01. Domain & User Research
Our team chose the Food, Grocery, and Cooking domain because it encompasses a lot of ideas and activities that we can use to help people. We wanted to specifically focus on students and young adults and their struggles with eating healthy and staying within budget while grocery shopping.
User 1 - C.
A working young adult who is health-conscious but likes to budget her meals.
User 2 - A.
A broke university student who wants to be healthier and always wants the most affordable option.
User 3 - S.
A working university student who likes to cook often.
User 4 - R.
Another broke university student who likes to cook and is always looking for the fastest and most affordable option.
User 5 - M.
A young adult trying to learn more about different cuisines and meal prepping.
Who we interviewed
What we learned
When it comes to food shopping and eating healthy our users want...
User Persona
the broke university student living away from home
This persona type ranges between the ages of 18 to 30 years old. They are an independent young adult seeking a post-secondary education with little cooking skills and with a limited budget. Their largest problems are saving money, and balancing school assignments with healthier goals. This leads to irregular meal planning and occasional reliance on fast but unhealthy foods.
Main user goals:
Save money
Cook more
Stay healthy
Affordability & Budgeting Help
Across all users, many were often sticking to a weekly budget of under $100, and preferred cheaper options.
Some were also actively seeking the most affordable grocery options, to the point of traveling to more distant locations to find them.
Convenience
Conversely, some of our users don’t have a lot of time to travel to further grocery stores, so they stick with what’s nearby, even if it doesn’t suit their budget.
As for cooking, they sometimes choose more convenient, but not as healthy, meals or meal prep to save time during the week.
Health Conscious Options
Our users want to eat healthy, but often don’t have the ability to due to time, budget constraints, and the overwhelming responsibility of meal prepping healthy choices.
Time-Efficient Options
As our users are busy working or studying, they don’t have a lot of time to spend cooking or shopping. They often look for the most convenient option, even if it isn’t the healthiest.
02. Sketches, Storyboards, & Wireframes
After we analyzed our user persona and domain research, we have identified a solution - Munchie!
This is our storyboard from our developing stages, showing how users would navigate through Munchie.
Our user flow and logic states diagram shows each screen and user touchpoint of Munchie, what kinds of inputs/outputs the system is looking for, and the general information architecture.
Wireframe Sketches
Start & Questionnaire Pages
Shopping, Pantry, Virtual assistant & Settings Pages
Medium Fidelity Wireframes
Welcome!
some subheading here.
Yesterday
Today
Tomorrow
breakfast
lunch
dinner
View Recipes
Sunday Meal Prep
munchee peeking out from the side here
Grocery Breakdown
Browse Recipes
View previous months
Calendar
Sun
1
Mon
2
Tue
3
Wed
4
Thurs
5
Fri
6
Sat
7
March
Add Event
+
7am
8am
9am
10am
11am
12pm
1pm
2pm
3pm
4pm
5pm
6pm
7pm
8pm
9pm
10pm
11pm
Breakfast
Oatmeal with blueberries
Dinner
Potato Soup
Ceramics Class
Snack
Granola bar
School
Lunch
Caesar Wrap
Top Sirloin
AAA
Recipes: Steak and potatoes, beef wellington
$17.59
Quantity: 1
Apple
Canada
Recipes: Apple cinnamon overnight oats, Apple custard tarts
0.5kg
$1.50
Quantity: 1
Potato
Canada
Recipes: Potato soup, classic potato latkes, hashbrowns
2 kg
$4.50
Quantity: 1
Orzo Pasta
Brand name
Recipes: Chicken orzo pasta, Orzo and cheese
$3.99
Quantity: 1
view shopping list
Shopping Prices
Grocery budget from March 1 - 7
Grocery List
$120
Total: $113.50
All
Favourites
Deals
Meat & Fish
Grains
search food item
Hi, I’m Munchee!
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Speak or type something...
Speak or type something...
What is the healthiest cooking oil?
Can you find me a vegetarian recipe using spaghetti squash?
Certainly! Here you go:
Processing question...
The healthiest cooking oil is avocado oil!
Spaghetti Squash Bake
An engaging description of food goes right here.
Vegetarian | 45 min
Munchee, the Voice Assistant
The dashboard serves as a quick look at the user’s information.
The calendar shows them an overview of their day.
The shopping list allows them to set their budget and see what groceries and recipes Munchie has picked out for them that week.
Munchee, the personal health assistant, is always ready to talk with the user.
An example of what a conversation could look like with Munchee, and what kinds of information he could provide.
The dashboard serves as a quick look at the user’s information, such as their budget status, meal prep recipes, and food for the day. We wanted users to be able to see an overview of the app’s features in a quick and condensed way without overloading with too much information.
Dashboard
Calendar
Calendar
sun
1
mon
2
tue
3
wed
4
thurs
5
fri
6
sat
7
add event
+
7am
8am
9am
10am
11am
12pm
1pm
2pm
3pm
4pm
5pm
6pm
7pm
8pm
9pm
10pm
11pm
Breakfast
Oatmeal with blueberries
Dinner
Potato Soup
Ceramics Class
Snack
Granola bar
Work
Lunch
Caesar Wrap
Change calendar day
The calendar acts as an overview of the user’s day and meals. They can add and edit events/meals here.
View meal time and recipe
For adding events to personal calendar, or adding another meal.
Shopping List
Top Sirloin
AAA
Recipes: Steak and potatoes, beef wellington
$17.59
Quantity: 1
Apple
Canada
Recipes: Apple cinnamon overnight oats, Apple custard tarts
0.5kg
$1.50
Quantity: 1
Potato
Canada
Recipes: Potato soup, classic potato latkes, hashbrowns
2 kg
$4.50
Quantity: 1
Orzo Pasta
Brand name
Recipes: Chicken orzo pasta, Orzo and cheese
$3.99
Quantity: 1
view shopping list
Shopping Prices
Grocery budget from March 1 - 7
Grocery List
$120
Total: $113.50
All
Favourites
Deals
Meat & Fish
Grains
search food item
Edit budget amount for the week.
