dutch.app
Dutch: A Social Food App
Overview
This project showcases "Dutch," a mobile app concept I designed to connect people through shared food experiences. Recognizing the limitations of existing dating apps, I developed Dutch to foster genuine connections based on a common interest: food. The app allows users to take and share photos of the meals they are eating in real-time, and then, similar to Tinder or Bumble, connect with others who have also shared photos of their meals. If users mutually "match" based on their food photos, they can then chat, connect, or even share a virtual meal together.
My role encompassed the entire design process, from initial concept and feature definition to user flow development and the creation of high-fidelity visual mockups. While the project did not proceed to a live demo launch due to challenges in the fundraising environment during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, Dutch received significant positive feedback for its user-friendly design and innovative approach to connection, serving as a strong case study of my design capabilities.
Process
My design process was deeply rooted in user research. I conducted interviews and prototype testing with individuals who actively share their food experiences online. These insights were crucial in shaping the app's core features and ensuring its usability. Recognizing a need for connection beyond physical proximity, the app allows users to easily share photos of their meals and engage with others, whether it be existing friends or new acquaintances who share similar culinary interests.
Onboarding screens for new app users, designed for a frictionless mobile experience. The process collects essential profile information: name, birthday, gender, dating preferences, and profile photos.
Empowering users with complete control, the Dutch app's account settings offer comprehensive management of profiles, preferences, app settings, and subscriptions (with a premium upgrade CTA). The design adapts familiar dating app patterns to the context of food and dietary choices.
The core of the Dutch app is its discovery feature, where users connect by swiping through photos of meals others are currently eating (within a 24-hour window), reacting to food photos, and initiating matches – a blend of Instagram's immediacy and Bumble's matching mechanic.
The Dutch app's chat feature facilitates conversations between matched users. The highlighted area below the header shows users who are currently eating, along with the time remaining before their meal post expires, encouraging timely interaction.
The "Share Meal" feature in Dutch, shown here, was designed to address the challenge of connecting with others when in-person meals aren't feasible. It enables users to request video chats for virtual dining, fostering conversation and connection around food. For privacy and safety, the requester's video feed is initially blurred.
Pitch Deck
This section presents a pitch deck I designed for Dutch, crafted to attract investor interest. The deck highlights the identified problems, my proposed solution, and supporting market validation and size data. It features key sections on the business model, market adoption strategies, a competitive analysis demonstrating our unique advantages, and visuals of the product itself, which I also designed. The deck focused on clarity, impact, and effectively conveying the project's potential for success.
I designed the pitch deck using Keynote, and the images displayed here are exported directly from that presentation.
