Cooking mate

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Aim

Provide a new way of meeting people through the shared activity of cooking, brighten up the mundane life of people who live alone or want to meet new people and seek fresh experiences.

Project

A concept for an online platform where people from all around the world could find someone to cook with through a video call.

1/4

UX/UI

Cooking Mate

The initial idea was inspired by my friend’s and her boyfriend’s tradition to call once a week or so and cook together by following the same recipe that they’ve chosen beforehand. They both lived in different countries at the time so it was a fun and immersive activity to do together despite the distance.

The idea was also highly relevant to the current situation in the world when due to the COVID19 pandemic people had to face quarantine and self-isolation during which some of them ended up spending that time alone, locked inside their homes which meant doing everything by themselves. Cooking was one of those things. Therefore, a concept for a platform that would allow people to find a person whom they could cook with was born.

ORIGINS

RESEARCH:
how and why cooking
connects people?

INSIGHTS

Food and cooking are universal things that transcend cultural differences and gaps.

Culinary experiences have the ability to connect people from different groups and backgrounds.

Food is one of the basic human needs alongside connection

and inclusion.

Food and cooking have always been around in the history of humans hence it's one of the most common things that everyone can relate to.

Common themes

Using cooking as an escape

Using cooking as an entertainment

Cooking as a way to be productive

Talking when cooking

Problems

Feeling alone, isolated

Not having many connections

Having limited amount of things to do

Feeling disconected

Needs

Connection

Sharing

Entertainment

New experience

Desires

A new way to connect to people online

Find new ways to socialise

Find people to talk with

"People are turning to cooking while self-quarantined not just for sustenance but for comfort and entertainment."

"Cooking and baking have been productive activities, and something that I have been able to enjoy even with the scary backdrop of a global crisis,”

"Quarantine cooking is about more than just feeding yourself"

"Talking with someone on the video call while cooking was not merely a way to multitask, but the way to recreate that sense of familiar connection, a way to

feel less alone."

Interview

“We chat about food, we talk about how we’re all feeling, and it is a way to check up on each other, too”

"Quarantine cooking is about more than just feeding yourself"

"I enjoy cooking with people, I wish I could host cooking parties with my friends, but for, now it's not possible."

Interview

RESEARCH:
quarantine cooking

INSIGHTS

AUDIENCE:
formed from research and interviews

Key Demographics

Age range: 18+

Gender: all

Location: all around the world

General description:

Individuals living alone or having to isolate.
People who want to recreate the social aspect of cooking but due to the current circumstances find it hard to achieve that.
People who want to find new friends or just have a chat with someone outside their friends' circles while doing a shared activity of cooking.
People who want to explore and get to know more about different cultures and cuisines, but don’t have the opportunity now.

"Food is our common ground, a universal experience."

"Role of food in human culture"

"Combining a need for connection with another basic human need - food- ensures not only our physical health but our emotional health as well."

"Role of food in human culture"

"Food is a universal language which everyone knows how to speak."

www.foodconnectspoeple.com

“Food connects us to the past, to our memories, to our family, <…> sometimes to unknown people."

www.foodconnectspoeple.com

Main functions of cooking sites:

Finding recipes

Sharing recipes

Curating recipes

Sharing experiences and tips

Insights:

Most of the main functions of these kinds of sites/apps were ‘recipes orientated’. This demonstrates that there is a niche in the market for a platform that would suggest a different type of search: not merely for recipes, but for people to cook them with.

MARKET RESEARCH:

Research goal: define key principles of cooking sites and social cooking activities and consider which functions of them would and wouldn’t be applicable for the "Cooking Mate" platform

INSIGHTS

CONSIDERATIONS

Adding a section for finding recipes as it would be a useful function to add.

Possibility to COLLABORATE with already existing websites/apps that focus on finding recipes to have this function of theirs included in the “Cooking Mate” site.

COMPARISONS

Out of all researched sites, “Cookpad” was something in-between “Cooking Mate” and apps/websites that offer developed recipe searching-systems. It operates as both the recipes finder and a social platform to share them on.

How it is similar to C.M. concept:

•It is a partly social platform that connects people.

•Helps to find recipes and/or share them.

•Open conversations system.

•For people from around the world.

Consideration:

I would consider making a place on the “Cooking Mate” site where people could share their cooking stories, experiences of using this site and their recipes as well.

HELLO FRESH and GOUSTO are meal delivery services that offer personalised boxes with ingredients and cooking instructions. They are great for not only those who are not great at cooking or getting groceries, but also for the ones who want to learn and experiment with new recipes, but find it hard to plan that themselves.

RESEARCH:
collaborations

CONSIDERATIONS

Looking into the example of how Gousto (meal delivery service) operates, helped to see how such function could be a useful addition to the “Cooking Mate” website; people could have an option to make the preparation and cooking experience even easier and focus on the communication aspect more.

Making this ingredients delivery service to be an additional paid feature, so that people who want to pay for this kind of delivery could do so and but the ones who would want to pick their own recipes and ingredients could choose not to use it and only use the main function of the site - to find a cooking buddy.

KEY WORDS:

Focus points for brand language and visual identity.

Inviting

FUNCTIONS & GOALS

Fun

Flexible

Helpful

Friendly

MAIN

Provide a searching system for finding a person to cook with.
Connect people from all around the world through shared cooking experiences.
Lighten up the mundane activity of cooking.
Help to brighten up the period of isolation.
Provide an opportunity to try a fun cooking adventure.
Replicate the social aspect of cooking in real life.

ADITIONAL

Provide a searching system for finding recipes.
Help to discover new recipes.
Offer meal delivery service.

I identified the main points of user flows that would meet the needs, desires, and main goals of a user: find a cooking buddy, connect, find recipes additionally and upgrade for more features. I presented these flows in diagrams to show what the user journey would look like when navigating through the “Cooking Mate” website.

USER FLOW

To celebrate the notion that food and cooking are universal things that transcend cultural differences the shape made from the letter ‘o’ (from cooking) and the letter ‘M’ from (Mate) resembles both two spoons and two people holding their hands, hence joining through cooking.