Designed a
community-centric app
Selected Top 10 finalist out of 313 participants nationwide
48 hrs - Designathon
Oceana D, Quynh T
DESIGN CHALLENGE
Design your own digital application that
fosters community and celebrates inclusivity
Design your own digital application that
fosters community and celebrates inclusivity
The prompt was broad. Instead of starting with screens, we started with a question:
What actually brings people together?
We mapped shared spaces, shared hobbies, shared identities. One theme kept resurfacing and that was food.
Food shows up at every gathering, every celebration, every moment of connection across cultures
We mapped shared spaces, shared hobbies, shared identities. One theme kept resurfacing and that was food.
Food shows up at every gathering, every celebration, every moment of connection across cultures
This lead us to the question…
How might we create a recipe app that fosters community and celebrates inclusivity?
How might we create a recipe app that fosters community and celebrates inclusivity?
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
If food brings people together.
Why don't our existing recipe apps do that?
Low engagement in existing recipe apps
Merely offering the ability to provide ratings might not create a sense of community for users
Lesser-known cuisines are invisible
Platforms surface what's already trending in America, leaving underrepresented cuisines invisible
There's no context or story behind the dish
Despite being labeled as "stories," there are no actual narratives related to the dish
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
If food brings people together.
Why don't our existing recipe apps do that?
Low engagement in existing recipe apps
Merely offering the ability to provide ratings might not create a sense of community for users
Lesser-known cuisines are invisible
Platforms surface what's already trending in America, leaving underrepresented cuisines invisible
There's no context or story behind the dish
Despite being labeled as "stories," there are no actual narratives related to the dish
RESEARCH
People weren't waiting to be convinced to explore.
They were waiting for something that made it easy…
We ran a survey with 20 respondents and conducted follow-up interviews with a few to dig deeper.
85%
wanted to reconnect with their own cultural roots through cooking
Every interviewee expressed interest in learning the story behind a dish and not just the steps
RESEARCH
People weren't waiting to be convinced to explore.
They were waiting for something that made it easy…
We ran a survey with 20 respondents and conducted follow-up interviews with a few to dig deeper.
85%
wanted to reconnect with their own cultural roots through cooking
Every interviewee expressed interest in learning the story behind a dish and not just the steps
SOLUTION
A recipe app built around
story, conversation, and exploration
A recipe app built around
story, conversation, and exploration
Give every dish a voice
Recipes include a dedicated story section where users share personal or cultural context on why the dish matters, when it’s made, who taught it to them
The story sits alongside the recipe, not buried beneath it
Let the community talk
Instead of limiting engagement to ratings, users can respond to stories, ask questions, and share related experiences.
Discovery feels conversational, not transactional
Make exploration feel like an adventure
An interactive world map that lights up each country as a user tries a recipe from that cuisine.
It turns culinary exploration into something visual and rewarding, nudging users to venture beyond their comfort zone without ever feeling pressured to
SOLUTION
A recipe app built around
story, conversation, and exploration
Give every dish a voice
Recipes include a dedicated story section where users share personal or cultural context on why the dish matters, when it’s made, who taught it to them
The story sits alongside the recipe, not buried beneath it
Let the community talk
Instead of limiting engagement to ratings, users can respond to stories, ask questions, and share related experiences.
Discovery feels conversational, not transactional
Make exploration feel like an adventure
An interactive world map that lights up each country as a user tries a recipe from that cuisine.
It turns culinary exploration into something visual and rewarding, nudging users to venture beyond their comfort zone without ever feeling pressured to
ITERATIONS
The exploration feature didn’t start off as a map
Throughout the entire process, I did a lot of iterations. One example of that was the interactive map page
REFLECTION
Going in, I thought the hardest part would be the design. It wasn't.
I came out of this project a stronger collaborator than I entered it. That wasn't something I expected to learn from a recipe app.
Research over assumptions
We entered the designathon thinking we would design a smarter recipe app. Conversations with users reframed the problem entirely. Without that shift, we would’ve built something polished and generic.
Clear ownership improves outcomes
Midway through, we realized overlapping responsibilities were slowing us down. Once we defined who owned research, flows, and visual design, progress accelerated and decisions became sharper.
ITERATIONS
The exploration feature didn’t start off as a map
Throughout the entire process, I did a lot of iterations. One example of that was the interactive map page
REFLECTION
Going in, I thought the hardest part would be the design. It wasn't.
I came out of this project a stronger collaborator than I entered it. That wasn't something I expected to learn from a recipe app.
Research over assumptions
We entered the designathon thinking we would design a smarter recipe app. Conversations with users reframed the problem entirely. Without that shift, we would’ve built something polished and generic.
Clear ownership improves outcomes
Midway through, we realized overlapping responsibilities were slowing us down. Once we defined who owned research, flows, and visual design, progress accelerated and decisions became sharper.