Baked
A baking app that will help you get all the brownie points at the office party
Role UX Designer
Duration 9 weeks
Deliverables
User research
Interaction design
Sketches
UI
Prototype
Presentation
Tools
Figma
Balsamiq
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Project Brief
I created Baked, a design for a baking app focused on making baking more approachable and engaging, for my design capstone class project. This project was a two-person team, where I worked on the UX aspect whilst my partner worked on the brand strategy. I conducted user research through surveys and interviews, gathering insights that shaped the app’s features and design choices. To ensure a cohesive, user-friendly experience, I developed a design system, created wireframes, as well as high-fidelity prototypes. I submitted Baked to Baruch College’s Creative Expo, where it received feedback from three senior UX designers and won first place. 🏆
Context
Fed up with repeating the same old recipes
Baking is one of my favorite pastimes. I wouldn’t say I’m qualified to be on Great British Baking Show just yet, but I do enjoy making sweet treats. But I’ve been finding myself in a stump lately. I’ll find myself looking through countless websites and cookbooks for inspiration, only to end up overwhelmed and uninspired. Baking sessions have become monotonous, and even my go-to brown butter chocolate chip cookies can’t salvage the excitement. I figure there has to be an easier way to find new delicious and creative recipes, so I begin my search for an app that could help get me out of my baking funk.
Competitive Analysis
In search of better…
However, during my search for a new baking app to get me out of my baking funk I came across a few issues. Existing apps either catered exclusively to beginner or advanced bakers, were riddled with paywalls, lacked gluten-free or vegan options, or had awful user interfaces that were impossible to navigate. After scrolling through a few baking subreddits, I realized I wasn’t alone in this frustration. For my capstone project, I decided I wanted to play the role of the fairy godmother of baking and design a baking app.
Concept + Prototype
What is Baked?
Baked is an app where people can find a variety of creative and out of the box dessert recipes. Ditch your grandma’s apple pie (or keep it, Baked has a recipe for that as well) and try out exciting recipes that are sure to make your mouth water.
The goal of this app is to introduce users to desserts that will make people go “Hey, can you bring that again?” to the next function.
Perks
Something for Everyone: Whether you're vegan, gluten-free, a beginner baker or an experienced baker looking for a new challenge, you'll find inspiration at your fingertips with Baked.
Recipes with Scales: All of the recipes come with scales available in both imperial and metric systems, ensuring accuracy and flexibility for bakers everywhere.
Personalized Recipe Suggestions: Baked would use machine learning algorithms to understand users’ unique baking preferences. Based on your past interactions and feedback, it suggests tailored recipes just for you.
Research
Empathizing with Users
To figure this out, I thought about the process of baking and brainstorming how an app could contribute to a successful bake. What features would users want in a baking app? What recipe preferences do people have? How can this app streamline the baking process? To figure this out I used two methods: surveys and user interviews.
My survey had 18 responders. I used a combination of multiple-choice questions as well as open ended questions to gather data and feedback on what features users would like to see on a baking app, as well as their grievances with current baking apps on the market.
After conducting the survey, I decided to do in-depth interviews with three individuals who represented different levels of baking expertise. The interviewees included a beginner home baker, an intermediate home baker, and an expert home baker. My intention with these interviews was to gather personalized experiences from the participants. I wanted to figure out where they felt during their baking process that they struggled in. From these interviews I identified 2 pain points: time and scaling recipe measurements. After analyzing the data, I was able to create a user persona of the target user. This persona helped me focus on user needs, goals, motivations, and pain points, guiding my design decisions to ensure the app effectively met user expectations.
“I would like to see a baking app that lets us have easy access to scale certain measurements for our specific portions. What if I only want to make 8 brownies instead of 32? ”
User Persona
Empathy Map
User Journey Map
Information Architecture
Mapping Baked’s Flow
For the user flow, I focused on creating a flow that feels intuitive and keeps the app feeling light and easy to explore. The design breaks things down into clear sections. The main goal was to keep things simple, so users aren’t bogged down by too many choices or confusing paths.
I wanted to make sure that each feature—like recipe scaling, personal suggestions, and easy access to saved recipes—was right where users would naturally look for it. By grouping these options thoughtfully, Baked can give people a smooth, enjoyable experience without the hassle. The structure is designed to let users jump between browsing, planning, and tracking their bakes with just a few taps, creating a more seamless experience.
Site Map
Wireframes
Laying the Foundation for an Easy Recipe Journey
With research complete, I began sketching the app’s structure, drawing on user feedback to guide the layout. My main questions at this stage were about how to make the navigation clear and ensure that essential features, like browsing and saving recipes, were easy to reach. Wireframing let me explore different layout options and make solid design choices early on. With the mid-fidelity wireframes, I refined the layout and introduced some basic interactions to start shaping the user flow. This phase laid a strong groundwork for the next steps, where I could begin bringing the app’s experience closer to what users would eventually see and use.
Low-fi sketches
Mid-fi Wireframes
Visual Identity
Clean, Modern, and Inviting Design
Baked’s design is clean, modern, and approachable. I used red as the primary color because it’s tied to excitement and appetite—perfect for a baking app. It also adds just enough energy to make diving into new recipes feel exciting. The minimal design keeps everything clear and easy to navigate, so the focus stays on the recipes without any unnecessary distractions. Overall, the combination of a simple layout and bold red accents creates a nice balance between being functional and feeling warm and inviting.
User Testing
Refining the Recipe: User Feedback in Action
Through user testing, including usability tests, general feedback sessions, and a five-second test, I identified key areas for improvement in Baked's design. Participants highlighted contrast issues with the reviews text, the back button’s placement interfering with the image, and the alignment of the "Ingredients" title. Based on this feedback, I improved text contrast for better readability, repositioned the back button to avoid overlap with the image, and centered the "Ingredients" title for a cleaner, more organized layout. These changes enhanced the app’s accessibility and overall user experience.
Design Differentiation
What sets Baked apart?
1 - Dynamic Serving Adjustments
Baked makes it easy to adjust recipes based on the number of servings you need. The dynamic serving slider allows users to quickly modify ingredient quantities by simply sliding to their desired portion size. This flexibility ensures that whether you're baking for one or a large group, the recipe adapts seamlessly.
In addition, users can toggle between imperial and metric measurements, making it easy to follow recipes no matter where they are or what system they prefer.
2 - “ Surprise Me” Button
The "Surprise Me!" button is designed to help users discover new recipes without the hassle of decision-making. By tapping the button, users receive a randomly selected recipe based on their preferences and current search. This feature encourages exploration, offering a quick way to try something new, whether it’s a familiar recipe with a twist or a completely different baking idea. It’s a simple yet effective way to add variety to the user’s baking experience while minimizing decision fatigue.
Reflections
Key Takeaways
Keep Iterating
I learned that the first version is never going to be perfect, and that’s okay. It takes time and a lot of tweaking to get things just right. The key is to keep refining and improving as you go.
Understand your users
Being really tapped into the baking community made this project a lot easier. I could design the app with users in mind, which helped me create something that felt intuitive and useful for them.
Get Feedback
Never hesitate to ask for feedback—more eyes mean more insights. Don’t be shy about seeking advice; it’s all part of the process.
Prioritize Accessibility
Early on, I didn’t give enough thought to color contrast. Some of my first designs had issues that made things hard to read. It was a reminder that while making things look nice is important, accessibility has to come first.