Provisioned
Access the prototype
The Brief
Design an MVP for a Lifestyle App
My Role
Product Designer (UI, UX, Branding)
Tools
Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator
Background
Discovery
Research
I'm pretty sure someone has done this before, so let's start with a competitive analysis to see what solutions other people have found in the past and why they have or haven't worked
Basic, not minimal
No grocery list feature
Unimaginative recipes (If I say I have bacon and avocado, it suggests i make bacon-wrapped avocado)
Suggested recipes to cook single ingredients, not how to combine them
No grocery list feature
Good design, but suggestions make it feel simple
Used my inputs to suggest recipes I could make tonight
Has its own grocery list, integrated with grocery store apps
Complicated setup, requested weights of all of the foods in my fridge
Lots of work for a not-so-satisfying return
Key Takeaways
All of these products are kitchen management systems more than recipe apps
Setup takes effort, but the added effort from an involved setup doesn't promise good results
Grocery integration feels premium, even if it's a free feature
Good design doesn't hide faults
User Interviews
16 people took a survey of their grocery shopping habits
5 of those were selected at random for detailed one-on-one interviews
5 Days
Avg span between store visits
73%
100%
Use the Notes app for grocery lists
Key Takeaways
Current offerings lack a grocery list feature, users currently utilize an app that is good for lists, but could we make a dedicated grocery list in this app?
Recipe readers rely on the comments and ratings in order to determine whether or not they'll make the food within
Most people enjoy looking at recipes, even if they won't use them
For a lot of people, grocery shopping is an event that takes planning, not a spontaneous act
Synthesis
The brief requested one persona, and while that gives a pretty small slice of the population, I think the motivations and frustrations are universal enough that they don't only apply to someone in these same conditions.
Definition
Defining A Problem
The obstacle of “cataloging all of the food in your fridge and adding it to an app” is presented right at startup, deterring new users. Other big obstacles appear later, such as editing the catalog of food.
User feedback is necessary for the success of recipe adoption (nobody wants to eat food that nobody thinks is good), but user feedback is hard to get due to its time-consuming nature
"How can we ensure users get results out of leaving feedback?"
Concept
From the start, I wanted an app that told me what I could make for dinner based off of food in my kitchen. I had an idea of how to get there, but user testing and more research made the map to a winning product a little bit more clear.
A winning product here would include a grocery list and recipes that worked in tandem with the kitchen management system. Recipes populate based on what's in the kitchen, and a grocery list could feed directly into the kitchen after shopping. I could also suggest recipes for users who were missing a couple of ingredients so they could make them without those ingredients or they could even add them to that shopping list.
Feature List
Essential
Fridge section with subdivisions
Recipes section
Grocery list
Minimal interface
Should Have
Recipe suggestions with 2≥ ingredients missing
User feedback
Recipe debrief
“Smart” grocery list (recommends food you buy often)
Nice To Have
Auto-updating fridge
Expiration date log
Recipe filter (time, dietary restrictions, expiring soon)
User Flows
Design
For the app's design, I wanted something minimal and chic, but I wanted it to be a little more lively and to give users an experience that's more representative of the fun we can have in the kitchen. On a moodboard I made, I focused a picture of hummus that had everything I needed for the color palette: warm, natural tones with good contrast. It also, conveniently, had red and green that went with the affirmative/negative states I put throughout the app.
The name was a challenge at first, but I saw the word "Provisions" associated with food and chose the verb "Provisioned" instead, opting for an active word with a connotation towards being supplied with everything you need. This also reflects the brand's values of Service and Simplicity, while the app's purpose reflects the values of Sustainability, Learning, and Enjoyment
Moodboard
Brand Tile
UI Kit
Design
Determine maneuverability of the product
Evaluate user excitement level for the product
Sign up for the product and complete onboarding
Find and make a recipe
Add missing ingredients from a recipe to your grocery list
Key Takeaways
Subjects completed the testing in quick times, but misclicked fairly often
0/5 of the test subjects followed Task 3's predicted path
All users felt this would be helpful in the kitchen
One user found the app difficult to navigate, asked for darker backgrounds and a dedicated back button
High Fidelity Wireframes
Quite a few changes were made after testing, including a pivot from a homepage that leads to sections to a dedicated homepage that gives recaps and requests feedback for last night's meal, and quick prompts for recipes that don't require navigating to the recipe page.
Determine maneuverability of the product
Evaluate attitudes towards new homepage and feedback submission
Determine best layout for the Grocery List
Go through onboarding
Add food to kitchen
Find recipe and add food to grocery list
Survey users on feelings about their experience
Key Takeaways
Users loved the app (Satisfaction scores between 4.5-5/5 across the board)
Onboarding took 15 seconds on avg, compared to 3+ minutes during research of competing products
Users suggested moving dietary restrictions to onboarding screens
Select quotes:
"This is better than using the Notes app."
"I could see myself using an app like this, especially at work when I'm wondering what I'm going to make for dinner tonight."
After testing the hi-fidelity screens, these are the changes most requested by users, and therefore the ones i would most likely implement
Add suggested foods at the top of grocery list
Add dietary preferences to onboarding
Change icons on grocery list to strikethrough on click
Add buttons to the bottom of recipes (“I cooked this meal” or something similar) and to the bottom of grocery list (“I finished shopping”)
In closing, I learned so much more than I expected from this experience. I figured that people would enjoy an app like this, but they didn’t just enjoy the app because it solves a problem, they loved it because it was an app that listened to them and provided them with their solution, not just any solution. I learned a good lesson in listening to users when they said that they could handle more than what I provided, and I learned how to build something from beginning to end and see it through to completion while making a lot of changes along the way. I made sure I wasn’t too attached to one solution to a big problem. Along with that, I got a lot of insightful feedback through interviews and tests that helped me see the picture in much more detail than I originally saw, and that helped me solve a lot of smaller problems that made solving the bigger problem much more manageable.
Jay Papandreas
Denver, CO
2025
Jay Papandreas, 2025, all rights reserved