Empathise
Getting Inside Moscow’s Mealtime Hustle
Before designing Eat Repeat, I needed to understand what it’s really like to be hungry and short on time in Moscow. The city moves fast – people juggle work, study, and long commutes, leaving little energy to cook. My goal at this stage was simple: step into users’ shoes and see food delivery through their everyday challenges, habits, and emotions.
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How they buy food now? What frustrates them?
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Do they order while stuck in traffic, between classes, or late at night after work?
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What do they love or hate about existing food delivery experiences?
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What keeps them loyal to certain apps
Before diving in:
learning from the market
To get a broader view, I explored similar apps on the App Store and Google Play, reading through user feedback and feature sets. This helped me spot recurring pain points and learn how people talk about their food delivery habits in their own words – insights that later shaped my survey questions.
Turning research into people
With all the insights mapped out, I built five User Personas representing our core audience – from students constantly on the go to professionals chasing efficiency. These personas turned abstract data into real human stories and guided every design decision that followed.
Who, what, and why?
User stories: hearing voices directly
I kicked things off by writing user stories for each persona – short, real-life snapshots from their perspective.
Who, what, and why?
Jobs to Be Done: what users really hired us for
Next, I pulled everything together using Jobs to be Done, stripping away features to focus on outcomes. This framework views products or services as tools people 'hire' to complete specific tasks. It simplifies user needs by emphasizing desired outcomes, using the structure: When (Situation) + I want to (Motivation) + So that (Outcome).
User's needs, frustrations, and goals
Problem statements: sharp targets for design
From there, I crafted focused problem statements to guide us:
These weren’t vague issues, they became our North Star for solutions.
Ideate
Turning challenges into ideas
To flip problems into possibilities, I ran them through “How Might We” questions that opened up creative doors:
How might we enhance the speed of food delivery for customers looking for fast service?
How might we optimize delivery routes to overcome traffic jams and ensure timely food deliveries?
How might we optimize the ordering process to make it faster and more efficient than competitors?
How might we create a loyalty program to retain customers and stand out from competitors?
How might we personalize the ordering experience to make it more engaging for customers seeking quick food delivery?
Prototype and test
From ideas to a living prototype
With ideas prioritized, I mapped out the app’s structure through a detailed site map, outlining every screen and connection to visualize the user journey at a glance. Then, I moved quickly into paper sketches for early exploration before transitioning into Figma prototypes, where I could iterate faster and polish interactions.
After several design rounds, I tested the prototypes with real users to see how they naturally interacted with key flows. Once usability results came back positive, I finalized the high‑fidelity mockups and prepared the complete, test‑ready design for the next phase.
Final design
Final design
My goal was to create a design that would bring joy and be easy for all users to use.
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I focused on creating a clear structure to keep the design simple and intuitive with a great visual hierarchy to guide users through the app.
My goal was to create a design that would bring joy and be easy for all users to use.
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I maintained consistency in design elements such as colors, fonts, and layout across the app, which helps users feel familiar and comfortable while using it.
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Accessibility was a priority in the design. For more information, please refer to the Accessibility Compliance section.
Design approach:
I began by creating a UI Kit that contains all the elements used in the design. I utilized all Figma features including: Components Styles Auto layouts Conditionals and variables for clickable prototypes This allows me to easily maintain a pixel-perfect design, make quick adjustments, and ensure responsiveness. I also ensured proper layer naming for developers to navigate through the screen and code without difficulty.
Key takeaways
What I learned
I have a genuine passion for food and consider it one of life's greatest pleasures. I enjoyed working on the food delivery app from scratch to release, including implementation checks. We also had the opportunity to brainstorm features for future versions. I focused on enhancing the user experience through the use of various frameworks.
Potential features for upcoming releases:
Searching for dishes: This feature was not the first priority and was not included in the MVP version.
Allowing users to add allergies or unwanted ingredients in their user profile and marking dishes with these ingredients in the dish card.
Dish customization: Removing unwanted ingredients and adding new ones.
