Uma App
Client:
Uma
(Swinburne Student Project)
Uma is a recipe-sharing and cataloguing platform that allows users to view, search, share, organise and create recipes and recipe-related content.
Uma aims to provide people with inspiration for their weekly meals, an outlet for their creativity, and a platform to share their creations through either original recipe posts or posts of their homemade creations. Additionally, Uma provides tools designed to make deciding what to cook each night easier, and allows users to plan ahead by making meal plans and shopping lists (which they can also share with others). Importantly, Uma intends to inject the ‘fun’ back into sharing content online, removing the personal nature of images (i.e., sharing one’s face) and drawing the focus back into the neutral territory of cooking, food, and creativity.
Sonder Design was engaged to conduct concept development, brand development, target audience research, prototype development and testing, and the creation of a high-fidelity prototype.
Design Brief:
Design Outcome:
The development of the Uma app drew on self-determination theory to enhance the user experience and promote user uptake and engagement.
Self Determination Theory, describes the innate drivers that we, as human beings, need to remain motivated, engaged and thrive within a given environment. It postulates that to function optimally, people want to determine for themselves what they do, and to do so, they need autonomy, competence and relatedness.
Autonomy refers to feeling in control of one’s own behaviour and goals. It is a sense of being able to take direct action that will result in real change and of being able to think for oneself.
Competence pertains to people feeling that you are effective and have the ability to master a particular task; that is, you can develop the skills needed for success. When people have a sense of mastery they are more likely to take action towards achieving their goals.
Relatedness is the need to feel connected to others and to hold a sense of belonging.
When each of the above three elements are in play, it allows a person to operate from an internal locus of control (that is, they believe control of their life comes from within themselves) which is a determiner for high-performance, health, wellbeing and success. The design of Uma took into consideration these elements to produce an outcome that enhanced the user experience, while promoting user uptake and engagement.
