Redefining Cooking Through Smart Simplicity.

Advieh reimagines what a recipe app can be—shifting from static instructions to a responsive, intelligent platform that learns from real user behavior. By combining AI-powered personalization, contextual time management, and an intuitive interface, it removes friction from the cooking process and adapts to how people actually cook. The result is more than a recipe tool—it’s a smarter, more human way to plan, cook, and connect with food.

MY ROLE

UX/UI Designer

Co-Founder

UX strategy

End-to-end design

TOOLS

Figma

FigJam

Adobe Illustration

Confluence
Jira

Miro

TEAM

1 Designer

1 Developer

DURATION

5 Months

“Usability testing with 20 participants showed that Advieh reduced task time by 24% and navigation steps by 30%, helping users stay focused and complete recipes more efficiently.”

THE CONTEXT

The Broken Promise of Recipe Apps

Cooking should be a creative, satisfying experience—whether it takes 15 minutes or three hours. But many recipe apps fall short of that promise. Designed to simplify the process, they often do the opposite: introducing friction through misleading prep times, vague instructions, and scattered interfaces.

Instead of supporting the flow of cooking, these tools disrupt it—forcing users to pause, backtrack, and second-guess what should be simple steps. The result is frustration, confusion, and a loss of confidence in the kitchen. What should feel natural becomes fragmented.

This disconnect between user expectations and actual experience exposes a critical gap—one that demands a smarter, more adaptive solution built around clarity, flow, and ease for cooks at every level.

Sophia

"I picked this recipe because it said 30 minutes,

but halfway through, it suddenly told me to marinate for 3 hours! I had no dinner, no plan B, and felt completely stuck."

1 y ago .

Misleading Info

IDENTIFYING THE CORE PROBLEMS

Why Cooking Feels Harder Than It Should

Cooking is meant to be intuitive, creative, and even therapeutic. But for many users, digital tools have added complexity instead of clarity.

Our analysis of popular recipe apps, combined with user behavior insights, revealed a consistent pattern: the problem isn’t with cooking—it’s with how apps structure the experience.

Most platforms are built around rigid, linear workflows that ignore the realities of how people cook. From vague instructions to overwhelming interfaces, they create friction at every step. Instead of adapting to the user's flow, they expect users to adapt to the app—resulting in stress, errors, and a loss of confidence.

These patterns became clear across four recurring friction points we observed during our analysis:

Poor Visual Design

Most apps present cooking content with no clear structure or hierarchy. Dense formatting and poor layout make it hard to understand

Overwhelming Interfaces

Crowded screens and inconsistent organization increase cognitive load. Users struggle to focus, especially while actively cooking.

Rigid Interaction Flows

Many apps follow a one-size-fits-all approach. They don’t support different skill levels, dietary needs, or kitchen setups when flexibility is needed.

Lack of Beginner Support

Apps often skip essential guidance for new cooks. Without tips, visuals, or simplified steps, learning feels frustrating and unsupported.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Root of the Problem

Most recipe apps lack the visual clarity and flexibility users need while cooking. Poor layout, overwhelming interfaces, and rigid user flows disrupt the experience—making it difficult for home cooks to stay focused, confident, and in control throughout the process.

RESEARCH

Understanding the Gaps in Real-World Cooking

Our goal was to shape a product that meets real needs, fits the market, and solves the right problems from day one. To do that, we needed to go beyond assumptions and truly understand how people cook, where they face obstacles, and what kind of support they expect from digital tools in real kitchen scenarios.

This phase centered on understanding where friction happens, how needs vary, and what users expect from tools that genuinely support them.

Foundational Research

This phase was key to shaping Advieh’s direction, not by validating assumptions, but by uncovering real moments of friction, hesitation, and unmet needs in the kitchen. The aim was to go beyond surface insights and understand where today’s recipe apps fail—and what users truly need from a tool built to support them, not just instruct them.We focused on uncovering:

What frustrates users in current recipe app experiences
Where friction occurs during real-time meal preparation
How cooking habits, dietary needs, and confidence levels vary
What users expect from a reliable, supportive cooking companion

To capture these insights, I used a combination of behavioral and attitudinal research methods to build a clear, actionable picture of the everyday cooking experience.

