Mobile App Design
Prep It
A meal plan app that lets you compare grocery prices between stores.
The Problem
Current meal prep apps don't offer price comparison across different stores, which causes potential users to overspend and miss out on grocery savings.
The Solution
Prep It: a meal plan app that lets you compare prices between different stores before you buy.
How might we improve the meal prep experience so that potential users are successfully planning meals in less time and saving money?
Interview Plan
We interviewed people about how they currently plan meals and groceries, asking how much time it takes them, whether they stick to a healthy-eating budget, whether they shop local farmers markets as much as they'd like, and whether auto-generated grocery lists actually match what's already in their kitchen.
Persona — Ethan Thomas
Age 33, a Masters Law student working as a TA in Columbus, Ohio, in a relationship. A gym nut who enjoys traveling, time with friends and family, and good coffee.
Known habits: likes to plan ahead but dislikes the process, goes to social events with friends weekly, works out regularly, and walks his dog.
Pain points: budgeting, time, organization, and searching for what he needs.
Goals: eat healthy, get more variety, build a schedule, and save money.
Competitor Analysis
We compared Prep It against Mealime, Kroger, and Hello Fresh to see where existing meal and grocery apps fell short on price transparency.
I Like, I Wish, What If
I like that everyone in the house knows what's for dinner, and that local farmers markets let you buy everything you need in one trip.
I wish all groceries needed were in one spot, and that eating healthy wasn't so difficult.
What if there was cost comparison built in, and you were rewarded for saving money?
Feature Prioritization Matrix
Storyboard
A college student realizes he needs to save time and money on meal prep. He searches for a solution, finds an app that promises to help, downloads it, uses it to order groceries, and has them delivered to his door.
User Flow
Wireframe Sketches
Digital Wireframes
Guerilla Testing
Task 1
Creating an account: select sign up, enter information, click create account.
Task 2
Complete onboarding and create a meal plan, then import items to the cart.
Task 3
Compare prices across stores, choose one, and check out with a card while tracking the order.
High Fidelity
Further Development
Earn coupons and rewards through subscription, with a bonus holiday meal section during peak times.
Set a radius for local farms and grocery stores nearby.
A community tab for interacting with other users, playing games, and winning prizes and coupons.
Single-item price comparison across stores, plus recipe likes and reviews that surface the most popular results.
Final Thoughts
Prep It is a meal planning app that lets you customize your meal planning and grocery shopping, from allergy restrictions and disliked ingredients to preferred diets, so you can pick your meals and have groceries shipped to your door. Saving time and staying within budget both proved essential to the people we talked to.