Crewhome
Crewhome aims to tackle pain points such as food stock management and internet-enabled recipe search based on the ingredients in the fridge.
Tools
Figma, Sketch,Principle,
Davinci Resolve
Role
Timeframe
Background
The Problem
£470
50 million
33%
The Process
Empathise
Reseach
Ideate
Test
Design
Iterate
Early Insights from users
I interviewed 5 participants to discover their behaviour when preparing food - My goal was to understand the challenges users faced.
”I find that following a recipe 'exactly' is nearly impossible and often produces terrible results.”
“Recipes aren't fun to read.”
“Not having enough TIME. Not having the proper EQUIPMENT. Not READING recipes completely through and understanding.”
“I tend to follow recipes loosely. My husband on the other follows them very, very literally which can produce amusing results.”
“A recipe may state that you must chill your dough for a minimum of three hours before baking, but you were in a hurry, so you skipped that part, and then your pie crust was soggy and limp.”
The Discovery
Integrating wearables for a seamless experience.
The potential of VR/AR's power to create an exceptional user experience is still undiscovered, which is why I took on the challenge to demonstrate how this kind of future health app would work.
By blending the physical and the virtual world with augmented reality, mixed-reality health overcomes the limitations of a physical screen, bringing health closer to the user.
The Challenge
Due to the novelty of this frontline technology, there is an existing gap in knowledge for Mixed Reality design guidelines. As a consequence, many AR applications have failed to meet users' expectations.
Therefore, I went deep in research in the topic area to find out the best practices proposed by designers. I ended up following VR design guidelines previously implemented by the DayDream VR team at Google.
I also followed gestalt laws and industrial design guidelines.
1px = 1dmm and 1 dmm = 1mm at 1m distance from the user.
Understanding human factors.
Personas
Personas help me identify key tasks as well as their emotional state at each stage in the journey.
Needs to accomplish
- Reduce food waste.
- Preserve good health.
Needs to feel
- Calm and reassured.
- At ease and satisfied.
Considerations
- How can they maximise their interest in health.
- How could they follow recipes seamlessly.
I see great value in eating healthy food, and I would like to reduce food waste, but I can't cope with doing it very often. I also would like to expand my food menus, but I struggle to follow recipe books.
Customer Journey Map
To capture the user's experience during their interaction with HomeCrew, I created a journey map to visualize their actions throughout the solution.
Sketches
Sketches helped me to save time and resources, identify potential issues, enhance creativity, and aid in visualizing and communicating ideas.
Wireframes
I used wireframes early in the development process to establish the basic structure and the content layout.
Unity
Once the majority of the interactions were ready,
I created a 3D environment in Unity.
The Concept
"Fidelity Prototyping: Iterating and Testing Ideas for Successful Implementation"
I brought my ideas to life through fidelity prototypes that I kept iterating after testing with users.
"Smart Menu Planning with Automated Inventory Management"
The app presents menu options based on the items in your inventory list. If you lack ingredients for a particular recipe, the app will notify you of the missing items.
Adding Social Recommendations to a Recipe App:
Incorporating User-Suggested Recipes with Ratings and Tips to Enhance User Experience
Personalized Health Monitoring
Peak health is unique to each individual, and so are the steps to achieve it. Monitoring health and taking personalized action is key. This leads to a revolutionary virtual health environment for users to explore.
Ultimate Convenience at Your Fingertips
The complementary CrewHome App features provide access to shopping, movies, music, diet and settings control even when you are on the move!
Revolutionizing Food Management with RFID Technology
Furthermore, while I believe that the food management feature would be beneficial for a vast number of individuals, its appeal may diminish over time due to the tedious task of inputting all food items manually. However, recent discussions have centered around utilizing RFID technology for food packaging. If the refrigerator were equipped with an RFID reader, it could potentially revolutionize the entire process.
Outcome and learnings
In conclusion, the conducted research has demonstrated that mixed reality is gradually starting to play the projected role in our lives. Thus, it should not be perceived as a mere technological gimmick but rather as a valuable tool for increasing sales, fostering engagement, and enhancing efficiencies. This implies that there is a new frontier for UX designers to create unforgettable experiences by assisting consumers in making comfortable purchase decisions. For this reason, AR, VR, and mixed reality emerge as the long-term user experience to cut through the noise of other players. Moreover, although 2020 has been a challenging year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this cutting-edge technology is helping to adapt the shopping experience to current social limitations and therefore enhancing the comfort of consumers in their own space.
Similarly, not all users have access to experience mixed reality to its full capacity due to the constraints of their private devices. Hence, it is essential to consider the target audience that the product is intended for.