Home Kitchen Observations

I observed a diverse group of home cooks—ranging from beginners to experienced enthusiasts—preparing real meals in their own kitchens. The goal was to understand not just what they did, but how they felt in the process: how they moved between steps, interacted with digital tools or physical notes, and made decisions in the moment. These contextual sessions revealed friction that often goes unnoticed in lab-based testing: interruptions caused by needing to scroll with messy hands, switching between apps to check timers or clarify terms, and losing track of handwritten or saved recipes. I paid close attention to how these challenges impacted their focus, confidence, and overall enjoyment—highlighting gaps that modern recipe platforms often overlook.

User Survey

The survey explored a wide range of friction points users experience while interacting with digital recipe tools, specifically around recipe navigation, unclear or missing time breakdowns, trust in instructions, and feature preferences. With over 90 participants across varying skill levels and dietary needs, the goal was to move beyond general satisfaction ratings and uncover the subtleties that shape user confidence and decision-making.

Responses revealed common frustrations: steps that felt too vague, prep times that didn’t match reality, and a lack of context around dietary tags or difficulty levels. It also highlighted user desires for features that go beyond instruction, such as in-app timers, ability to personalize steps, and confidence-boosting community feedback.

68%

of users want to improve their cooking skills

45%

of users cook at home to eat healthier

About 43%

are frustrated by unclear steps

58%

of the users follow at least one dietary restriction

Survey Questions

Survey Results

INTERVIEWS

Validating Our Assumptions

Interviews with over 20 participants, paired with survey responses, uncovered a consistent pattern: users often lose momentum mid-recipe due to vague language, missing context, and lack of real-time support.

Many began with excitement, only to stall when they encountered friction—poor interface cues, unfamiliar culinary terms, or steps that left them unsure if they were on the right track. Several shared they had to pause and search for meanings of phrases like “fold in” or “soft peaks,” breaking their flow and confidence.

These findings reinforced a critical insight: even brief moments of uncertainty can disrupt user trust and flow—leading to frustration, hesitation, or complete abandonment of the recipe experience.

Mark

"Some apps assume I know a lot—I just want to start cooking, and I’m new to it."

Jenna

"I had to keep unlocking my phone with messy hands—super annoying."

Luis

“I couldn’t tell how hard the recipe was, it didn’t mention the level anywhere.”

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Aisha

"My daughter has restrictions, so I always have to check the recipe first."

Understanding user behavior

Beyond individual feature requests, our interviews revealed deeper behavioral and emotional gaps in the current recipe app experience. Users weren’t just struggling with unclear steps—they were losing confidence, breaking flow, and disengaging from the task altogether.Participants described moments where the interface didn’t respond to their pace or needs—whether it was pausing to verify an ingredient, navigating away to decode a term, or managing physical constraints like messy hands while unlocking a device. These weren’t isolated incidents; they were repeated patterns that exposed a disconnect between digital tools and the realities of real-life cooking.

We also heard frustration around personalization—particularly from users with dietary restrictions, who found it exhausting to decode which recipes applied to them. Others lacked upfront context about difficulty or time commitment, leading to mismatched expectations and mid-recipe friction.

Collectively, these insights pointed to a core opportunity: to design not just for usability, but for continuity, trust, and support. The goal wasn’t to add more features—it was to remove doubt, reduce friction, and ensure the app worked with users, not against them.

PERSONA

Defining Our Audience

I chose two distinct user types to gain deeper insights into varied cooking needs: one representing a busy individual with limited cooking experience, eager to explore new and diverse recipes, and the other a more experienced cook with specific dietary restrictions, seeking to refine their culinary skills.

These profiles reflect the unique goals, challenges, and preferences of users at different stages of their cooking journey, helping us design solutions that cater to diverse lifestyles and create a more tailored and effective cooking experience.

Layla, 36

"If I can’t trust the recipe to be gluten-free, it’s not worth the risk."

Family-focused home cook managing a gluten allergy

Goals

Prepare safe, gluten-free meals the whole family can enjoy together
Save time during busy evenings without sacrificing quality or flavor
Rely on recipes that feel credible, tested, and easy to follow

Needs

Clear, trustworthy instructions to avoid ingredient mistakes
Gluten-free, family-friendly options that don’t feel limiting
Smooth in-app navigation with minimal back-and-forth during prep

Pain Points

Inconsistent or missing dietary filters for gluten-free options
Vague step-by-step instructions that cause uncertainty
Frustration toggling between steps and ingredients while cooking

Jake, 24

"I’m not a chef—just give me a recipe that’s clear and easy to follow, or I’ll skip it."
Busy tech professional and beginner home cook

Goals

Learn to cook simple meals without stress or confusion
Save time with quick, well-structured recipes suited to a busy schedule
Build confidence in the kitchen through clear visual guidance

Needs

Step-by-step instructions with visuals to stay on track
Short, jargon-free language that’s easy to understand
Smart timers or cues to manage multiple tasks smoothly

Pain Points

Loses focus in long, text-heavy recipes
Gets confused by unclear or overly technical steps
Finds it hard to coordinate prep and cooking times

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

How are the rest of them doing it?

