
CORA
Community
Outreach and
Research for
Allergy and Dietary Needs
Project Overview
Design a new mobile app to help improve a user’s experience when searching for restaurants that provide information regarding allergy and dietary needs.
Solution
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Design a new app that helps users find local dining recommendations based on their dietary needs.
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Create a sense of community and increase confidence in dining choices.
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Define a unique brand identity that will become a "go-to" resource for those with
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restrictive diets.
Role
UX/UI Designer
User Researcher
Graphic Designer
Tools
Figma, InVision, Miro
Empathize

Over 10% of Americans have food related allergies. This does not include individuals who have other dietary restrictions that are not allergy related. We believe there should be an easier way for users to locate food & dining options that will meet their needs.
Goals
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Understanding how people with certain needs go about finding or identifying restaurants or prepared food.
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Identify pain points in the current process of finding restaurants & food that will meet users dietary needs.


Our research has shown that there is not an easily accessible source of information on allergy friendly restaurants or products.
Users rely heavily on others’ personal experiences & have to use multiple sources of information which are frequently inaccurate.
Key Frustrations:
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Feeling unsafe or like an inconvenience when dining out
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Spending time researching
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Unreliable information on Yelp or Google
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Only trusting others who understand the severity of some allergy situations

Define
During our interview process, we discovered that users rely heavily on others personal experiences, thus needing to use multiple sources of information which are frequently inaccurate.
Therefore, we believe users need an accessible source of information and that we might be able to help if we provide a collaborative space for the dietary restricted community.
We might do this by creating an inclusive and efficient platform to professional knowledge and personal experiences. Doing this will allow our users to feel more at ease with their dining options and spend less time conducting personal research.

Defining Key Features
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Interaction with local community
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Creation of multiple allergy profiles
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Search results filterable by profiles
Ideate
The User Scenario
Geoff is planning a friends trip to Snake River, Wyoming to go whitewater rafting. His group wants to dine out for at least one night but multiple group members have different dietary concerns.

Tasks
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Sign up & create a profile.
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Locate local restaurant & view their menu.
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Start a new thread on the local chat.

Prototype


User Testing
Objectives:
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Are there any pain points or screens where users are confused or get stuck?
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Is information easy to access?
Tasks:
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Sign up & create a profile.
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Locate “Beryl’s Burgers” & view their menu.
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Start a new thread on the local chat.
Feedback:
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Users wanted a social media login option.
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Less bulky text
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Save Draft or Cancel button on “Post a Thread” page


Next Steps
Refinement:
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Complete full iOS Prototype
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Conduct User Re-Test
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Prepare final version
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Launch App
Future Opportunities:
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Host community events
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Launch resource website
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Online order options
