Munchie Masters
How can we empower college students to start their own personal cooking journey?
Role
UX Designer
Timeline
10 weeks
Team
6 Designers
Platform
Mobile
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Summary
Social, gamified cooking.
Munchie Masters is an app for college students designed to make cooking easier, more engaging, and socially interactive by gamifying the cooking process.
My role was in UX research, prototyping efforts, and hi-fi iteration, resulting a top five placement at our design org's public showcase.
●
Summary
Social, gamified cooking.
Munchie Masters is an app for college students designed to make cooking easier, more engaging, and socially interactive by gamifying the cooking process.
My role was in UX research, prototyping efforts, and hi-fi iteration, resulting a top five placement at our design org's public showcase.
●
Summary
Social, gamified cooking.
Munchie Masters is an app for college students designed to make cooking easier, more engaging, and socially interactive by gamifying the cooking process.
My role was in UX research, prototyping efforts, and hi-fi iteration, resulting a top five placement at our design org's public showcase.
●
Problem
Cooking: a universal freshman struggle.
College students leaving home for the first time have to learn many things to thrive in their new environment. One common struggle many of us faced was learning to cook.
With a steep learning curve and an ocean of knowledge online, it can be overwhelming to know where to start, leading to issues like food waste, improper tool use, low inspiration, and reliance on unreliable online resources.
●
Problem
Cooking: a universal freshman struggle.
College students leaving home for the first time have to learn many things to thrive in their new environment. One common struggle many of us faced was learning to cook.
With a steep learning curve and an ocean of knowledge online, it can be overwhelming to know where to start, leading to issues like food waste, improper tool use, low inspiration, and reliance on unreliable online resources.
●
Problem
Cooking: a universal freshman struggle.
College students leaving home for the first time have to learn many things to thrive in their new environment. One common struggle many of us faced was learning to cook.
With a steep learning curve and an ocean of knowledge online, it can be overwhelming to know where to start, leading to issues like food waste, improper tool use, low inspiration, and reliance on unreliable online resources.
The main challenge:
How might we reduce the friction and overload in learning to cook so that college students feel empowered to prepare their own meals?
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Research
Understanding student cooking habits.
Surveying 35 college students about their cooking habits validated our core problem:
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Research
Understanding student cooking habits.
Surveying 35 college students about their cooking habits validated our core problem:
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Research
Understanding student cooking habits.
Surveying 35 college students about their cooking habits validated our core problem:
65%
eat from dining halls or restaurants instead of cooking.
eat from dining halls or restaurants instead of cooking in their dorms.
30%
blame the difficulty as a primary reason to avoid cooking.
34%
blame a lack of motivation as a reason for not cooking.
Other pain points we found:
Other pain points we found:
Other pain points we found:
Overwhelming online recipes with endless fluff and unnecessary text
Learning to develop core skills instead of just learning by recipes
Struggling to manage leftovers and what ingredients to buy
Finding a large variety of recipes that are both nutritious and cheap
Overwhelming online recipes with endless fluff and unnecessary text
Struggling to manage leftovers and what ingredients to buy
Learning to develop core skills instead of just learning by recipes
Finding a large variety of recipes that are both nutritious and cheap
Other apps had gaps.
A competitive analysis of cooking apps revealed a key insight:
Apps that did well in teaching didn't engage people socially.
Apps that engaged people socially didn't teach people to cook.
Why not try and combine the two?
Zest
Pepper
Samsung Food
Samsung Food
Inspired by our research, we set some design goals.
Inspired by our research, we set some design goals.
Inspired by our research, we set some design goals.
Gamify the process, rewarding and motivating users.
Scaffold the learning path, preventing cognitive overload.
Foster social engagement so users can learn together.
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Ideation
Rough wireframes on paper helped us turn design goals into app features.
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Ideation
Rough wireframes on paper helped us turn design goals into app features.
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Ideation
Rough wireframes on paper helped us turn design goals into app features.
Gamification
Inspired by gamified apps like Duolingo, we created chef hats and skill badges.
Users complete recipes to earn chef hats and upgrade their skill badges, both of which you can show off to your friends on your profile.
Scaffolded learning path
This became cooking skills, which users would progress through by completing harder and harder recipes that utilize those skills.
Scaffolded learning path
This became cooking skills, which users would progress through by completing harder and harder recipes that utilize those skills.
Social engagement
Social community also turned into its own social feed where users could view each other's dishes, comment, and cook their friends' dishes.
Unfortunately, we had to skip user testing due to time constraints.
Instead, we moved directly to the hi-fi prototype and complete our final design. While we were unable to flesh out our feedback and iteration process, this decision allowed us to complete a comprehensive design within our 10-week deadline.
Unfortunately, we had to skip user testing due to time constraints.
Instead, we moved directly to the hi-fi prototype and complete our final design. While we were unable to flesh out our feedback and iteration process, this decision allowed us to complete a comprehensive design within our 10-week deadline.
