An app designed to foster socially distanced connections over delicious meals.
UI / UX
Branding
designathon
Overview
A designathon prompt inspired us to digitally recreate the restaurant experience.
For a designathon hosted by Adobe XD and Innovative Design (USC’s student creative agency), our challenge was to create an app encouraging socially distanced connections - in just 24 hours. We decided to digitally recreate the restaurant experience. We zeroed in on two key aspects of that environment: a shared menu and opportunity for socialization.
year
April 2021
timeline
24 hours
team
prototype link
contribution
I focused on the video chat and food ordering flows, as well as branding.
After rounds of both independent and collaborative ideation, I focused on building the video chat and food ordering flows. We also each ideated on branding during a brainstorm lightning round, and ultimately chose my concept.
results
We won the competition!
We won 1st place out of over 60 submissions! Judges praised our timely concept, well-executed prototype, and strong branding.
Digitally dine with friends or fly solo. Order your food through a familiar, intuitive interface.
Click here to experience the prototype / Opens new tab
fostering digital connections
Users can dine whether they have a group to join or not.
There are two ways to Chow--join or start a “Party” with friends, or join a public “Community Table”. Although we primarily envisioned groups of friends using the app together, we wanted solo users to be able to participate as well.
food ordering flow
I took inspiration from established food delivery apps to keep our flow intuitive.
Mimicking familiar apps like UberEats and DoorDash was a strategic move - they are popular for good reason, and we wanted an intuitive design. And let’s be real... we only had 24 hours! The Chow twist is that group orders are synced, so everyone chooses and receives their orders at the same time, like a real restaurant.
research and discovery
Our research illuminated COVID’s impact on the restaurant industry and on our collective mental health.
Data from the National Restaurant Association and International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology showed significantly lower sales for restaurants and significantly higher rates of depression reported amongst adults in 2021 as compared to 2017. And in a 2017 interview with NPR, social psychologist Ayelet Fishbach discussed her findings that people trust and feel connected to those they share a meal with.
These findings inspired us to center our concept around sharing meals. We wanted to create an app that would not only foster socially distanced connections, but encourage users to support their local restaurants.
design challenge
What is the best way to combine digital connections with food delivery?
Our biggest challenge was figuring out how to structure the Chow experience. Some of my initial ideas, shown below, included focusing on live public events, a reservation function for a more restaurant-like experience, and pairing up strangers based on dining preferences.
We ultimately landed on a simple video chat function that acts as a gateway to the food ordering flow. Although ideas like pairing up strangers were more unique, we felt they added unnecessary complication to the social connection aspect of our concept.
initial concepts
initial concepts
final flow
reflection
Staying true to the prompt and a clear goal led us to victory.
As a team our communication was clear and thorough, and we did a good job of delegating tasks without getting siloed. In terms of ideation, we were able to use the prompt and our research to come up with a concept that addressed multiple timely issues. As we worked, we constantly referred ourselves back to the prompt and our goal, which helped to clarify and streamline our vision.
next steps
Chow would need to pivot in 2024.
A digital restaurant experience would not be enticing with society at large back to “normal”, so in 2024, a pivot would be necessary for Chow.
To keep the app relevant, I would start by researching the mukbang trend--as a popular form of digital connection over food, I wonder how it might inform new features. I would also investigate how the app might be helpful for immunocompromised people and others who still practice social distancing, as well as those in long-distance relationships and friendships.
