Copyrights © 2025 Nadia Somani
Survey Results
Most individuals and families rely on scattered, inefficient methods for meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking, which fail to address their specific needs and lifestyles. These traditional methods often lack personalization and accessibility, making the process stressful and time-consuming.
Additionally, the overwhelming variety of recipes, dietary requirements, and shopping logistics can confuse or frustrate users, leading to incomplete plans, unhealthy eating habits, and food waste. This one-size-fits-all approach prevents people from enjoying streamlined, stress-free meal preparation experiences tailored to their needs.
Problem Statement
User Personas
iOS
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
Once the primary task flows were clarified, I began designing low-fidelity wireframes for iOS and Android devices, to explore multiple ways the core features could be designed. I drew inspiration from existing recipe and meal planning apps, ensuring the layout remained simple and accessible while effectively guiding users through the meal planning process.
PrepPal is a one-stop mobile application designed to:
Streamline meal planning and grocery shopping.
Provide intuitive, step-by-step cooking guidance.
Offer personalized meal recommendations tailored to users' needs.
Unique Selling Point (USP): PrepPal delivers a seamless, integrated workflow from planning to execution, ensuring users save time, reduce stress, and eat healthily.
Key Features:
Dashboard: Centralized hub for meal plans, grocery lists, and saved recipes.
Personalized Meal Plans: Customizable plans based on dietary preferences and time constraints.
Recipe Discovery: Searchable database with high-quality visuals and filters.
Grocery List Generator: Auto-generated, categorized lists with editing capabilities.
Cooking Mode: Step-by-step instructions with integrated timers.
Offline Functionality: Access to critical features without internet connectivity.
Push Notifications: Timely reminders for meal prep or shopping.
Solution
Conclusion
PrepPal has made significant strides in transforming meal planning and cooking into a more accessible, efficient, and enjoyable experience. By focusing on user-centric design principles, iterative prototyping, and direct feedback from diverse personas, the app addresses key pain points such as time management, dietary preferences, and food waste reduction. Moving forward, continued emphasis on feature expansion, accessibility, and data-driven improvements will ensure that PrepPal continues to evolve and meet the dynamic needs of its users, solidifying its position as a go-to tool for modern meal planning.
Scope
The goal of this project is to design and develop a mobile application that simplifies meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking. PrepPal will offer a personalized, user-friendly experience that caters to a variety of dietary needs, schedules, and skill levels.
The app will integrate features like a grocery list generator, recipe discovery, and a cooking mode, all designed to save time and reduce stress for users. By focusing on accessibility and efficiency, PrepPal aims to become an essential tool for individuals and families looking to streamline their meal preparation process.
Objectives & Goals
Objectives:
Simplify meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking processes.
Provide users with personalized recommendations based on their dietary needs and preferences.
Enhance the cooking experience with step-by-step guidance and interactive tools.
Goals:
Develop a mobile app that offers a streamlined and user-friendly interface for meal planning and grocery management.
Minimize food waste by integrating an efficient grocery list generator.
Encourage collaborative cooking experiences for couples and families.
Improve user confidence in the kitchen, particularly for novice cooks.
Design & Methodology
Approach: The design and development of PrepPal follow a user-centric approach, ensuring the app meets real-world needs.
Android
iOS
Once the primary task flows were clarified, I began designing low-fidelity wireframes for iOS and Android devices, to explore multiple ways the core features could be designed. I drew inspiration from existing recipe and meal planning apps, ensuring the layout remained simple and accessible while effectively guiding users through the meal planning process.
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
Before moving to high-fidelity designs, I focused on developing a strong visual identity that would shape the app’s overall look and feel. Many existing meal planning tools have a professional yet minimal style, but I wanted PrepPal to feel warm, inviting, and approachable for everyday users. To guide this direction, I created a mood board that served as inspiration for the app’s design language.
This section outlines the step-by-step approach used to develop PrepPal, ensuring a thorough, user-centered design. Each stage was crucial in shaping the app's features to address real-world user challenges.
Research
&
Discovery
Ideation
&
Prototyping
Development &
Testing
Launch
&
Feedback Loop
To better understand the competitive landscape, I conducted a competitive analysis of three leading meal planning apps. This analysis focused on identifying strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for differentiation. Each competitor was evaluated for features, usability, and relevance to PrepPal’s goals.
Competitor Analysis
Research & Discovery
This initial phase focused on gathering insights from potential users and understanding the competitive landscape. The findings provided a foundation for informed design decisions.
80%
55%
of users regularly waste food due to poor planning or excess purchases.
65%
45%
of users follow specific diets and struggle to find suitable recipes.
60%
of users rely on manual notes for shopping, often forgetting items.
of users spend more than an hour weekly planning meals and grocery shopping.
of users rate themselves as novice cooks and need detailed, step-by-step guidance.
Ideation & Prototyping
Android
Before moving to high-fidelity designs, I focused on developing a strong visual identity that would shape the app’s overall look and feel. Many existing meal planning tools have a professional yet minimal style, but I wanted PrepPal to feel warm, inviting, and approachable for everyday users. To guide this direction, I created a mood board that served as inspiration for the app’s design language.
Development & Testing
This phase centered around the technical development of the app, followed by thorough beta testing to identify and resolve usability challenges. During this phase, user testing was conducted at multiple stages to gather feedback on the designs. Several iterations were made based on user input, focusing on refining core features for better clarity and ease of use. Additionally, the high-fidelity wireframes were developed using colors inspired by the mood board created earlier, ensuring visual consistency with the brand's identity.
User Feedback
High-Fidelity Wireframes
iOS
Android
Launch & Feedback Loop
Lessons Learned
After launch, user feedback was used to guide ongoing improvements and feature expansions. Some key points of feedback included:
Localization and Accessibility: Add language support and culturally relevant recipes to cater to diverse audiences. Enhance accessibility with voice navigation and screen reader compatibility.
Partnerships and Integrations: Collaborate with grocery delivery services for direct in-app ordering and partner with nutrition platforms to integrate health tracking.
Community Building: Create optional forums or blogs for recipe sharing and user interaction, while keeping the core app utility-focused.
After launch, user feedback was used to guide ongoing improvements and feature expansions. Some key points of feedback included:
User-Centric Design is Key: Early user surveys and feedback highlighted the importance of simplifying navigation and tailoring features to user needs. Focusing on a user-centric approach ensured PrepPal addressed real-world challenges effectively.
Iterative Prototyping Improves Usability: Iterating on wireframes and prototypes with user input led to a polished and intuitive interface. The hands-free cooking mode and grocery list generator were refined significantly through this process.
Data-Driven Decisions Drive Success: While post-launch data analysis was limited during this phase, user feedback played a critical role in shaping improvements. Insights gathered directly from users helped refine features like the cooking mode and grocery list generator, emphasizing the importance of continuous data review in future iterations to track engagement and retention. Post-launch data analysis and user feedback revealed opportunities for feature enhancements, such as ingredient substitution suggestions and collaborative planning, aligning the app with evolving user expectations.
Next Steps
Expanded Platform Compatibility:
Develop a web version for desktop access.
Create a smartwatch companion app for grocery list management and cooking timers.
Advanced Personalization Features:
Implement AI-driven personalized recipe suggestions based on user habits and preferences.
Introduce dynamic meal plans that adjust based on available ingredients and past usage patterns.
Sustainability Initiatives:
Develop a feature that tracks and reports food waste reduction metrics for eco-conscious users.
Partner with sustainability-focused organizations to promote mindful shopping.