💬 Introduction

Deciding what to cook every day can be overwhelming—especially when balancing nutrition, cost, and convenience. Many people repeat the same meals or rely on expensive, less healthy options.

That’s where YOMI began: a set of visual recipe cards offering quick, balanced, and budget-friendly ideas at a glance. I expanded the idea into an app prototype designed in Figma, featuring recipe browsing and pantry tracking.

• 💡 Concept
  Inspiration for nutritious and simple meals
• 🎯 Goal
  Cook delicious meals that balance nutrition, cost, and convenience
• ⚠️ Considerations
  Easy recipes that are nutritionally dense and affordable
  Simplify meal planning and pantry management
• ✅ Solution
  Recipe cards and an app that offer meal ideas, tracks ingredients

📐 Design process

📚 1. Understand

Stocking a pantry from scratch is a lot of work. I had recently moved to a new country so I took as an opportunity to do some research. I began writing ingredient lists by food category to understand what to prioritize, how to cook with unfamiliar items, and which options were more affordable.

Supermarket visits became research sessions: I observed which regional vegetables were consistently available and inexpensive, then shaped my pantry list around them. This process made me realize that “what should I cook today?” is a universal question—regardless of country, budget, or experience.

These reflections led to the idea of an app that could suggest recipes based on what users already have—especially ingredients that are about to expire. What if instead of asking “what do I want to eat?”, the app could help answer “what can I cook today with what I have?”

Initial grocery lists and conceptual notes.

⛳ 2. Define

One of my key motivations for this project was to maximize resources and minimize food waste. The concept also aligned with my personal values of sustainability and nutrition, which led me to focus primarily on pescatarian and vegetarian recipes.

To build a strong foundation, I defined clear recipe guidelines: each meal would center around one core proteinand combine fresh, seasonal produce with shelf-stable ingredients to ensure both nutritional density and affordability.

I selected 10 recipes from my personal rotation and structured them by limiting myself to 5 proteins—creating 2 dishes per protein. I wrote down the recipes while cooking, testing them in real time and refining both flavor and structure.

The app idea came later, so I scoped a focused MVP prototype for this phase. It featured two core functionalities: the ability to cook a recipe step-by-step and stock a pantry—a minimal version of the broader system I envisioned.

🔎 3. Research

For inspiration, I explored meal prep videos on YouTube, nutritional rankings of vegetables, and food databases to compare ingredient profiles and understand the most affordable, nutrient-dense combinations.
I curated my own food database from sources like the USFDA and Nutrionix, to reference in nutritional value calculations later on.

Food database visualization

Visually, I drew inspiration from food packaging and illustration styles. I wanted the cards to feel bold and vibrant, so I referenced Mexican design, playful Japanese illustrations, and the color-rich aesthetics of Portuguese sardine cans. These helped shape the color palette and visual tone of the brand.

One side of each card was designed to be highly visual, showcasing key ingredients and creating a quick, appetizing entry point into the recipe.

📝 4. Propose

The goal for the recipe cards was to create a design that was both practical and visually engaging. I aimed for a compact format that could easily fit on the fridge, making it convenient for daily use, while bold, lively colors ensured it would stand out in any kitchen.

Early on, I chose to use illustrations instead of photography. This decision allowed for visual consistency across all recipes, the flexibility to reuse assets, and avoided the complications of food photography—especially in a personal project with limited resources.

I tested different formats and from initial digital sketches , see below, I created a color palette that worked as part of the project’s design constraints. These foundational choices helped shape a clear brand identity early on, and later made it easier to scale the design into a digital product during the app prototype phase.

🎨 5. Design

Once I was happy with the sketches, I began by cleaning up initial sketches from Procreate and turning them into vector illustrations in Figma. I also used the nutritional information I collected to include macros for each recipe. As I translated the recipe cards into digital format, the idea for an app prototype started to take shape. Reusing the assets I had already created made it easier to bridge the transition from print to screen while maintaining visual consistency.

The Tamagoyaki card, a Japanese rolled omelette, was the first recipe I sketched and finalized. It's simple in flavor but challenging in technique. It became the testing ground for exploring layout and design decisions across the format.

To make the most of the limited space, I took a playful approach to typography rather than sticking to strict alignment. I used the egg illustration as a letter, adding a fun visual twist that helped the card feel distinct.

This process helped define a creative, approachable style that set the tone for the rest of the recipe cards.

The cards were very well received, and I conducted quick interviews and surveys to gather feedback.

• 👨‍🍳 7 of 10 testers said the tuna croqueta was their favorite recipe — an adapted version of a family dish.
• 🥫 Most users enjoyed the sauces and said they’d try them with other proteins.
• 🌱 Seitan was a new ingredient for many users, sparking curiosity and discussion.
• 🎨 8 of 10 testers mentioned the visual identity made the cards feel like a fun, colorful addition to their kitchen.
• 💶 Users estimated the card sets could be priced between 15–20 euros, reinforcing their perceived value.

