UI/UX DesignUX ResearchConcept

Tastemap — Food Discovery

Find the plate, not just the place — dish-based discovery designed for two very different eaters.

Overview

Tastemap is a food-discovery app concept that helps users find nearby meals and explore restaurants by dishes and reviews. The case study runs the full UX process: problem framing, How-Might-We ideation, two research-driven personas, competitive analysis of the Egyptian market (Talabat, Hunger Station, Marsoul, Waffarha), home-screen information architecture, an order-to-review user flow with a loyalty loop, a high-fidelity home UI, and a usability testing plan with tasks and metrics.

The Challenge

The redesign had to serve two conflicting personas at once — Omar the Quick Seeker, who wants a good, fast meal near him without browsing, and Layla the Explorer, who hunts the best version of a specific dish across the city. Too much detail slows the Quick Seeker; too little frustrates the Explorer. On top of that, dish-based search had no prominent entry point, and short, superficial reviews were eroding trust.

Our Approach

01
Frame the problems
Identified three problem statements: dish-based search discoverability, boosting review quality and retention, and resolving the conflicting needs of the two personas.
02
Ideate wide
Ran How-Might-We sprints per problem — a Smart Search bar with Dishes/Restaurants tabs, searchable dish tags from reviews, a guided review flow with gamified status, one-tap quick filters, and curated dish collections and food maps for explorers.
03
Learn from the market
Analyzed direct competitors (Talabat, Hunger Station) and indirect ones (Marsoul, Waffarha), extracting concrete moves: a Quick Meal function with dish tabs, context-aware ranking by time and location, and cards that show distance and delivery time upfront.
04
Structure and design
Defined the home structure — dual banners serving each persona, dish tabs, nearest-restaurant banner, and item cards with price, distance, and rating — then delivered the high-fidelity home UI with cuisine exploration and a fast-delivery rail.
05
Plan the validation
Wrote a usability testing plan: four tasks (quick meal in under 3 taps, discover a new cuisine, search a specific dish, write a full review) measured by completion rate, time on task, error rate, and satisfaction.