Food Cafe — transforming the mobile ordering experience
A full UX research and design sprint on a food delivery mobile app — fixing navigation, ordering, customisation and payments for both customers and restaurant partners.
Overview
Transforming the online experience to drive customer engagement
In the fast-evolving food delivery industry, this app was facing significant usability and user experience hurdles — impacting both customer and restaurant partner satisfaction. Users struggled with navigation, ordering, customisation and payments, leading to decreased satisfaction and retention. Restaurant partners also grappled with order management and menu accuracy issues.
The goal was to conduct an extensive UX study, pinpoint these issues and address them effectively — ultimately enhancing the overall user experience and boosting the app's engagement levels.
Target Audience
Primary users include busy professionals, students and families seeking convenient food delivery. Restaurant partners needing a seamless order management system form a crucial second segment. Understanding both groups' needs and pain points guided the entire design process.
Problem
Users and partners both pointed to the same friction points
Confusing navigation — users struggled to browse menus, customise orders and reach checkout efficiently.
Limited payment options — a narrow set of payment methods pushed users to abandon before completing orders.
Order management gaps — restaurant partners faced menu accuracy issues and order mix-ups under pressure.
Competitive Analysis
A thorough competitive analysis evaluated key food delivery apps, identifying their strengths, weaknesses and unique features. This uncovered gaps and opportunities to differentiate the platform and ensure a superior user experience.
Process
Research-led, four stages in two weeks
Qualitative & quantitative user research
Surveys, interviews and questionnaires gathered deep insights into user behaviours, preferences and pain points across both customer and restaurant partner segments.
Affinity diagram & empathy mapping
Research findings were categorised into common themes and pain points via an affinity diagram, then mapped into an empathy map to align design decisions with real user expectations.
Personas, user flows & wireframing
Research-based user personas guided new user flows, wireframes and a full design system — covering typography, colours, components and interaction patterns.
Usability study & iteration
A moderated usability study observed real users navigating, ordering and paying — surfacing friction points that were addressed in iterative design refinements.
User Research
Qualitative and quantitative methods were combined to surface both the emotional and functional dimensions of the user experience.
Affinity Diagram
Common themes, pain points and user behaviours were grouped visually to prioritise key areas for improvement and streamline design decision-making.
Design Process & Timeline
A structured UX design process covered research, ideation, wireframing, prototyping, testing and iteration. A clear two-week timeline ensured efficient progress and data-driven decision-making at every phase.
Empathy Map & User Persona
The empathy map visualised user emotions, thoughts and pain points. Research-based personas then represented key user segments — detailing goals, frustrations and behaviours to guide every subsequent design decision.
User Flow
User flows mapped the step-by-step journey for key tasks — ordering food, customising meals and managing restaurant menus — helping identify friction and optimise navigation for a smoother experience.
Solution
Five design directions, grounded in the research
Smarter delivery routing
Intelligent route optimisation algorithms reduce delivery times, improving user satisfaction from the moment an order is placed.
Consistent order quality
Quality control checks and clearer restaurant partner briefings reduce order errors and ensure deliveries meet expectations.
Expanded payment options
Multiple payment methods and digital wallets integrated for user convenience — removing the biggest single drop-off point at checkout.
Ingredient transparency
Trusted supplier partnerships and in-app ingredient details build customer confidence and reduce post-delivery complaints.
Accessible, device-ready UI
A user-friendly, fully accessible design system ensures compatibility across all devices and user abilities.
Design System
A comprehensive design system defined visual styles, UI components, typography, colours and interaction patterns — ensuring consistency, scalability and an efficient handoff to development.
Visual Design
Visual design brought together colour psychology, typography, spacing and imagery with a clear visual hierarchy. Accessibility, usability and aesthetics were balanced across every screen — from onboarding to checkout. The team achieved all design goals and delivered on time.
Result
Outcomes & key learnings
Working on this project widened my understanding of the pain points users face when ordering food online and the knock-on effects those frictions cause. Finding the right features to address real user problems was challenging, but it pushed me to deliver truly user-centred solutions rather than surface-level fixes.
There are still many inputs and features that could be added with proper testing and real-time user data — this project opened as many questions as it answered, which is exactly the right outcome for a research-driven sprint.