Cooking is something I find pretty fun. Going through some new recipes I was curious about building something to keep some of my favorite dishes on hand. Something I can access anywhere on the web. This product included exploring database structures in user experience design.
Exploring Use Cases
When exploring how a product is designed, context should always come first in brainstorming. What will the product be used for? When would this product be used? What environment might the user be in when actively using the product?
User Stories
Carlos is at home on a Wednesday, wanting to mix things up a bit. Sitting on his couch, he flips through the cookbook mobile app to decide what he's cooking that night. He finds a cool recipe for a homemade pizza and looks through the recipe. He searches his cabinets to check for what he already has before he heads out to the grocery store to buy the rest.
When Carlos returns home, he opens the app back up and goes to the recipe he chose. In a few clicks, Carlos is looking at his pizza recipe, ready to begin cooking.
Information Architecture
Database Structure
Understanding what I was looking for was a big part of the play. The product would revolve around displaying various recipes with different ingredients and measurements. A great way of organizing this data was by using a SQL-based structure with different tables representing different parts of a recipe. This would include a tables for photos, ingredients, and some tables for combining data to put together a recipe.
Segmenting the data can be useful for only dealing with specific parts of a recipe. I.e. displaying images, labels, and ratings during search results, or picture and label when displaying otherwise. Understanding the use of information can also help with delivering an API for engineers during development.
Database Tables
Navigation
Navigating through the start of Carlos's Journey should be simple and intuitive. A great way would be to organize the recipes by time; Supporting a curiosity for what to eat, would mean to anticipate when a user would want a suggestion.
Creating a simple view that can be switched between meals of the day became a simple way to swipe to relevant suggestions. Taking this user-centric strategy a bit further and integrating a timer to automatically open views on application start - depending on the time of day.
