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Adding a feature to an existing product
Deliveroo is an online food delivery company based in the UK and operating in 12 countries. The food delivery space has become highly competitive, and ensuring a frictionless customer journey has become essential to stay ahead. With so many restaurant options available deciding what to eat has become a stressful part of the process for many customers, giving Deliveroo a perfect opportunity to introduce a feature that helps provides users with inspiration.
Design a decision-making feature that fits seamlessly within the current Deliveroo app and its branding.
UX Research, UX/UI design, User Testing
Figma
80 Hours
The objective of this project was to design a feature that aided a user’s decision-making process. Understanding the market was important, but my main research focus was on the customer and how they interact with their food delivery app.
Food delivery apps have almost become an essential service during the Covid pandemic, seeing a large uptake of both users and restaurants. A recent CGA study in the UK shows that of those who ordered delivery for the first time during the pandemic, 60% said they would continue their frequency of ordering delivery from restaurants. This industry has become highly competitive as a result, and innovation and a user-centered approach will be key on defining which companies are able to retain users going forward.
A closer look at food delivery apps shows that each company approaches how they show relevant information to customers differently. Certain things, such as cuisine, were evidently key for users. However from this initial research it was unlear what information is essential for most users when they make the decision of what to order.
To understand the thinking process behind users’ decisions I chose to carry out a survey rather than 1-to-1 interviews so I could ask a larger group of people. There were 10 participants aged between 26-57 years old, who use a wide range of different delivery apps.
It was clear from the research that looking for what to order was a common frustration for most users, whether it is finding something new or going to an old favourite. To address the lack of available inspiration I will design a feature that will help users filter through their choices in an interactive way. After going through some options (slot machine spinner, random dish generator etc.) I settled on building a dating app style swipe feature, which would allow users to quickly move through different dishes and narrow their choices as they go on, saving their favourite dishes for future reference. This would allow users to make quick decisions based on the factors they found important. The functionality of the swipe feature would be very recognisable to Deliveroo’s target audience, those aged between 25 - 40.
I spent time working through the current Deliveroo app to understand where this feature could fit in both in terms of functionality and branding. I isolated the screens that would be affected, modifying the design where necessary to allow for integration of the new feature. I wanted minimum disruption to the current design to avoid increasing the build.
I then turned my attention to the new screens. This feature would be very similar to dating apps so I studied the swipe feature of both Tinder and Bumble, choosing the must have elements that would make this decision-making feature intuitive for Deliveroo users. People eat with their eyes, so it was essential to bring the photo of the dish to the forefront. I then experimented with two different designs for the swipe feature in the wireframes, one being a single-card, and the second being multi-card to allow users to swipe for both dishes and cuisines.
After getting some feedback, it was clear that the multi-swipe feature was confusing to some users. I therefore went forward with the single-card swipe feature for the final design, which includes the ability to narrow down the cuisine through category chips.
Branding was non-negotiable, so I brought together brand inspiration and a kit to work from using the pre-existing UI. I was unable to find the exact UI kit that Deliveroo uses, but I pulled together elements that matched the current app.
Adding the UI design to the wireframes helped me to assess what needed to be changed in the interaction design. I was generally happy with most of the screens, but the swipe feature screens didn’t seem in keeping with the rest of the app. The swipe feature went through a few iterations and rounds of feedback before I settled on the final design below.
4 participants, aged between 19-36 years old, were asked to interact with the Deliveroo prototype. I wanted to observe how the user interacted with the home screen to understand the best placement for the new feature, whether the user understood the function of each new screen, and to note any pain points and inefficiencies they encounter.
Working with a predefined brand with many constraints meant that this project wasn't particularly difficult in terms of UI design. I instead focused on ensuring that the feature was easy-to-use, fit seamlessly within the app and helped solve a particular problem that many customers face. It soon became clear to me that the challenge this time was really understanding the customer base and how they choose to interact with a platform such as Deliveroo, and I ended up being surprised by the different approaches users took when choosing what to order. I finally had to ensure that the feature was designed in a way that would bring little disruption to the current app.
Further testing will be required to ensure the success of the iterations before it enters development stage. With more time I would like to see the feature refined to give the user more sophisticated filters when swiping, to allow the user to further customise the experience.
