College Cookbook

1. Prototype link (Please submit a link to a playable prototype, not a link to your design file) link

2. Describe your project (max 150 words) College Cookbook is a website/app that aims to provide college students with access to easy recipes in a variety of categories, including quick recipes, budget friendly recipes, and recipes in a variety of cuisines. Users can browse recipe categories or search using keywords, as well as filter by cuisine, prep time, etc. Each recipe includes instructions, nutrition information, and a video showing how to make the recipe. Additionally, users can add the ingredients from a recipe directly to their shopping list. The site will find the prices of the items on the list at nearby grocery stores and give the user the best value. Users can search for nearby grocery stores. Finally, an AI integration can identify ingredients from a picture and suggest recipes based on those ingredients.

3. Describe your research process and findings. If you conducted any surveys or interviews, please include the survey form and/or interview questions here. If you conducted secondary research by pulling from online sources, please include a link to your sources. (Max 500 words) I knew that cooking was something that many college students struggled with, from what I’ve seen from friends and roommates as a college student myself. In order to pinpoint exact issues and ensure I was addressing relevant problems with my product, I interviewed friends and also surveyed other college students (form link). I asked about what students normally eat, if they cook, what is holding them back from cooking, and the importance of budget-friendliness and ease when grocery shopping. I found that students normally eat prepackaged foods such as frozen meals and instant ramen, or they eat at the dining hall, because it is more convenient. Students don’t cook often because it takes time and effort, and they don’t necessarily know how to cook well. Additionally, having budget friendly groceries and knowing what to get at the grocery store was very important to students. Knowing this information, I knew I wanted to focus on easy and accessible recipes, with a focus on budget-friendliness as well. I wanted my product to have a lot of recipes to choose from, including simple and quick recipes, and also recipes of cultural dishes, as many students of color may miss their cultural foods and want to make them. The recipes include written instructions as well as videos so that there is no confusion as to how to make the recipes. I also included a grocery shopping element to make knowing what to get at the grocery store and where to get it easier. They can automatically add ingredients from particular recipes to their list, and can see where to buy those ingredients for the lowest price. Students can find the grocery stores that are closest to them. Another component that contributes to ease of finding recipes is the AI recipe generator, which detects ingredients from a photo and automatically suggests recipes. Students can easily find recipes to make using the ingredients they already have, which can alleviate the stress of not knowing what to cook with what you have.

4. Describe your most important design decisions. What research findings and/or user testing results led you to make these decisions? (Max 500 words) Some of the most important design decisions I made include having categories for the recipes, incorporating the AI feature to help use what you already have, having a simple and intuitive UI, having both a recipe and grocery component, and including video instructions on the recipes. I wanted to make sure users would be able to find the kind of recipes they were looking for, such as quick and easy recipes, since a main finding in user testing was that most people don’t have the time or energy to cook in college, and are seeking convenience more than anything else. That is also why I made the AI feature that suggests recipes based on what you already have, so users don’t feel like they have to buy more food just because they don’t know what to make with what they already have. This promotes ease of cooking and is a great way to reduce food waste as well! Good UI is always important, but I tried to go for a minimalistic layout that still looked nice and had an accent color. Additionally, I tried to make everything as intuitive as possible so users won’t be confused. I also thought it was very important to include both a recipe and a grocery component, so that users can find recipes to cook, but also don’t feel overwhelmed by grocery shopping. Ingredients from the recipes can go directly into a shopping list, and users can also budget for groceries and decide where to shop within the same site. Finally, I didn’t want to only have written instructions for the recipes, both for ease of instruction and for accessibility. Video instructions might be easier for a user to understand for a variety of reasons, so it was important to me to include multiple instruction formats. This will hopefully ensure that everyone can make the recipes easily.

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• figma