuristics
Applying UX principles, including the 10 heuristics, helped us check adherence to good design practices and identify areas for improvement.
Improvement 1
Improvement 2
Improvement 3
Improvement 1
User testing showed the time estimate needed to appear earlier in the recipe, ensuring parents could see it upfront and quickly gauge if the recipe fits their schedule.
Improvement 2
User/heuristic testing revealed that showing all suggested swaps in a dropdown menu was more intuitive than using a “Next” button, improving usability.
Improvement 3
Since recipes adapt to dietary preferences, duplicate variations (e.g., gluten-free) were removed to reduce confusion and streamline the experience.