To understand where Advieh could meaningfully stand apart, I conducted a competitive analysis of leading recipe platforms including Tasty, Yummly, Epicurious, Pick Up Limes, and several others. The goal was to uncover usability gaps that disrupt the cooking experience and identify opportunities for improvement, not in content volume or branding, but in how these apps support users through real-time cooking tasks.

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The analysis revealed several recurring weaknesses across popular recipe apps, both in interface design and core functionality:

FINAL OUTCOME

What Advieh Simplified and Improved?

While most recipe apps focus on offering volume, they often fall short on usability. Users are left navigating cluttered layouts, vague instructions, and inconsistent time breakdowns.

With Advieh, we focused on simplifying the experience, removing friction, building trust, and making every screen intentional. From organizing ingredients and clarifying steps to surfacing dietary tags and prep tips, every decision was grounded in real user feedback.

Our goal wasn’t to create an idealized cooking experience—it was to support real cooks in real kitchens. That meant designing for focus, flexibility, and clarity at every stage of the journey.

The following comparisons highlight how Advieh improves the cooking experience by simplifying it, focusing on what truly matters and doing it really well, instead of adding more features.

Connected cooks. Confident outcomes.

Community & Connectivity

People want more than ratings—they want connection, clarity, and confidence. Instead of limiting feedback to stars and a short review, we built a space for real interaction. Users can leave tips, ask questions, react instantly, upload photos of their results, and share recipes with others. This turns each recipe into a living exchange, encouraging trust, inspiration, and a stronger sense of community in the kitchen.

Advieh changes this by transforming feedback into collaboration. Users can leave tips, ask questions, react instantly, upload photos of their results, and share recipes with others. Each recipe becomes an active space for interaction—encouraging trust, inspiration, and a stronger sense of community in the kitchen.

Comments & Replies

Our research revealed that cooks want to ask questions, share tips, and feel supported—not just leave a rating. Advieh’s comment system allows users to choose from predefined reactions or leave personalized notes. Replies create conversation, letting others offer clarification, encouragement, or new ideas. Every interaction is moderated to ensure the space remains safe, helpful, and respectful.

Showcasing Creations

Seeing real results matters. That’s why users can easily upload photos of their final dishes—directly from their phone’s gallery or camera. These visuals turn the feedback into something inspiring and tangible. When someone sees a real version of the dish, it helps them trust the recipe, feel more confident trying it, and even get creative with their own twist.

Limited Feedback Systems in Existing Apps

Issue with Other Apps

Most recipe apps reduce community feedback to basic star ratings and brief reviews. This oversimplification creates ambiguity, what a 3-star rating means to one user may not align with another's expectations. As a result, valuable recipes might be overlooked, while others gain popularity based on unclear standards. Without context or conversation, the feedback lacks depth and trust.

Likes do more than validate a recipe—they guide decision-making. Instead of generic ratings, the visible like count reflects real-time appreciation from the community. It helps users quickly gauge popularity and reliability, especially when deciding what to cook. This small indicator builds confidence and makes browsing more easier.

Users can easily share their favorite recipes or helpful content with friends and family, whether through messaging apps, social media, or direct links. This simple feature encourages recipe discovery beyond the app, strengthens word-of-mouth engagement, and makes it easy to spread inspiration with just a tap.

Tap. Time. Taste. Done.
Because every minute matters.

Timing Made Clear

Clear time breakdowns help users cook with confidence. When every stage of timing is visible and easy to follow, it sets realistic expectations and supports better planning throughout the process. Users know exactly how long to prepare, cook, and rest each component, which reduces uncertainty and prevents frustration mid-recipe. By presenting time information in a structured, consistent way, Advieh helps users stay organized, focused, and in control from start to finish.

Clear timing enhances trust and makes the cooking process feel smooth, predictable, and stress-free.

APPROACH IN ADVIEH

Timing, Clearly Defined

That’s why we reimagined the way timing is presented in Advieh. Instead of hiding this critical information, we surface it immediately, right at the top of each recipe page.

