Problem Statement and Project Goal

The bakery seeks to develop an application to streamline and accelerate the ordering and delivery process. After discussing with the bakery owner, we discovered that currently, orders are placed via phone calls, which often leads to confusion and inefficiencies in order management.

The owner’s primary objectives for the app include:

• Raising awareness and interest in the bakery.
• Expanding its online presence to reach a wider audience.
• Offering a seamless user experience that meets industry standards.
• Gaining a competitive edge over rival businesses.

Given the limited budget but ample time, the goal was to complete a full design cycle to ensure a well-thought-out application that effectively meets user needs.

Design Process

The project followed a standard UX design process, which included:

1️⃣ Understanding user needs

2️⃣ Defining the core problem

3️⃣ Brainstorming solutions

4️⃣ Designing wireframes and prototypes

5️⃣ Conducting user testing

Research & Analysis

Target Audience Analysis

Due to time and budget constraints, instead of detailed user interviews, we conducted a short survey with key questions:

1. What is your gender?
2. What is your age group?
3. How often do you order food delivery?
4. What are the biggest challenges you face when ordering food via apps?
5. What features are most important to you in a food-ordering app?
6. Would you be willing to pay extra for faster delivery?
7. Do you prefer cash-on-delivery or credit card payments?
8. How important is order customization (e.g., additional toppings, special requests)?
9. How often would you use an app for ordering pancakes?
10. Which other food delivery apps do you use, and why?
11. Would you try a new food ordering app if it offered special deals or unique features?

Key Insights:

• People order food several times a week.
• The biggest pain points are unclear pricing and complicated navigation.
• Users prefer a clear menu, order customization options, and easy communication with the provider.
• Many would be willing to pay extra for faster delivery.
• Older customers prefer cash-on-delivery.
• 75% of respondents enjoy pancakes and would consider ordering them frequently.

User Persona

Based on our findings, we created a user persona that represents the typical customer:

Persona: Andraž

Age: 30

Occupation: Small business owner

Lifestyle: Busy professional with little time to cook

Pain points: Wants quick and hassle-free ordering, enjoys trying new desserts

Motivation: Loves pancakes and would prefer an app that makes ordering simple and efficient

User Story

A senior woman loves pancakes and wants to try new and innovative flavors offered by Timotej’s Pancakes. However, she has vision problems and limited digital literacy. She prefers paying in cash rather than using online transactions.

Ideation

“How Might We” Analysis

To address the challenges identified in our user research, we framed key questions using the “How Might We” (HMW) methodology. This helped us brainstorm solutions that directly target pain points and improve the user experience.

1. How might we improve order customization?

✅ Allow users to add toppings and extras through a slide-out menu at checkout.

✅ Include an “Other” input box where users can specify additional requests.

✅ Enable preset favorite orders for quicker future purchases.

2. How might we simplify the ordering process?

✅ Introduce a step-by-step guided ordering system to reduce confusion.

✅ Use clear visual indicators (e.g., progress bar) to show where users are in the order process.

✅ Offer quick reordering for past purchases with one tap.

3. How might we make pricing more transparent?

✅ Display a clear price breakdown with itemized costs before checkout.

✅ Include a “price preview” in the cart before finalizing the order.

✅ Highlight any additional fees (e.g., delivery, customization) upfront.

4. How might we improve customer communication?

✅ Implement a support chat feature in the bottom navigation for instant assistance.

✅ Offer an order tracking system with real-time status updates.

✅ Provide an FAQ/help section to answer common user questions.

5. How might we cater to elderly or visually impaired users?

✅ Use high-contrast colors and larger font sizes for better readability.

✅ Implement voice search and text-to-speech options.

✅ Keep the navigation simple and minimal, avoiding cluttered screens.

6. How might we make payments more flexible?

✅ Allow cash-on-delivery as an alternative payment method.

✅ Provide multiple digital payment options (credit/debit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay).

✅ Introduce a “save card for future use” feature to speed up checkout.

7. How might we encourage customer loyalty?

✅ Develop a loyalty program where users earn points for every order.

✅ Offer discount codes and special promotions for returning customers.

✅ Introduce referral rewards for customers who invite friends to use the app.

Rapid Sketching

To quickly ideate UI concepts, we used an 8-frame sketching technique, where each team member sketched different screens within one minute each. This helped generate a rough structure of the app interface.

Conclusion

The “Tim’s Pancakes” project successfully developed a mobile app concept for ordering and delivering homemade pancakes. By taking a holistic approach to UX design, we identified key customer needs and created an application that provides an intuitive, seamless ordering experience.

Through market research and competitor analysis, we gained valuable insights that informed the information architecture, UI design, and feature set of the app. By incorporating user feedback and prototype testing, we ensured the app aligns with customer expectations.

Key implemented features include:

• Clear and simple menu navigation
• Order customization options
• Fast and reliable delivery
• Multiple payment methods

Future improvements could include a loyalty program, discount offers, and social media integration to further enhance customer engagement. With a user-friendly interface and well-thought-out design, Tim’s Pancakes app has the potential to become a popular and effective food ordering solution.