Culinary Roots is a mobile app designed to help users save money and learn how to cook traditional meals through chef-led video tutorials and curated recipes. As the Lead Designer, I collaborated with a team of two other UX/UI designers, overseeing the process from initial research through to final prototyping. Our objective was to create an intuitive, educational, and culturally rich app that made traditional cooking more accessible to modern users.

The project began with in-depth user research. We conducted a competitive analysis of existing recipe apps to understand market standards and opportunities for differentiation, which led us to focus on expert video content and traditional recipes. Surveys and user interviews revealed strong user motivations such as improving cooking skills, saving money, and reconnecting with cultural food traditions. We synthesized this data into a proto persona and used affinity mapping to identify common pain points, such as confusing recipe steps and the difficulty of finding affordable traditional meals.

During the ideation phase, we prioritized features using the MoSCoW method, ensuring essential elements like video tutorials, meal planning, and budgeting tools were central to the app. Journey mapping allowed us to define the full user experience—from discovering recipes and watching tutorials to planning meals and building shopping lists—helping us design a smooth, intuitive flow.

We then moved into wireframing and prototyping. Low-fidelity prototypes helped us validate functionality early on, while high-fidelity prototypes brought the visual design and interactivity to life. These designs were tested in several rounds with users, whose feedback guided meaningful refinements. Based on their input, we simplified recipe instructions, improved video accessibility, and optimized navigation across key sections like recipe discovery, shopping lists, and cooking steps.

The final product offered a highly usable and engaging experience, featuring step-by-step chef-led videos, interactive recipe search, user profiles, and culturally informative content. Feedback from our target audience was overwhelmingly positive, with users highlighting how the app helped them save money, learn new cooking techniques, and feel more connected to their culinary heritage.

Leading the design of Culinary Roots was an enriching experience. Through a collaborative, user-centered design process, we created a product that successfully balanced education, culture, and usability—making traditional cooking approachable for all.