After the success of the printed cards, I started planning the app. I formalized the brand and tested color combinations for accessibility to ensure that the design would be usable and readable for a wide range of users. Contrast and legibility were key considerations as I refined the visual identity for both the physical and digital experience.

I decided to make the sardine the project's mascot. This humble, nutrient-dense fish symbolized the project’s values: high in protein, affordable, and often overlooked—just like many good ingredients in a practical, nutritious kitchen.

♻️ 6. Iterate

The next step was outlining a simple user flow: what would users want to do when opening the app? For this MVP, I focused on one core action: cooking a recipe.

Cooking flow

Based on that flow, I sketched the screens and defined the key UI elements each would need. From there, I developed low-fidelity wireframes and consulted with developer friends to ensure the designs were intuitive and feasible.

Low-fidelity sketch and wireframe cooking flow

That first round of feedback helped me refine button placement and consider how the app could scale in the future. To avoid increasing the scope, I kept decisions focused and prioritized simplicity—ensuring I could deliver a functional MVP while leaving room to grow.

For the copy I used a short, direct tone to make the content feel clear and approachable. Recipe cards included pairing suggestions and ended with a simple “Enjoy.”—a reminder that cooking should be both practical and fun.

In the app, I referred to every user as “Chef” to create an empowering and inclusive experience, reinforcing the idea that anyone can cook with confidence.

As I developed and refined components, I made sure they were used consistently across the project— even if I was the only designer. Having collaborated with multidisciplinary teams in the past, I prepared my work as if it were part of a larger product organization.

I created extensive documentation for each component, anticipating how it might be used by someone new to the project. Drawing from my experience working with localization, I included character limits, content examples, and usage notes for specific screens. I also added developer-ready specs and reviewed them with engineers to ensure no key details were missing.

Documentation for primary icon buttons

I designed the system to be flexible and scalable, using Figma variables to support dark mode and enable simple theming. To test its potential across products, I created a prototype scenario: if this app’s profile screen were needed in a future budgeting app, we could simply switch variable modes and preview it with the new brand colors—saving time and preserving consistency.

🚀 7. Protoype

Once the core screens were designed and aligned with the visual system, I built an interactive prototype in Figma to simulate the key flows of the app. This included both the pantry management and step-by-step cooking experiences, ensuring all interactions felt intuitive and consistent.

Even as a personal project with limited resources, the goal at this stage was to validate core assumptions through a small round of user testing. I focused on identifying potential usability issues, gathering initial reactions, and understanding whether the concept could scale into a full product.

Explore the interactive prototype on figma →

Works best on desktop.

I tested the app prototype with both users familiar with the recipe cards and completely new users.

Through unmoderated testing, I observed how users navigated the prototype, took detailed notes, and followed up with a short survey. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and gave me a strong foundation to plan future iterations.

Here are a few key takeaways:

• 🍳 Most users found the step-by-step cooking flow clear and easy to follow.
• 📦 The pantry update flow was intuitive and required no additional guidance.
• 🌈 Color contrast worked well—even for users with colorblindness.
• 🎉 Several testers described the interface as fun, happy, and visually joyful.
• 💰 Most users said they’d be willing to pay a small subscription to use the app.

Overall, the interactions were very encouraging. Testers were eager to explore more, which reinforced the project’s potential. With this MVP round complete, I was able to save progress and begin planning next steps for evolving the app further.

🌟 8. Wrap-up

This project successfully combined practical design with playful visuals, and received positive feedback during early testing. The result was a complete, cohesive experience—designed to inspire better eating habits through clarity, accessibility, and joy.

• 10 curated recipes tested for flavor, balance, and cost-efficiency.
• 10 printed recipe cards featuring bold illustrations, ingredient callouts, and step-by-step instructions.
• App prototype designed in Figma, including two core sections and reusable UI elements.
• Conceptual app features to tackle food waste, such as pantry reminders and ingredient-based suggestions.
• A cohesive digital and print brand built with vibrant colors, custom illustrations, and playful typography.

I plan to expand the project further—adding new recipes to the collection, refining the app prototype, and potentially pitching YOMI as a full platform for cooking, pantry management, and reducing food waste.

💭 Closing

This project was crafted with a lot of care and intention, and I hope that shows in all the little details. I thoroughly enjoyed diving into the research, building out visual systems, and sharpening my UI design skills. As a personal project, it brought together many of my strengths and gave me space to explore the topics I care about most.

Working on YOMI made me genuinely happy, and it’s inspired me to keep developing it further. I see this as a platform to continue refining my skills, testing new ideas, and sharing something that feels both useful and meaningful. I’m excited to see where it goes next.

Thank you for reading!