Product Design
Truffle Transformed
Prodigi is a not-for-profit digital community offering design training programs. As part of the Product Innovation Program, I worked in a multidisciplinary team to redesign 'Truffle', a social restaurant tracking app, to produce higher engagement.
Challenge
In a world where dining out is a social cornerstone, foodies have countless restaurant experiences and a growing wish list. However, efficiently organising this culinary wealth is challenging.
Truffle is a social restaurant tracking app designed to help foodies organise and share their restaurant experiences. It offers two main features: the Feed and the Map screen. However, the app faced challenges— the Map screen was overwhelming and confusing, while the Feed screen had low engagement. The Feed was initially removed but later reinstated. User feedback highlighted the need for a livelier, more engaging experience.
Results
The redesigned version of Truffle elevates the experience of eating out with personalised suggestions and seamless organisation. We organised relevant information through adding advanced filters on the map page and more detailed restaurant information pages. Higher engagement was promoted through a new gamified 'This or That' feature for choosing restaurants alone or with friends, as well as a design update featuring brighter colours and cleaner fonts.
Overview of Research
What motivates young adults to engage in social dining experiences using a digital platform?
Insights were derived from both primary and secondary research. Our primary research was focused on questionnaire and interview data. This data was analysed using data visualisations and affinity diagramming, and synthesised using personas, storyboards and empathy mapping. Our secondary research included competitor, SWOT, STEEPLE and User Review analyses.
Our insights surrounded the importance of personalisation, understanding and empathy, as well as time and convenience.
Below are some examples of our analysis and synthesis.
Our secondary research highlighted that eating out is more popular than ever. Economic pressures have made consumers more value-conscious, while ethical eating trends push businesses to diversify. Truffle's reviews suggest that rewards as well as more specific organisation features drive engagement.
Our questionnaire data revealed that while most participants (65%) used restaurant tracking apps rarely or never, customisation was a high influencer for them to do so. Food quality, convenience and price were extremely high influencers for decisions to eat out - highlighting the importance for this information to be easily and quickly accessible.
Our main takeaways from our interviews surrounded the need for easily accessible information so users can personalise their experiences - whether it be in relation to convenience, scheduling or inclusivity.
Ideation
Prioritising our research insights based on accessible information and inclusivity, our refined design problem was to redesign Truffle in a way that promotes awareness based on diverse preferences.
Our ideation methods included crazy 8s, worst possible idea and sketching. Based on the outcomes of our decision matrix, we decided to focus our adjustments on additional filters and more information about restaurants.
Prototyping & Testing
Below are selections of our wireframes and mockup iterations.
We conducted think alouds and SUS surveys as our primary testing methods.
Our main changes were focused around eliminating confusion by utilising existing and well-known design patterns. For example, the use of a price slider rather than tabs allows users more choice and control. Further, adjusting the positioning of the 'comments' icon to below the post is consistent with conventional designs seen in apps like Instagram.
Before & After
Truffle Transformed offers a sleek redesign of the map and feed pages for a more intuitive user experience.
