Cochabama Mama

I created an app for a grocery store following Google’s process for UX that I picked up from my Coursera certificate (Empathize, Define, Ideate).

To get started I created a fictional business problem and scenario.

THE SCENARIO:

Cochabama Mama is a local, family-run health food store in the Miami-dade area. To garner more customers, they would like to start an online ordering system for easy and convenient pick-up options.

THE SOLUTION:

Health-conscious consumers in Miami can take charge of their diet with the Cochabama Mama app. By taking a quick, informative quiz, the app helps consumers understand their dietary goals and preferences. Based on their responses, the Cochabama Mama app creates a custom meal plan filled with delicious recipes tailored to their lifestyle. Consumers can effortlessly order all the ingredients listed in their meal plan and recipe cards directly from the comfort of their home with a few simple clicks. As a last step, they can  select a pick-up time that fits their schedule and swing by Cochabama Mama to grab their fresh, high-quality ingredients.

STEP ONE: EMPATHIZE - Exploring the User’s Needs

Cochabamba Mama sits at a cross roads between providing grocery services, but also dieting meal-planning services. To get a better understanding of its competitors and to fully understand the expectations of its potential consumers, I employed two research methods: competitive analysis and consumer surveys.

Competitive Research:

In order to gain insights of the best UI and UX for Cochabama Mama’s app, I conducted an analysis on 4 major brick and mortar grocery stores in the Miami area, Sedano’s, Publix, Walmart and Wholefoods. I analyzed their UX on their website or app, the categorization of recipes, and their overall strengths and weaknesses. 

Although Cochabama Mama does not offer mail-service meal kits, I found it necessary to research indirect competitors that offer meal kits tailored to specific diet plans, such as paleo diets, Mediterranean diets, Gluten-free diets, etc. I analyzed Green Chef, Home Chef, Sunbasket and Gobble because consumers are able to choose meals to cook based on their diet type. Cochabama Mama’s new app will have a similar focus on diet types and will be unique to the space since the ingredients will come fresh from a local grocery store.

Consumer Research:

To further understand consumer expectations for the app, I recruited 10 consumers to interview and to take a survey who are currently on a diet and have used a digital grocery shopping service in the past 3 years. The age of the participants ranged from 25-60; and 80% identified as female, while the other 20% identified as male.

Here are some general insights I observed from the interviews and consumer survey:

• Most participants that are on a diet generally follow a specific type of diet or philosophy, such as the Mediterranean diet, Keto diet, etc.

• Half of the participants actually really enjoy grocery shopping in-person, while the other half are neutral about it or dislike it.

• Half of the participants eat out 1-2 times a week, while the other half eat out 3-4 times a week

• The number one reason someone would choose to use a digital grocery shopping app is for convenience and to save time

• Most participants have considered or tried out a mail order, meal service kit before but ultimately decided that it was too pricey, or that the food was not as fresh as the company claimed

• A major deterrent to starting a diet or meal plan was motivation and the need to track and plan ahead

• An ideal diet would be one where meals did not take too much time to prepare and one that offered a variety of foods

STEP TWO: DEFINE - Establishing the User’s Needs and Problems

Empathy Map Synthesis:

To visualize all the findings from my research, I employed Affinity Mapping. Through this exercise, I was able to uncover the needs and pain points of potential consumers.

Consumer Needs Emerged:

• Time: A major deterrent to shopping healthy and sticking to a diet is finding the time outside of other priorities

• Low Cost: Most people thought a digital grocery shopping service would be helpful but were concerned by added cost

• Easy Clean-up: In today’s world, consumers were concerned with the time it would take to meal prep, as well as the time for clean-up. The recipes Cochabama Mama employs should be fairly simple, quick, and take very few utensils to make.

• Community Connection: Some users valued in-store grocery shopping because it’s a way to support local businesses. Since Cochabamba Mama is a local company in the Miami area and all of its products are sourced from farmers in Florida, this emotional need is met through the app.

Persona Development:

To better understand the consumer, I created two personas for the ideal target market based on the research I conducted.

Diana is an accountant in Coral Gables, Miami. She is 40 years old and has three children under the age of 10. Between taking her son to soccer practice, attending dance recitals for her daughter, and taking care of her elderly father with dementia, it’s difficult for her to find time for herself.

Although Diana is a very busy person, she tries her best to buy fresh groceries when she can and tries to fit in a workout on her treadmill.

At 31, Javier thrives on the adrenaline rush of his tech career, pushing pixels and chasing innovation. But maintaining a healthy lifestyle amidst demanding deadlines and constant screen time can be a struggle. He prioritizes clean ingredients and balanced meals that fuel his active life, whether it's hitting the gym after work or running on the beach. Convenience is key, but sacrificing quality is a no-go. Javier approaches life with a data-driven mindset, meticulously researching meal options and tracking his nutritional intake. Cochabama Mama piques his interest with its focus on fresh, flavorful dishes that cater to specific dietary needs.

STEP THREE: IDEATE - Creating the Framework

User Flow:

To alleviate consumer pain points and cater to their needs, the Cochabama Mama app should make creating a meal plan and dieting as easy as possible. The app should offer a personalized meal plan to consumers. At the same time, users should also be able to conveniently shop for groceries outside of recipes or diets personalized to them. With this in mind, I created a user flow that would position Cochabama Mama’s grocery services and app as a dieting tool, while also offering a basic digital grocery shopping experience.

STEP FOUR: PROTOTYPE - Let’s make the Design!

Sketches:

In my sketches, I implemented design patterns that I saw during my research process. Specifically relating to the user flow and categorization of certain food groups, as well as recipe and diet plans. I wanted to make sure the flow of the app resembled other grocery stores and offered a basic shopping experience, while also offering a customizable, dieting experience.

Low Fidelity Wireframes:

To ensure a well thought-out experience, I created a low fidelity prototype based off the user flow. I was able to think through different ideas for the user flows and lay out the information architecture in a meaningful way.

STEP FIVE: Final Design

High Fidelity Screens:

After developing the final wireframes, the next step is to add visual design. In this stage, I created a logo for the fictional store, Cochabama Mama, and implemented branding colors.

For the logo, I chose to reflect the natural essence the local store would offer since they provide fresh ingredients from local farmers. I chose a silhouette of a vaquera in the sun to highlight the rich lineage that many immigrants in the area hold onto and chose aquas to highlight what Florida is most known for - it’s beaches, lakes, and water. The name “Cochabama Mama” was inspired by the city, Cochabama, which is known for its lush terrain and agriculture in Bolivia.