PickEasy

Make searching and saving your favorite restaurants quick and easy

Mobile

Feature Building

Freelance

Brief

Freelance • Jun - Aug 2021

I designed the "Search" and "Curated List" features for PickEasy's mobile app, enhancing the user experience by making it easier for users to discover and bookmark their favorite dining spots.

I joined PickEasy as a freelance Product Designer. One of my favorite projects was revamping the restaurant discovery experience, where I reimagined how the company could showcase its restaurant network with special deals.

Additionally, I contributed to the UX and UI design of a conceptual collaboration platform for social influencers and restaurants.

Project Overview

Role

Designed UI and created prototypes. Conducted UX research and industry benchmarking.

Teams

UX Design, Engineering, Operations

Duration

2 Weeks

Mobile App (iOS)

Tools

Sketch, Zeplin

PickEasy is a social app that helps users find their next dining spot using AI, branding itself as the "Tinder for Food" by allowing users to swipe on restaurants they find interesting.

Previously, users could only discover restaurants and browse deals based on nearby geo-location. This project aimed to design a solution that allows users to discover restaurants and deals beyond their immediate geographical area dynamically.

Problem

Users have limited options for identifying relevant restaurants and deals because PickEasy's recommendations are based solely on geo-location.

We identified the following major user pain points:

The existing mobile app does not support searching, which limits users' ability to dynamically discover specific restaurants and related discounts.
It is challenging for users to revisit saved results based on their personal preferences, as the current app displays all saved restaurants on a single, non-customizable canvas.

Solution

We designed the "Search" and "Curated List" features for PickEasy's mobile app to enhance the searchability and personalization of the restaurant discovery process. We created two sets of wireframes for A/B testing and developed high-fidelity mockups, which we then handed over to the engineering team.

Internal Content Audits

To understand the expected outcomes of the redesign, I conducted an internal content audit with the co-founders to gather major user feedback and align it with PickEasy's business needs.

Key questions included:

How do users currently discover restaurants and deals?
What adjectives do users use to describe their experience?
What is missing from their experience today?
How do users retrieve the restaurants and deals they are interested in?

Key Findings

The content audit highlighted the need for the following capabilities:

Flexibly discover multiple restaurants and deals
Search for restaurants and deals using specific keywords
Save restaurants and deals in personalized ways

Wireframing - A / B Testing

To address these design needs, we decided to develop a search system that allows users to discover offerings tailored to their personal preferences.

I created two sets of wireframes to determine which search mechanism best aligns with user behavior.

Version A: Search Bar Before "Restaurants" and "Deals"

The participants appreciated the ease of switching between restaurants and deals related to their search target (e.g., pizza).

However, they found it inconvenient that they couldn't view all available deals across multiple search targets on the same page. To browse all options, they had to return to the Deal page by clicking the "Deal" icon above the search bar, disrupting the overall search flow.

Version B: "Restaurants" and "Deals" Before Search Bar

The participants appreciated the ability to easily view both popular restaurants and deals by switching between tabs. They found it crucial for the search target to carry over between the two tabs to ensure a smooth and seamless experience.

Findings

We selected Version B as our final design based on the participants' feedback:

They found it easier to explore all available restaurants and deals by switching between the tabs above the search bar in Version B.
There was minimal difference in terms of friction between showing the search bar first (Version A) and showing the category first (Version B), so they preferred Version B, which required fewer clicks.

Participants also expressed a desire for flexible categorization and management of saved restaurants during the discovery phase.

Design Highlights

Customized Lists

To complement the expanded search capability, we also designed the "Curated List" feature, allowing users to create their own restaurant lists. Users can now create lists that fit their personal needs, such as organizing by cuisine types or location.

Back To Design Projects

Enhanced Discoverability

Users can now easily explore all restaurants and deals through flexible searching, no longer limited to geo-location-based swiping. They can search using specific keywords, such as restaurant names or cuisine types, enhancing their ability to find exactly what they're looking for.