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Observation log
Entry 05UI/UX2024

Recipe App Redesign

A self-directed UX case study: rebuilding a cluttered recipe app around the one moment that matters — cooking with your hands full.

Role
UX research and interface design
Year
2024
Instruments
  • Figma
  • Prototyping
  • User Flows
  • Design Systems
Cat. 005UI/UXRecipe App Redesign

IOverview

A redesign study of a popular recipe app, working from the observation that its interface is optimised for browsing while the actual job — following steps at a stove — is where it fails hardest.

IIThe problem

Ingredients and method sit on separate screens, so following a recipe means scrolling back and forth with wet hands. Step text is set at the same weight as everything else, and the screen sleeps halfway through a simmer.

IIIThe approach

A dedicated cook mode: one step per screen at a size readable from arm's length, the ingredients for that step pinned in view, a persistent timer for steps that need one, and the display kept awake for the duration. Browsing stays as it was — the redesign adds a mode rather than replacing the app.

Key features

  • Cook mode with one step per screen and arm's-length typography
  • Per-step ingredient list pinned in view
  • Inline timers attached to the steps that need them
  • Screen-wake handling for the length of a session
  • Annotated before-and-after flows with the reasoning for each change

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