Snack Box App

Role: UX/UI Designer

Duration: Apr - May 2022

Tools: Figma

Overview

As part of an immersive design course through Google, I was tasked with completing a project. I chose to create Snack Box, a snack ordering app that allows users to order snacks at the movie theatre and get them delivered right to their seats.

Research

I conducted interviews and created empathy maps to understand the needs and pain points of the users I’m designing for. A primary user group identified through research was working adults who didn’t want to wait in line to order food after a busy work week and parents who can’t carry the snacks as well as keep an eye on their children. This confirmed the assumptions about users wanting an app that can help them get their orders delivered to their seats.

Personas

After completing the primary research, I interviewed 10 people who regularly go to the movies in order to better understand their needs and goals. I then created user personas based on the user research that helped me paint a clear and realistic picture of users’ goals, needs, and behaviors.

Problem Statement: Arjun is a working professional who needs their order as quick and hassle-free as possible because they don’t want to miss out on the movie.

Competitor Analysis

I conducted market research and competitor analysis to better understand who my competitors were and what they did well or poorly. A few start-ups like Snacket and KhaoNow have shut down which led me to the next big competitor - PVR.

PVR is one of the biggest movie franchises in the country and has several branches. It has launched the contactless food ordering service owing to the recent pandemic. Though the users can order the food while booking the movie ticket or even in the middle of the movie, they still have to pick up the food at the counter. They also offer QR codes so that users don’t have to download the app.

Apart from PVR, there were a couple of indirect competitors like Swiggy, Zomato, and Zepto. Swiggy is an online food ordering and delivery platform. It operates in 500 Indian cities and apart from food delivery, Swiggy also provides on-demand grocery deliveries under the name Instamart and an instant package delivery service called "Swiggy Genie". It has partnered with Google Local Guide to facilitate customer reviews and with Sodexo to enable customers for paying through meal cards. On the other hand, Zepto is a newly launched app that guarantees “10-minute delivery” of groceries. Its 10-minute delivery promise has spurred rivals like Google-backed Dunzo, SoftBank Group Corp-backed Blinkit, and Naspers Ltd-backed Swiggy. The app is very well-designed and visually appealing with animations entertaining the user in between navigations.

One of the major gaps found after analyzing is that all of them need to expand on their language options since India is a multilingual country. This paved way for some opportunities like offering multiple language options and delivery to the seats at the movie theater.

Wireframes

I started designing low-fidelity wireframes using Figma for my low and high-fidelity wireframes. Throughout the different fidelity stages, continuous iterations were made to improve the app’s functionality and UX.

The high-fidelity mockups:

Iteration

The second usability study revealed that users wanted the option of changing the language settings from anywhere in the app and not just from the Homepage.

Watch the high-fidelity prototype:

Style Guide

Impact and Learning

The app makes it easy for users to order snacks easily and enjoy their movie time without having to wait in line behind huge crowds.

Don Norman said, ”Designers know too much about their product to be objective judges: the features they have come to love and prefer may not be understood or preferred by future customers.”

This is exactly what I learned during this entire process. That the design or images that I love may not be what the customers need or even understand and you can truly create better only when you understand what the customer needs and not do something that you think the customer needs.