CULINARY APP

Project headline
Improving meal discovery through guided cooking

Context
Lifestyle · B2C · Mobile

Role
UX/UI Designer · Interaction → Visual

The Project Overview

Food is deeply cultural, yet access to food knowledge is not equal. While recipes exist online, discovering authentic regional dishes and learning how to cook them often requires prior exposure, social networks, or trial-and-error.

This project began with the broader idea of equality, which gradually narrowed down to food information accessibility - questioning why culinary knowledge should be limited by geography, language, or background.

The goal was to design a system that makes discovering and preparing regional food as easy as possible for everyone.

The Problem Definition

Most people want to cook something new but fall back on familiar dishes. Existing recipe platforms are text-heavy, intimidating, and fragmented across blogs and videos. Authenticity is hard to judge, instructions feel overwhelming, and confidence drops quickly.

The core problem became clear: how do we reduce friction and anxiety when users try to discover and cook unfamiliar regional food?

The Research Process

To understand real cooking behavior, I conducted mixed-method research. This included interviews with 30+ participants, a Google survey with ~50 responses, and competitive analysis of existing recipe and food platforms.

I also studied how users currently search, learn, and abandon new recipes. Research consistently showed that people trust video-based learning, feel overwhelmed by long written recipes, and often discover regional food accidentally rather than intentionally.

The User Journey

Mapping the existing journey revealed a clear breakdown. Users feel inspired to try something new, search online, encounter scattered blogs and long videos, and quickly lose confidence. The effort feels too high, so they abandon the idea and return to familiar meals. Culinary reframes this journey by making discovery visual first, learning familiar, and cooking feel achievable rather than risky.

With Culinary

• User opens the app

• Explores regional dishes visually

• Selects a dish

• Sees ingredients list

• Learns through top 3 curated YouTube videos

• Cooks with confidence

The journey removes friction and cognitive overload.

The Opportunities Discovered

Users prefer seeing food before reading about it. Video feels safer than text, and familiar platforms like YouTube reduce learning anxiety. Users want guidance, not instruction overload.

This created an opportunity to design a system that supports exploration while respecting how people already learn — visually, casually, and step-by-step.

5. UX System Design

Culinary was designed as a discovery-first, learning-supported system.

Core UX decisions

• Simple onboarding using mobile/email + OTP

• Visual-first home screen focused on regional discovery

• Ingredient list presented before instruction

• Instruction delivered through curated external videos

• Reduced cognitive load by avoiding long written recipes

The system respects how users already learn, instead of forcing new behaviors.

6. UI Design & Approach

The interface prioritizes accessibility, clarity, and cultural inclusivity.

Design principles

• Minimalist layout to avoid overwhelm

• Strong visual hierarchy for dishes

• Clear ingredient lists

• Familiar video thumbnails for instant recognition

• Neutral, warm color palette to support exploration

The UI avoids appearing “expert-only” and welcomes beginners.

7. Final Solution & Impact

Culinary enables users to explore and cook regional food confidently, regardless of background or prior exposure.

Impact

• Lowers barriers to cooking unfamiliar cuisines

• Encourages cultural exploration through food

• Reduces dependency on fragmented online searches

• Makes food knowledge more inclusive and accessible

If scaled, Culinary could become a central discovery layer for regional cuisines, supporting cultural preservation and everyday cooking confidence.