ComplEAT
Dish by Dish
Dish level food discovery and personal food journal
UX Case Study/Mobile App Concept
Project Overview
ComplEAT is a mobile app concept designed to help frequent diners remember specific dishes they’ve tried, track personal notes, and easily rediscover meals they loved — without relying on public star ratings or restaurant-level reviews.
This project began as an UX exploration and later evolved into early concept work for a potential real-world product.
Role: UI/UX Designer (end-to-end)
Timeline: 1 week
Platform: Mobile (iOS-first)
Tools: Figma, Google Docs, remote usability testing
The Problem
Most food discovery apps prioritize restaurant-level ratings and public reviews, but frequent diners don’t think that way.
People remember:
“That spicy tonkotsu ramen”
“The poke bowl with the fresh ahi”
—not the overall restaurant rating.
Users struggle to:
Recall specific dishes they enjoyed
Remember personal preferences or modifications
Revisit meals they loved without scrolling endlessly through photos or reviews
Key Design Decision: Dish-First, Not Restaurant -First
Why this matters:
Matches how people actually remember food
Removes social pressure of public reviews
Encourages honest, personal reflection
Makes rediscovery faster and more meaningful
This shift became the foundation for all core flows.
User & Research Insights
I conducted interviews and usability testing with frequent restaurant diners who eat out multiple times per week.
Key insights:
Users want to track food for themselves, not to influence others
Dish-level memory matters more than restaurant reputation
Public ratings feel performative; private notes feel honest
Users want a lightweight “food journal,” not another review platform
“I’m not trying to hurt a business — I just want to remember what I liked.”
Core User Flows
The app centers around four simple actions:
Discover a dish
Save it to your journal
Add personal notes (taste, texture, price, mood)
Revisit favorites later
Each flow was designed to feel quick, personal, and low-effort.
Key Screens
Home/Feed
Displays dish categories and recent searches, relieving discovery pressure
Dish Detail
Displays basic info such as restaurant location and menu item
Add Review
Allow users to log a dish quickly with optional details, keeping friction low.
Journal
Act as a private archive of meals, experiences, and preferences
Visual Design Approach
The visual system was designed to feel:
Warm and personal
Calm and content-first
Focused on food photography and notes
Color and typography choices intentionally stay neutral so the dish imagery and user reflections remain the focal point.
Accessibility considerations included clear hierarchy, readable type sizes, and high-contrast UI elements.
Usability Testing & Iteration
I conducted remote usability testing to validate clarity and flow.
Key findings:
Users immediately understood dish-level tracking
Journaling felt more natural than reviewing
Some labels needed clearer language to reinforce “private journal”
Iterations made:
Adjusted terminology to emphasize personal use
Simplified entry flow to reduce cognitive load
Clarified navigation between Review and Journal
Outcome & Learnings
This project reinforced the importance of:
Designing around real mental models, not industry defaults
Removing unnecessary social pressure from personal tools
Letting user behavior — not assumptions — guide product structure
ComplEAT demonstrates my ability to:
Identify meaningful product gaps
Translate research into clear design decisions
Design early-stage concepts with real-world constraints in mind
Next Steps
If this product were to move forward, next steps would include:
Expanded usability testing with a broader audience
Exploring camera-based dish capture
Testing AI-assisted dish recognition from menus or photos
Refining onboarding for first-time users