PEEL FOODS, A WEB APP
Problem:
Peel Foods, a new business model stemmed from the founders of HomeFood (another project I did – read here), came about from audience, team and investor feedback. HomeFood’s MVP (minimum viable product): a mobile app where local cooks could create meals, post them in the app for consumers to view and purchase, and have HomeFood deliver the meals. The model inspired others to share their home cooked meals and earn additional income. The model worked, but wasn’t scalable, comprised a lot of risk, overheard and responsibility and had a ton of competition.
The founders came up with a solution, and through it Peel Foods was born. Revised Peel Foods MVP: partner with a 2 star Michelin Chef to create healthy, balanced yet exquisite meals and sell to defined target audience (corporate businesses) in large volumes/orders. With this change, Peel Foods has created a competitive and clear UVP (unique value proposition).
The consumer problem: they are unable to find quick, decently priced meals with quality ingredients and or by a well-known chef. Most meals have low quality (and unknown) ingredients, aren’t accessible during the day or “to go”, and are quite expensive. Knowing this problem, we were able to design around the user (human-centric design).
Once developed, the MVP would be quickly tested the within one corporate hotbed in London where they would gather data (quantitative and qualitative). With the data, Peel Foods could revise their ongoing strategy. Remember: there’s never a “one size fits all”, especially when you’re a startup. With a “lean” thinking mentality, Peel Foods set out to produce a quick solution and get immediate feedback.
The new MVP gives control to Peel Foods. It allows them to oversee and inspect the food, plan ahead for weekly demands, create a more consistent cash flow, scale their business, test and grow their MVP from one central area of London to others, and build their brand beyond food delivery.
Solution:
The original website (www.homefood.uk) was built and designed by the founders on SquareSpace. It lacked the functionality of food ordering app, so we started from scratch.
First up, competitor research. By looking at existing platforms, we took screenshots and shared our pros/cons list amongst each other. We were able to see gaps/areas of improvement, such as poor usability. Next, we compared mobile user journeys to web apps and reviewed color palettes, page architecture, item detail, features and functions, and discussed:
• what we did and didn’t like about user journeys
• how we can simplify the number steps from signing up to placing an order
• pain points in usability
• feedback from HomeFood’s mobile app – what can we take
• meal information consumers want
• how call-to-actions are used
• where call-to-actions are placed to increase conversions/checkouts
• color palettes research – how colors effected us and our appetite
These questions helped shape the design moving forward. Mind you, we felt UberEats, Deliveroo and Munchery had by the best usability.
Next, we compiled a list of features and asked ourselves if they’re doable for initial MVP. Since this was to be a rapid design, prototype and test we didn’t have much more time for research and interviews beyond what HomeFood had previously done.
Once the UI designs were complete, I uploaded the final designs to InvisionApp and Zeplin, shared the style guide with the developer at Peel Foods and all images and iconography.
Overall, the app design and feedback from Peel Foods, investors and, most importantly, consumers has been fantastic. The live website (www.peelfoods.com) has changed a bit from my design, but it’s perfectly fine for the MVP.
It’s always a pleasure working with the Peel Food founders and team!