Our three-part structure, Prep, Cook, and Rest, gives users a complete and honest view of the time commitment. Whether they’re kneading dough, roasting vegetables, or waiting for a cake to cool, they know exactly what to expect.

To improve visibility, we also paired each label with bold icons, ensuring the breakdown is easy to see at a glance and helps users plan their time with confidence.

ISSUE IN EXISTING APPS

Lack of Clarity in Timing

Time isn’t just a number—it’s a deciding factor in whether someone starts a recipe, finishes it, or abandons it halfway through. Yet most recipe apps downplay this. They often show only a vague Total Time or combine just Prep and Cook, leaving users to guess what’s involved. Through research and direct feedback from home cooks, one truth became clear: users don’t just want to know how long a recipe takes—they need to know how that time breaks down.

Most users also mentioned that time indicators in other apps were easy to miss. They're often buried in small text or hidden on secondary screens, which adds to the confusion.

Distraction-Free Timing

Setting a timer shouldn’t mean losing your place or breaking concentration. Yet for many home cooks, switching between apps interrupts the flow and adds stress to an otherwise enjoyable process.

Timing matters—especially for home cooks managing busy schedules. Advieh introduces a built-in, step-linked timer that keeps everything in one place—helping users stay focused, organized, and confident from start to finish.

APPROACH IN ADVIEH

Smarter Timing, Built In

We feature a fully integrated timing system built directly into each recipe step. When a step includes a specific time, like simmering for 10 minutes or baking for 3, users can start the timer instantly with just one tap. There’s no need to switch apps or re-enter information.

We also added a dedicated timer panel, where users can set and label multiple custom timers, for tasks like preheating the oven, resting dough, or steeping tea. Each timer stays clearly visible and easy to manage throughout the session.

To support different cooking styles, timer settings are fully customizable through Profile Preferences. Users can choose between sound, vibration, or silent countdowns, enable auto-start for seamless transitions, and set their preferred defaults.

This isn't just a timer feature, it’s a smart support system designed to reduce cognitive load, streamline multitasking, and help users stay focused and in control while they cook.

Tap to expand the timer and see more options.

Quick options to add more time or delete the timer.

Tap to start the timer for this step.

ISSUE IN EXISTING APPS

Losing Focus Through Distraction

Most recipe apps today overlook one of the most essential parts of cooking — timing. None of them provide a built-in timer that connects directly to recipe steps. Users are forced to leave the app and open their phone’s timer each time a step requires timing — whether it’s baking cookies for 12 minutes or letting dough rest for 30. This constant switching breaks focus and disrupts the natural cooking flow. Once they exit the app, notifications, messages, or social media alerts can easily steal their attention, leading to missed steps or overcooked dishes. What should be a relaxing, enjoyable cooking experience quickly turns into a distracted multitasking session.

Over time, this fragmented experience adds unnecessary stress and takes away from the joy of cooking. Instead of feeling guided and in control, users often end up juggling between screens, trying to remember where they left off. The lack of an integrated timing feature highlights a major gap in recipe app usability — one that directly impacts user trust, flow, and engagement.

One Recipe, All the Support.

Personal Notes

How many scattered notes, papers, or saved pages do you have for your recipes?

Users often jot down tips or tweaks while cooking, but switching apps or relying on memory breaks focus. Advieh’s built-in notes keep thoughts and reminders in one place—making cooking seamless and personal.

APPROACH IN ADVIEH

Keep Your Notes In One Place

Every great recipe improves with iteration, but without a place to capture those changes, that progress gets lost.

Maybe it was something small, like “Oli didn’t like the spicy version” or “Used chicken instead of turkey—worked great.” Or maybe it was something that changed the whole outcome: swapping oven temps, adjusting for altitude, or cutting the sweetness by half.

Most recipe apps ignore this, treating cooking as a one-size-fits-all process with no space for personalization or memory.

That’s why we built a dedicated personal notes section into every Advieh recipe. You can jot down changes, record results, or leave reminders for next time.

Private to you, always.
Stored with the recipe, not in another app or lost tab.
Easy to edit and revisit, whenever you're ready to make it again.

With personal notes, you’re not starting over—you’re building on your own experience.

ISSUE IN EXISTING APPS

Lack of In-Recipe Note Features

In most recipe apps, there’s no place to save your own experiences or adjustments. Users often rely on separate note apps, screenshots, or handwritten scraps to capture their thoughts—but these get lost, forgotten, or disconnected from the recipe itself. Over time, the small tweaks and insights that make a dish truly personal disappear, leaving users to start from scratch each time they cook.

