"We often fought over deciding what to eat and we used a lot of the alternatives out there like Yelp, Google maps, and we kind of realized that the process of deciding was flawed."
Born out of frustration between two roommates, LINC was created as a new app to help customers find the right place to eat and less back and forth discussion and arguments.
A mobile app that helps group eaters easily decide which restaurant to go to. The app only has the host-end being built out. Users can find a restaurant that suits everyone's needs, if they cannot come to a decision, there is a fair game to decide what to eat for the group.
1. Different dietary restrictions - food allergies, follow a specific diet (e.g. vegan, gluten-free), or have cultural food preferences
2. Budget constraints
3. Time constraints
You're part of a group of friends meeting up and wanting to catch up over a meal. One of your friends, Sarah, is a vegan. Another friend, Rachel, wants to try the new Italian restaurant that opened last week. A third friend, Alex, is on a tight budget. And there is Chrissy, who is in a hurry and only has an hour for lunch and is thinking about having fast food. The diverse needs and preferences are making it difficult to agree on a meal.
"People who eat out with others" was the subject in this design. I realized scenarios may vary depending on income and how willing the person spend on a meal. According to NRA,Millennials and Gen Zers tend to dine out at least 3 times/week. To keep my scope clear, therefore I decided to focus on college students and older, which I have easy access to and they also have the portion of money to spend.
All participants place the highest value in seeing visual imagery first, otherwise it is discarded. Secondary priorities (other factors such as reviews, distance, and pricing) depend on who to go out with to decide which is more important. The interview script can be viewed here.
1. Photos of food help decide faster
2. Likes to see whats popular or trending
3. Ways to reduce communication efforts and time to come to a decision
4. Care everyone's voices to make the selection fair
1. A shared application to communicate and discuss
2. Being able to see whats popular or trending
3. Surface critical information faster (eg: Prices, reviews, distance, stars, images)
4. A fair selection technique while groups cannot reach to a consensus
I held a session with other designers to ideate on the layout and flow of the product
Main tasks are assigned:
1. Add friends into your contacts and form them into a group
2. Define the requirements(critical information) with the group and send the link
3. Play the game and tell the group the selection results
1. Landing pages to show the purpose of the app
2. Consistent design in color and fonts
3. Visual and motion design
4. Larger clickable area
To make first time users get a sense of the purpose of this application
The primary colors were chosen to increase appetite, intake calories, and a convey of warmth. Poppins: fun and playful, suit with the brand personality traits. Both fonts are very simple and easy to read.
Twisting UI details
Using After Effects to create the animation making it fun and engaging
Using animation when opening the app
Smooth the animation
I tested the prototype using Useberry. The feedback we got from the testing helped us to improve our design. 80% of participants were able to complete tasks faster compared to the original version. Those who needed to click the target more twice were able to achieve on this prototype.
“Using LINC is a delightful and interesting experience.”
The generative research phase and usability testing measured two significant metrics: ease of use and user satisfaction. Although the design solution was not fully developed for invitees part at this point, it was observed that users had a positive experience with the solution.
36% reduction in task completion time after iterations
40% of increasement in users with the redesigned flow and visual of the product
I believe these improvements will help group eaters and increase the desire they are willing to use LINC.
A brand new design is different than a redesign project. I realized the idea and the operation process being put in the application was hard to understand for some users because they never see such design before. It would be a learning curve for them. User testing allowed me to see the problems from users' perspectives and how to make it more intuitive even for first-time users.
In order to further complete the experience on LINC:
Thank you for reading this case study! If you’re interested, feel free to check out my other projects below