Unfortunately, we had to skip user testing due to time constraints.
Instead, we moved directly to the hi-fi prototype and complete our final design. While we were unable to flesh out our feedback and iteration process, this decision allowed us to complete a comprehensive design within our 10-week deadline.
We wanted to make our app visually playful and cozy.
For the hi-fi, we decided on a playful design with fun, bright colors and a cartoon rabbit mascot. We felt that this theme would help serve the purpose of making the app fun and easy to use.
We wanted to make our app visually playful and cozy.
For the hi-fi, we decided on a playful design with fun, bright colors and a cartoon rabbit mascot. We felt that this theme would help serve the purpose of making the app fun and easy to use.
We wanted to make our app visually playful and cozy.
For the hi-fi, we decided on a playful design with fun, bright colors and a cartoon rabbit mascot. We felt that this theme would help serve the purpose of making the app fun and easy to use.
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Solution
Munchie Masters helps college students learn to level up their cooking skills.
Key features include:
Personalized skill progressions that teach real cooking techniques step-by-step, unlocking harder recipes as you advance
Chef hats and skill badges earned for every completed dish, turning meal prep into shareable achievements
Social recipe feed where users share creations, swap budget-friendly meals, and cook together
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Solution
Munchie Masters helps college students learn to level up their cooking skills.
Key features include:
Personalized skill progressions that teach real cooking techniques step-by-step, unlocking harder recipes as you advance
Chef hats and skill badges earned for every completed dish, turning meal prep into shareable achievements
Social recipe feed where users share creations, swap budget-friendly meals, and cook together
●
Solution
Munchie Masters helps college students learn to level up their cooking skills.
Key features include:
Personalized skill progressions that teach real cooking techniques step-by-step, unlocking harder recipes as you advance
Chef hats and skill badges earned for every completed dish, turning meal prep into shareable achievements
Social recipe feed where users share creations, swap budget-friendly meals, and cook together
Onboarding guides users through setup and identifies skill levels to personalize the learning experience.
Onboarding guides users through setup and identifies skill levels to personalize the learning experience.
Onboarding guides users through setup and identifies skill levels to personalize the learning experience.
Choose from a list of skills and snap a pic of your dish to share and earn chef hats!
Choose from a list of skills and snap a pic of your dish to share and earn chef hats!
Choose from a list of skills and snap a pic of your dish to share and earn chef hats!
Choose from a list of recipes and follow easy instructions. Snap a picture after to earn chef hats!
Choose from a list of recipes and follow easy instructions. Snap a picture after to earn chef hats!
Choose from a list of recipes and follow easy instructions. Snap a picture after to earn chef hats!
View your skill badges and chef hats on the profile page and show off to friends!
View your skill badges and chef hats on the profile page and show off to friends!
View your skill badges and chef hats on the profile page and show off to friends!
Share pictures of dishes with friends on the social feed!
Share pictures of dishes with friends on the social feed!
Share pictures of dishes with friends on the social feed!
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Reflection
What was the outcome?
In the end, the app prototype, along with a promotional video, were presented at a project showcase to an audience of 50-60, alongside many other similar projects.
We ended up placing top five in the entire workshop, receiving high praise from judges and peers alike.
●
Reflection
What was the outcome?
In the end, the app prototype, along with a promotional video, were presented at a project showcase to an audience of 50-60, alongside many other similar projects.
We ended up placing top five in the entire workshop, receiving high praise from judges and peers alike.
●
Reflection
What was the outcome?
In the end, the app prototype, along with a promotional video, were presented at a project showcase to an audience of 50-60, alongside many other similar projects.
We ended up placing top five in the entire workshop, receiving high praise from judges and peers alike.
What did I learn?
Working on Munchie Masters reinforced how essential user research is in shaping design decisions.
Being able to survey 35 students early gave us clear direction on our three core features, which greatly helped during the design process.
What did I learn?
Working on Munchie Masters reinforced how essential user research is in shaping design decisions.
Being able to survey 35 students early gave us clear direction on our three core features, which greatly helped during the design process.
What did I learn?
Working on Munchie Masters reinforced how essential user research is in shaping design decisions.
Being able to survey 35 students early gave us clear direction on our three core features, which greatly helped during the design process.
Next steps?
User testing to validate whether gamification actually motivates users without feeling gimmicky.
Expand social features like cooking challenges between friends or shared grocery lists
Increase user engagement through personalized skill and recipe recommendations, streak reminders, or seasonal events
Next steps?
User testing to validate whether gamification actually motivates users without feeling gimmicky.
Expand social features like cooking challenges between friends or shared grocery lists
Increase user engagement through personalized skill and recipe recommendations, streak reminders, or seasonal events
Next steps?
User testing to validate whether gamification actually motivates users without feeling gimmicky.
Expand social features like cooking challenges between friends or shared grocery lists
Increase user engagement through personalized skill and recipe recommendations, streak reminders, or seasonal events