This gap limits personalization and makes the cooking process feel static. Without a built-in way to document changes, users lose valuable context and continuity between sessions. What could have been an evolving, learning experience becomes a repetitive task, reducing engagement and long-term satisfaction.

Diet Tags

When dietary needs are visibly and consistently labeled, users can quickly assess what works for them—enhancing clarity, saving time, and making every recipe feel more accessible. Without clear dietary tags, users risk choosing recipes that conflict with their restrictions, potentially leading to health concerns or a loss of trust in the app.

APPROACH IN ADVIEH

Food That Fits You

We placed the most common dietary categories directly on the recipe page—putting clarity front and center. Each recipe is clearly labeled with both visual icons and text to inform users about the dietary restrictions or preferences the recipe follows.

Gluten-Free (GF)
Dairy-Free (DF)
Nut-Free (NF)
Soy-Free (SF)
Vegetarian (V)
Vegan (VGN)

These tags are located directly in the recipe info section—just a tap away—giving users instant clarity without needing to scan every ingredient.

To go further, users can set their dietary preferences in Profile Settings. Advieh then highlights matching recipes automatically, streamlining discovery and reducing decision fatigue. When dietary needs are essential, visibility and accuracy aren’t a nice-to-have—they’re a must.

ISSUE IN EXISTING APPS

Unlabeled Dietary Needs

Dietary restrictions aren’t a preference for many, they’re a necessity. Whether due to allergies, medical conditions, lifestyle choices, or cultural beliefs, users depend on this information to make safe, informed decisions. Yet most recipe platforms treat dietary tags as secondary or hide them behind vague language. Users are often left digging through long ingredient lists, trying to determine if a recipe meets their needs—leading to confusion, mistrust, or complete abandonment.
In fact, 99% of top recipe apps don’t show dietary info on the recipe page. It’s either buried in the ingredients or missing entirely—forcing users to guess if a meal is safe or suitable.

DESIGN

Advieh Walkthrough

RETROSPECTIVE

Designing with Empathy, Not Just Features

This project marked a defining moment in my growth as a designer. It showed me that crafting a product isn't just about implementing features, it’s about shaping experiences that reduce friction, build clarity, and earn trust.

The real challenge wasn’t just solving usability issues, but doing so in a way that felt intentional and human. Every design decision, from layout hierarchy to interaction flow—was guided by empathy and real user insight. Through testing, iteration, and reflection, I learned how to make each screen feel calm, focused, and purposeful.

This experience deepened my understanding of how to design for more than functionality. It taught me how to design for clarity, momentum, and meaningful engagement.
Here are a couple of the most important takeaways:

Designing for Focus

Less wasn’t just more—it was necessary. Stripping away distractions and guiding users through a clear, intentional flow became a core principle in every decision I made.

Letting Feedback Lead

Real users challenged assumptions and reshaped priorities. Their voices were the foundation of every meaningful improvement.

RELEASE ON APPSTORE
Officially Live

After months of focused research, thoughtful design, and continuous iteration, Advieh is now officially live—reviewed, approved, and available on the App Store.

We set out to design more than just an app—we wanted to build a cooking experience that feels intuitive, supportive, and enjoyable for every user. From screen structure to recipe flow, every decision was shaped by real user needs and tested in real-world kitchens.

This release isn’t the finish line—it’s the beginning. What’s live today reflects everything we aimed to solve, but it’s just the first step. Your feedback continues to guide us, and improvement remains our priority. We’re committed to keeping Advieh updated, relevant, and always evolving to serve real cooks better.

WHAT'S NEXT

Elevating the Cooking Experience with AI

Advieh is designed to grow alongside its users. Future iterations will integrate AI to simplify decision-making, personalize the cooking journey, and intelligently adapt to user behavior. From smart recipe suggestions and timing optimizations to adaptive content delivery, AI will help remove friction and surface what matters—when it matters.

Looking ahead, Advieh will also open its platform to emerging culinary voices, enabling talented creators to contribute content and build a knowledge-sharing ecosystem. As user needs evolve, the app will continue to respond—adding new features and experiences shaped directly by real engagement and feedback.

Advieh isn’t just a recipe app—it’s a cooking companion designed to grow itself and help every user grow.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Our Real Work Shots, Iterations, and Design Moments