May’s Empanadas is a one-woman owned local food-catering service in my neighborhood of Queens, NY. Through casual phone calls and texts, the business owner receives orders and supplies homemade batches of empanadas across our borough. Along with other Filipino delicacies, the hearty empanadas spread through word of mouth, and the owner now receives an abundant flow of order requests from loyal Filipino families

A realistic Snapchat interface that highlights Snapchat’s ethical features, strips its deceptive patterns, and adds complementary properties for user satisfaction.

I asked May for a list of both new and loyal customers who would be willing to sit down for an interview. Quickly, I found a struggle in hosting these interviews on Zoom, as most were unable to navigate the app without a younger family member present to help them. From the overall customer list, I gathered that:

This shifted the course of my research where I realized I was creating an interface that should be intuitive specifically to an older generation of native Filipinos. A significant number of customers would not consider themselves technologically adept, and thus would less likely gravitate towards a different order process over the old “safe” habit of texting or calling. Old habits die hard, and it was important to craft a design that would easily allow new habits in.

I conducted an online survey which revealed these key findings:

Customers were comfortable or satisfied with their knowledge of iMessage/Facetime to contact May and place orders. But when asked if anything could be changed, customers agreed on needing more visual product/price clarity when solidifying their order decisions.

I designed a linear sequence order application to ensure that clients would connect and learn with the interface fairly quickly. Other navigation types are good for giving users more freedom to interact with the platform however they want, but a linear flow also restricts them from missing important information or getting lost. It limits the amount of thinking to be done on their part, which is ideal for this type of project in designing for convenience and simplicity..

I distributed my Figma prototype to conduct user testing with 11 loyal empanada consumers between the ages of 28-41 years old. I had satisfying results, but was determined to add tweaks and extra nudges in direction to make it as accessible as possible.

An engaging and responsive mobile e-commerce application for cleaner product display and order management, resulting in an 82% increase in customer retention.

Through this project, I learned some important takeaways:

‍Consider the varying technological proficiency among different age groups. My interfaces should accommodate users of all ages with clear instructions and simple gestures.

‍Recognize that cultural nuances can influence user patterns and intuitions. Another way to connect with my clients is to study their backgrounds and patterns. Interfaces can take into account factors such as behaviors, language preferences, and even visual cues that differ depending on the region or demographic group.

‍Existing interfaces work for a reason. As a designer, I can use existing systems that users are already familiar with to my advantage to improve on something even more. Identifying common features, layouts, and interactions that work well can help flatten the learning curve for my users.