Research, UX/UI, Branding
BreakBread: a social dining app that allows users to make new friends through food meetups in their current location.
Let’s talk about It.
BreakBread is a meet-up app that provides a meaningful way to make new friends online by using social dining as a catalyst for community and platonic relationship building. By providing a safe space where expectations are clear, BreakBread revolutionizes the meet-up app landscape by being the first social dining app that puts all users on the same playing field by adding no monetary incentive for the hosts of BreakBread events. The app targets people ages 18-27 who are traveling, studying abroad, or have just moved to a new place.
Here’s what I did.
For this project, I researched, designed, and prototyped an app that was documented in a UI Style Guide which also included a user map, 3 user stories/personas, all UI components, and a section about the brand guidelines. Additionally, I designed all brand assets including the logo, the promotional ad posters, and app functionality posters. This project was done for my Senior Thesis at the City College of New York which culminated in a week long exhibition at the Compton-Goethals Art Gallery in NYC.
Click here to see the full process book on Issuu.
A bit on the research.
Through direct interviews, surveys, observations, and research on the current social dining landscape, I have found that eating with other people drastically increases one’s happiness and sense of well-being when compared to eating alone. Unfortunately, nearly half of all adults in America are eating completely alone. This trend is steadily rising in other parts of the world as well. With food delivery apps and websites more accessible than ever, people are choosing to dine in alone rather than cook a meal or eat at a restaurant with friends. There has been a gradual loss of focus on the importance of communal dining during specific mealtimes. For example, “family dinners” are no longer a priority in households as everyone’s schedules become more demanding and people often choose the “quick” dining option rather than enjoying the meal together. Making communal eating a part of daily life will increase social bonding and the feeling of well-being among the targeted age group. Research has proven that community is built around food and, “those who eat socially more often feel happier and are more satisfied with life, are more trusting of others, are more engaged with their local communities, and have more friends they can depend on for support.” Community and food go hand and hand, making BreakBread an essential addition to the current app and social dining landscape.
The Logo.
Here’s the flow.
Based off research, I created the user-flow as a foundation to start sketching from.
Who are our personas?
BreakBread defines personas based off specific target users. These fictional yet real data-driven l profiles are based on the user research in the previous section. Personas help inform design decisions and goals by outlining a specific type of user’s wants and needs.
The juicy parts. The app.
The main functionalities of the app are joining a BreakBread social dining experience and hosting one. Users can toggle between the two modes as well as chatting with their fellow users and seeing/editing their own profile.
More on the BreakBread brand.
The BreakBread brand utilizes the concept of nostalgia to bring the app users back to a time where eating together was the social norm and physically breaking a loaf of bread at the table signified the start of the meal and good times. Such brand concept goes against the already heavily saturated market of companies that use contemporary or futuristic iconography and design in their branding and will stand out among them. This is done with the use of a retro-chic brand identity that conveys the warm and nostalgic feelings that come with forming new friendships through food. BreakBread believes that food is better with friends, and we hope you do too.
We have a crush on color. BreakBread’s colors reflect our philosophy of combining the warm visual aesthetics of retro sentimentalities and the cool contemporary feeling of today. The colors are chosen based off a variety of different spices and ingredients used in the different cuisines that BreakBread represents.
It’s typography’s world, we just live in it. The BreakBread type family consists of a quirky retro chunky serif and a contemporary san serif to match the mission and vibe of the company and to serve a variety of needs across both print and digital experiences. The typefaces have been chosen based on their ability to work at a small scale and on a variety of different background colors.
Buttons, baby! Designed with the user in mind, these key UI elements allow for the functionalities of the BreakBread app to run efficiently and seamlessly.
Let’s get physical.
All collaterals follow the BreakBread brand guidelines for both print and digital publishing. They were used to make promotional ads, stickers, and a prototype for the app.
Advertisements and Functionality Posters