Sort grocery list by type and search.
Grocery item will tell you the price, quantity, weight, brand (if applicable), and what recipes the item is used in.
A personalized shopping list for the user, based on the recipes that Munchie has generated for them.
Pantry
The pantry allows the user to update what ingredients they currently have at home, so Munchie can take them into consideration when making recipes and shopping lists. The user can also view recipes here.
Your Pantry
Update your pantry here so Munchee can create recipes for you!
All
Fruits
Veg.
Meat
Grains
Snack
Saved Recipes
Favourites
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Snack
Browse Recipes
Breakfast
Lunch
Beef Tacos
Juicy flavours and satisfying crunch make for the perfect meal. Includes ground beef, lettuce, homemade salsa, and more.
Quick & Easy Cake
Need a fast way to satisfy a craving? This cake has it all! Includes whipping cream, strawberries, jam, and more.
Weeknight Burgers
A healthier alternative to fast food burgers, but just as delicious! Includes beef patty, pickles, house-made sauce, and more.
View pantry or specific categories within pantry.
View saved recipes
Recommended recipes
Meal Prepping
This screen shows an overview of the meal prep recipes planned for the next week, organized by meal type in a list view.
Meal Prepping
Your meal prepping time is set for Sunday 5-7 PM. Change?
Grocery List
View
Breakfast
Cinnamon Overnight Oats
For Mon, Wed, Fri
Yogurt Bowl
For Tues, Thurs
Lunch
Chicken Caesar Wrap
For Mon, Wed, Fri
Beef Tacos
For Tues, Thurs
Dinner
Change set meal prepping time (changed in calendar)
Link to shopping list
Set of meals for the next week, clicking on the meal will lead the user to the recipe page.
Onboarding Flow
Munchie is also a voice-input based food app! You can bring up Munchee, our mascot, for help at any time by simply saying ‘Munchee’.
A lot of the voice commands are easy! For example, you can bring up the dashboard by saying ‘Dashboard’ to view your dashboard.
Saying ‘Browse Recipes’’ or ‘Pantry’ will guide you to your pantry where you can view all your saved and favourite recipes!
Saying ‘View Calendar’ will guide you to your calendar to see an overview of your weekly schedule and recipes for easy meal planning.
Saying “Shopping Prices” or “View shopping list” will open up your shopping list.
To go back to any page you were on, simply say “Go Back’.
Ready to munch?
Following account creation, users are met with a short guide of the voice commands. This was a crucial element as we wanted users to be able to navigate Munchie with ease.
Example Recipe
Potato Soup
Ingredients
Directions
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 cups vegetable stock
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup dairy-free milk
salt and pepper to taste
Vegetarian | Prep time: 20 min | Cook time: 50 min | Servings: 4
A very tasty description of the dish goes here. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Enim sit et lorem ultricies lorem ut cursus.
Step 1
Gather all ingredients. Place bacon in a Dutch oven and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Drain bacon pieces on paper towels. Drain off all but 1/4 cup of the bacon grease.
Step 2
Cook celery and onion in the reserved bacon drippings until onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, and continue cooking for 1 to 2 minutes.
Step 3
Step 4
Meanwhile, melt butter in a separate skillet over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in heavy cream, tarragon, and cilantro.
Step 5
Bring cream mixture to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add cream mixture to the potato mixture; stir to combine. Serve hot and enjoy!
Dinner
Fin!
Enjoy your meal!
03. Initial Design
Based on our user testing, we developed the final design! Check out the prototype for yourself, or view the video walkthrough of Munchie's design and voice commands.
05. Final Design
Munchee started as an answer to the question
How might we design an app that helps students and young professionals save money and stay healthy?
Dashboard & Calendar Pages
Goal
The purpose of our user tests were to get an assessment of the overall usability of voice and touch interactions for Munchie’s first prototype.
Usability Target
With a brief explanation of each voice command, at least 70% of users should be able to navigate the app efficiently without assistance.
User Tasks
Navigate to the calendar, ask for a hint, and set lunch time to 12 using only voice.
Navigate to Munchee and ask for the best tomato price this week using only voice.
General exploration of the interface.
04. User Testing
Visual Aspects
Munchie’s overall visual layout felt familiar (some compared it to Uber Eats), which reduced the learning curve.
Most Useful Feature
The Calendar was the most useful feature because it allowed users to see the weekly overview for easier planning.
Needed More Emphasis
Additional features such as allowing for allergy accommodations and app feedback would add to a better user experience.
Needed More Work
The onboarding process lacked clarity and more information on how to properly navigate Munchie.
2.
Conduct a 5-second screening test of the app’s main features for initial impressions.
3.
Conduct a think-aloud test by asking the user to voice their thoughts while exploring the app as well as while completing user tasks.
4.
Conduct a post-test survey by asking about each aspect of usability or areas of specific concern.
1.
Briefly explain Munchie and the purposes of the app.
Pre-test questionnaire.
Final Results
What our users thought in terms of...
Common Issues
Confused by what voice commands can be used.
Confusion with labels, icons, and general clarity
Lack of explanation of what the features are during onboarding and throughout the app.
Too icon-heavy and not enough explanation and feedback.
1.
2.
Due to
Due to
Team Munchie
Mary Gigiberia
Irena LiNa Ong
Alyssa Pacamarra
Links
An academic project for SFU
IAT334 Spring 2025
Acknowledgements