Case Study
I led the design of a redesign for a personalised food & drink discovery app
View app on App Store
We spoke to existing users of the app to understand what was and wasn’t working with the current app.
I designed and prototypes a complete redesign of the app experience.
I conducted user testing with a mix of existing and new users to validate my design decisions.
Recce is a personalised food and drink discovery app that consolidates the processes of exploring, saving, and sharing culinary recommendations into a single platform. Aimed at enhancing how users connect with independent food and drink establishments, the app leverages suggestions from a user’s social circle to ensure trust and relevancy.
Users can discover a wide range of venues—from cozy vegan eateries and bustling rooftop bars to dog-friendly cafés and pubs equipped with darts. With a database of recommendations across the UK and internationally, Recce offers a tailored browsing experience that adapts to individual preferences and social connections.
The platform also serves as a personal logbook where users can keep track of and share their favourite dining spots with friends and family.
Recce approached Activate Studio for a comprehensive redesign of their existing app, which had already been launched as a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) on the App Store. The primary goals for the redesign were to enhance user engagement and improve personalization. Key objectives included refining the onboarding process to gather more detailed user preferences and location data, which would enable the delivery of more relevant, personalized content.
Recce also sought to integrate a map view with robust filtering options, allowing users to explore recommendations geographically. The visual appeal of the app was to be elevated with larger, more engaging images to capture user interest effectively.
Additionally, the redesign aimed to streamline the process of creating new recommendations, making it easier for users to add photos, share their thoughts, and tag their posts. Improved social and community features were essential to foster interaction among users, alongside the development of a personal profile section where users could log places they recommend and wish to visit.
As the sole designer on the Recce project at Activate Studio, I was pivotal in the redesign of the app. I initiated the redesign process with ideation sessions alongside the cofounders, which informed the creation of low-fidelity wireframes to map out user flows quickly. I developed a new design system to ensure visual and functional consistency across the app, enhancing usability and scalability.
Through an interactive prototype, I conducted user testing with both new and existing users, gathering vital feedback to iteratively refine the interface. This feedback directly influenced the final design updates, ensuring the app was intuitive and user-friendly. I also supported the development team throughout the build phase, ensuring a seamless translation from design to deployment, and addressing design-related issues to maintain fidelity to the intended user experience.
The updated onboarding flow collects more detail on the users to be used for suggestions when using the app
The homescreen features relevant content suggestions for the user and search allows the user to find specific places, people and lists
The places screen shows venues near the user or in selected locations, it also allows filters to narrow down the results. The venue page shows all the information about a specific venue as well as showcasing users uploaded images of the place.
The recce flow is where users can add new recommendations to the platform, it is connected with the google maps database so if a venue is not already on the platform it can be added. Once the user recommends a new place the populated venue screen shows.
The community is where users can view and interact with their friends activities whether that is recommending places, marking them as want to go or uploading new images.
Users can view all their reccomendations, places they want to go and collated lists on the profile. They can click into these lists to see a map view of the venues within that list.
Recce is now launched and available for use. As I continue to work on the app, I am focused on refining the design and functionality based on real user feedback and evolving market needs.
This ongoing process of improvement ensures that the app not only meets current user expectations but also adapts to future demands. By staying committed to this iterative development approach, I aim to progressively enhance the user experience and maintain the utility and relevance of Recce in the dynamic food and drink discovery landscape.
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