Learning Spoon
UX Research and Design Case Study for Blue Apron
Rachael Allen
Allison Putnam
Learning Spoon was developed to integrate casual language learning into the experience of cooking a Blue Apron meal kit.
Getting Started
We conducted six user interviews to understand how we could best address this goal in both a meaningful and convenient way for busy users.
Language Learning Insights
We found that users want to learn a foreign language but language learning apps are not very effective and formal classes are time consuming and expensive.
Meal Kit Insights
Users want to make authentic recipes, but many of the recipes in english are altered for western palates and authentic ingredients are difficult to find locally.
Affinity Map
Persona Development
(more detailed data available)
Lawrence
32 years old, Italian-American
Lawrence is a writer living in New York City. He grew up in Brooklyn in a big Italian family but he was raised speaking mostly English.
Every summer he visits his grandparents in Sicily. His Nonna always cooks delicious meals for the whole family. Lawrence would like to help her out in the kitchen, but he isn’t familiar with her techniques and her recipes are written in Italian.
Lawrence has tried to learn Italian through language learning apps, but he always deletes them after ignoring the prompts day after day.
“Food is a very important part of how my family connects to each other.”
The Problem
Users were motivated to learn a new language, and they were also interested in cooking authentic recipes. Existing language apps lost interest after a few days and there was no tactile element in the learning process. Authentic recipes called for exotic ingredients and were sometimes in another language.
How might we help users connect with older generations of family through language and cuisine?
Identifying Key Product Assurances
My team chose to tackle this core problem identified from user interviews by creating one seamless product that simplified finding authentic recipes and ingredients and introduced users to foreign languages through tactile and sensory learning. By integrating our design into the existing distribution infrastructure and presentation of Blue Apron, we could provide an effective (and delicious) learning process.
MoSCoW Map
From our user data we identified some of the most important aspects of a prototype.
QR code on blue apron recipe that opens the responsive webpage on a mobile device (or other device)
basic language tips pertaining to food
video content
MSCW Map
Design Solution Proposal
Users would receive a Blue Apron delivery int he mail and scan a QR code on the recipe card included in the shipment. This would open an interactive recipe page on a responsive website or within blue apron’s apple & android apps. An introductory video would explain the recipe and introduce the user to the ingredients and their translations. As the user progressed through the recipe certain words and ingredients would be in the foreign language. As the user cooked the recipe they would be building essential muscle memory associations with the language and how the words are used in a real life scenario.
User Testing & Improvements To Design
Usability testing of the Blue Apron on-boarding process showed that users were confused when more than one task was presented on a page and they were consistently surprised at the total price when checking out.
Blue Apron advertises a low price per meal, which differs from their simplest meal-kit plans.
Our redesign suggestions would be to simplify on-boarding and provide very clear pricing plans initially so user do not feel lured into a plan they cannot afford.
design studio sample
Proposed on-boarding wireframes
Proposed site map
Cooking a Blue Apron meal kit with Learning Spoon
Our team created a prototype of a recipe card for Bucatini All’Amatriciana. One side of the recipe card would be in English and the other side would be in Italian, inspiration drawn from dual-language books.
Users were invited to scan a QR code to be taken to an interactive version of the recipe where key ingredients and techniques in the recipe could be clicked back and forth from the English to the Italian and an audio element would pronounce the words.
Proposed Blue Apron Recipe Card
