BACKGROUND.

Betty Crocker has been a trusted source for recipes and homemaking know-how for more than 90 years. With over 15,000 recipes, Betty Crocker’s app was overwhelming for users looking to create a fast and simple meal. Betty Crocker sought to reimagine their app to simplify meal making and boost their ranking in the Apple app store.

THE ASK.

To create an easy to use app that would take the stress out of cooking for busy parents.

MY ROLE.

I was the Creative Director on this assignment. We were extremely short on staff so I also worked on the UX and UI Designs (storyboards, wireframes, use case scenarios) and the Visual Designs (Layered and Layer Comped PSDs). I was responsible for walking clients through our concepts, our wireframes, and our designs.

MY PROCESS.

Before starting this project, I researched existing cooking apps to note the competitive landscape and pros and cons of other apps out there. Knowing that Betty Crocker is a trusted brand for no-frills products and recipes, the app should make it as easy as possible for cooks of all levels to make a delicious meal. As a passionate cook myself, I know that often, the hardest part is deciding what to cook. Another deciding factor is being able to use up as many on-hand ingredients as possible. For convenience, the app should also quickly generate shopping lists as well. Since many parents have set schedules for cooking, the app could also have reminders set up and automatically send recipe suggestions at certain times of certain days. Finally, the app should cater to your taste and preferences and get more accurate over time.

With these things in mind, I started wireframing the app, making sure to include the features that would make it stand out from other cooking apps. The user would start by answering a few questions about their dietary preferences. There would be an ability to skip this in case s/he would rather do it later. Once the user inputs his/her preferences (or selects a few recipes that appeal to them), recipes on their dashboard would be catered to them. At any point, users could save specific filters as well. Related recipes would be recommended based on what the user likes.

THE RESULT.

From beginning to end, the “Dinner Made Easy” app was an easy to use, attractive, and intuitive tool to help parents get a delicious meal done as quickly and easily as possible. The app was was robust and did not miss out on any features present in other cooking apps at the time. Ingredients were linked to Betty Crocker products for cross brand promotion and by using location based services, we notified users if the products were on sale somewhere closeby. This app is a great example of how a cooking app can be simple but still give users complete control of getting the recipes they want, the way they want it.