Individual class project · Figma prototype

CookPrep: Smart Kitchen

A cooking concept for college students, connecting food inventory, recipe selection, and grocery planning around one question: what can I cook with what I already have?

UX researchProduct strategyInteraction designUsability testing

22Survey responses

Research responses about cooking habits and decision-making

3In-depth interviews

Deeper context about routines, confidence, and food use

10Potential users

Provided usability feedback on the Figma prototype

3Connected features

Inventory, recipe discovery, and grocery planning

My Role

Planned the research and synthesized survey and interview findings
Defined the product opportunity and three connected features
Created wireframes and the mobile product interface using Figma and Stitch
Prepared test tasks for 10 potential users and added custom recipe creation in response to their feedback

Pain Point

Forgotten food became an inventory-design problem.

An interviewee described forgetting food in the refrigerator until it expired. I translated that problem into individual inventory records and color-coded freshness cues to help people notice which items to use first.

The concept connects that inventory with recipes and a shopping list, helping a person plan a meal around ingredients already at home and identify what else they would need.

Research & Framing

Connecting meal ideas to the ingredients already at home.

The research explored eating habits, cooking routines, ingredient awareness, and the moments when choosing a meal becomes stressful.

95%

of survey participants said they cook at home.

19 of 22

said they cook several times each week.

20 of 22

found online cooking posts or videos helpful.

How might we help college students choose a meal from ingredients they already have, before overlooked food expires?

Scope decisions

Prioritize the cooking flow before content integrations.

Prioritize built-in recipes

I initially planned to connect to Rednote for Chinese international students. As I broadened the intended audience to college students generally, that platform-specific connection became less central. I retained built-in recipes and dropped the integration to keep the prototype within the available time.

Design for college cooking routines

The initial focus was Chinese international students; I broadened the intended audience to college students generally. The core use case stayed centered on preparing a meal from ingredients already at home.

Deliverable: a Figma prototype informed by research and usability feedback. Scanning, recipe recommendations, and inventory updates are proposed product capabilities, not a deployed service.

System Design

One decision flows through three connected features.

CookPrep treats inventory, recipe selection, and shopping as one journey. Each feature passes useful context to the next instead of asking the user to start over.

01InventorySee what is available and expiring

02RecipesChoose meals that use those ingredients

03Grocery ListCapture what the selected recipe still needs

Prototype Walkthrough

Three parts of the proposed experience

The final mobile screens show how the connected workflow supports planning before, during, and after a cooking decision.

Know what is available

I designed green, yellow, and red cues to draw attention to items as time passed after purchase or a known best-before date approached. The proposed entry flow scans food in the refrigerator or pantry, uses manual purchase-date entry when needed, and captures a printed best-before date when available. Scanning and date recognition were proposed capabilities in the Figma concept.

CookPrep smart inventory screen. — Color-coded freshness cues highlight items to consider using first.

CookPrep item scanning screen. — A proposed scanning flow for adding items to inventory.

Turn ingredients into meal ideas

The recipe hub shows ingredient availability at a glance and lets people add a personal recipe when the right option is not already there.

CookPrep recipe hub screen. — Recipe discovery stays connected to what is already in the kitchen.

CookPrep personal recipe creation screen. — People can add a familiar recipe when it is not already available.

Guide cooking and the next shop

Step-by-step instructions, optional video guidance, and a categorized grocery list carry the plan into action.

CookPrep detailed recipe guide screen. — A detailed guide keeps ingredients and instructions together.

CookPrep categorized grocery list. — The grocery list preserves momentum for the next shop.

Testing & Insights

Task-based testing led to custom recipe creation.

I prepared a task list and asked 10 potential users to click through the Figma prototype themselves, then share feedback. One scenario asked them to plan dinner by finding a suitable recipe using food already in their refrigerator or at home.

Some participants wanted recipes that accommodated their ingredient and sauce preferences. I changed the prototype from fixed recipes to include a create-your-own-recipe pathway. The screens below also show changes to scanning-screen clarity and navigation labels.

Original item-scanning screen with a muted blue-gray background.

Updated item-scanning screen with a white background.

The scanner background moved from muted blue-gray to white for clarity.

Personal recipe creation screen added after testing.

I added custom recipe creation after participants asked to accommodate ingredient and sauce preferences.

Original grocery list screen with Shopping in the navigation.

Updated grocery list screen with List in the navigation.

The navigation label now matches the Grocery List page title.

Project Scope

The project demonstrates a researched product concept.

What this project demonstrated

Research findings were translated into a connected mobile product system and refined through potential-user feedback.

What would need more evidence

The next test should examine whether people can choose a feasible meal and keep inventory accurate with acceptable effort. A separate study over time would be needed to assess continued use or changes in food waste.

Reflection

Inventory effort is the next product question.

Feedback informed changes to recipe creation, navigation, and visual clarity. It did not establish whether the product saves effort in a real kitchen. Before extending the feature set, I would test ingredient updates and meal selection together, including partially used items and missing ingredients.