Sous
Making cooking fun again with guided cooking with real chefs
For this project, I tackled the Google Venture Design Sprint with a design prompt by a fake start up called Sous. The primary goal for this project is to make following new recipes easier to follow at home.
Following the Google Venture Design Sprint guidelines, I was giving 5 days to map, sketch, decide, prototype, and test my solution.
Project Type
Google Venture Design Sprint
Role
Solo UI/UX Designer
Time
5 Days
Tools
Figma
DAY 2: SKETCH
Integrating guidance and opportunities to educate
Before diving into my solution, I needed to quickly survey the existing space of current solutions via lightning demos.
Tasty
The current layout of their platform on desktop depends on a strict LHS and
Serving Size Modification
Messy UI
Photo Only Reviews
Preparation is at the bottom
Yummly
The current layout of their platform on desktop depends on a strict LHS and RHS layout.
Apple Health Integration
Tabular Format
No User Reviews
Text-only Instructions
Bon Appetit
The current layout of their platform on desktop depends on a strict LHS and RHS layout.
Kitchen Appliances Listed
Video Demonstration Per Step
Full Video Walkthrough Available
No user-generated pictures
Nike Running Club (NRC)
The current layout of their platform on desktop depends on a strict LHS and RHS layout.
Instruction synced with progress
Freedom to pause and resume
Constant reassurance / guidance
Transparency and access to creators
Crazy 8s
With these two screens selected, I aimed to get a combination in my final design. These screens showcase options to be guided (top) or not guided (bottom) when starting a recipe.
Guided (Top Selection):
The guided screen features a chef cooking in real-time, demonstrating techniques, ingredients, and steps to ensure the user feels confident and on track. This approach minimizes hesitation, keeps the user aligned with the recipe’s timing, and accounts for multitasking to optimize efficiency.
Non-Guided (Bottom Selection):
The second screen is for those who do not want a guide and just want to follow the recipe on their own and in their own time. The steps will be shown with a short video tutorial of how to do the step so that the user is well in the know when progressing through the recipe.
Solution Sketch
With these two screens in mind – I wanted to focus on the Guided option for the final design. Given the amount of time and seeing from my Lightning Demos that the Non-Guided exists within Bon Appetit, I wanted to explore how the Guided Cooking experience would look like.
Within 60 minutes, I explored the guided cooking experience and identified the three key screens in a three-panel storyboard.
Introduction (Left): The user has selected a recipe and is ready to begin. Upon clicking "START," they are prompted to choose between a Guided or Non-Guided cooking session, allowing them to personalize their cooking experience.
Engagement (Middle): Upon selecting Guided, the user is taken to the first step of the recipe, where the chef will cook alongside them. Throughout the session, Sous will provide real-time guidance, with all necessary details—including steps, ingredients, and alternatives—displayed below.
Conclusion (Right): After finishing the recipe, the user is congratulated and prompted to take a photo of their completed meal for in-app documentation. They also have the option to share it publicly, allowing others to see social proof that the recipe works.
DAY 3: DECIDE & STORYBOARD
Guided cooking offers users the confidence and support
Decide
Optimization and confidence are central to this design sprint. The guided cooking solution builds user confidence by having a chef demonstrate each step, offer tips, and provide real-time encouragement. Unlike traditional written recipes, which require users to independently research unfamiliar ingredients and techniques, guided cooking ensures clarity and support throughout the process, leading to a more successful experience.
Research also highlights time management challenges with online recipes, where users often struggle with multitasking. Written recipes tend to present tasks linearly, overlooking the need to clean as you go or prep ingredients ahead of time. Guided cooking addresses the issue of multitasking by having the chef cook in real-time, demonstrating efficient task management and time organization for a seamless experience.
Storyboard
Inspired by platforms like Nike Running Club and Duolingo, Sous aims to make learning new skills less intimidating by providing a clear process and a guide. With Sous, users can cook alongside a professional chef in real-time, receiving explanations, timing guidance, and ingredient management to ensure everything goes smoothly.
The chef also offers on-the-spot insights, alternatives, and small tutorials on new tools or techniques, available through a menu below the video for user convenience.
Storyboarding this process helped clarify the app's key flow for discovering and following recipes, giving me a clear direction to move forward with design.
day 5: test
Customizability and detail are critical
On Day 5, I conducted moderated usability tests with 5 users who are active in the cooking space. Tasking them to go through the app, I was able to collect a handful of positive and constructive feedback. Using a scale of severity, the recipe screen was marked critical for revision since it received the most feedback.
Lacking customization and detail
Considers preparation, customization, and social proof
If I had more time
Introducing Community
Explore live classes and remote cooking partnerships to strengthen community.
New Features
Explore gamification, user-generated recipes, AI support, and ingredient-based recipe generation.
Enhancing Existing Features
Improve the user experience by offering more flexible cooking options, better time management tools, improved video controls, and timely post-recipe engagement.
PROTOTYPE
Final prototype
That was fun, let's do it again
