Shortly after joining the team, I was tasked with pioneering the company's foray into meal planning, a new area of focus with no pre-existing solutions. I initiated this journey with thorough research, encompassing user interviews, analysis of existing internal data, and collaborative data analysis sessions with the team. Our research unearthed key themes and challenges in meal planning: a predominant weekly planning trend, with dinners being the main focus, followed by lunches and rarely breakfasts. A notable pain point emerged around the stress of accommodating diverse dietary requirements and managing grocery shopping. Armed with these insights, I crafted a user journey map. This tool not only engaged our stakeholders but also sharpened the design strategy to specifically address these identified challenges.

My approach to wireframes is to explore ideas quickly without getting bogged down in details.  Wireframes can also help aid in early technical discussions with developers to better mediate technical feasibility risks. This efficient, low fidelity method helps avoid the wasted effort of pursuing unviable high fidelity routes. After exploring multiple layouts and flows, I arrived at two strong concepts for the primary meal planning experience. I then refined them into higher fidelity prototypes and conducted user testing and internal testing. The feedback decisively pointed to option A, with its efficient multitasking design, as the preferred choice.