Group Project
Food Habits
Gen-Z Focus
Mobile App
Gamified Challenges
Helping Gen-Z backpackers dive into real Thai flavours while maximizing every dollar
A Thai foodie friend in your pocket guiding to eat street food safely to enjoy authentic taste and stretch budget.
Time
6 weeks
Role
UX Research, UI Design
Team
Yanpo, Lynn, Grace
Tools
Figma, Miro, FigJam
Problem
Gen-Z backpackers carve street food but worry about hygiene and unfamiliar ingredients.
Solution
YummieStreet: A Thai foodie friend in your pocket guiding to eat street food safely.
Impact
Users
83% of participants said they would like to use the app during travel.
Business
Boosts revenue opportunities for local street food vendors.
Product
Positions the app as an evergreen tool for tourists and foreigners in Thailand.
Key Contributions
User Research & Insights
Conducted backpacker interviews to uncover needs and pain points, forming the foundation for design decisions.
Wireframing & User Flows
Sketched wireframes and mapped user flows to visualize ideas and streamline the app’s core interactions.
Collaboration & Documentation
Worked closely with team and instructor, providing clear annotations and documentation to ensure smooth design–dev handoff.
Storytelling the Experience
Created user journey narratives to communicate how the app supports travelers, aligning the team around user goals.
Solution With Easy Clicks
YummieStreet focuses on food customization simple, turning the stress of eating into a happy experience.
Easily mark ingredients you are allergic
Users can select any foods or ingredients they are allergic to or prefer to avoid.
Translate menus in one scan
Users can simply scan any menu to instantly translate the dish list.
Personalize appetite with simple clicks
Users can apply food restriction preferences to customize dishes automatically or can do manually.
Order Like A Local Thai
Users can easily show the translated dish order (in Thai) to street food vendors.
Background
Why backpackers often end up eating at 7/11
We interviewed 30 backpackers on KhaoSan Road to understand their food experiences in Thailand. We discovered several challenges:
Unclear ingredients: Many travelers didn’t know what was included in dishes, leading to uncertainty about what they were eating.
Language barriers: Backpackers struggled to communicate with street food vendors. Even when using Google Translate or hand gestures, they faced difficulties when vendors replied in Thai.
Fear of trying local food: Some avoided street food entirely, or only ate at shops recommended by other travelers, limiting their experience.
Taste adjustments: Travelers found it hard to customize flavors, as translation tools often broke down in two-way communication.
Dietary restrictions: One vegetarian participant shared that they often resorted to convenience stores (like 7-Eleven) because street dishes sometimes contained hidden meat pieces, making it difficult to find safe, matching options.
Backpackers interviews
30
Countries
7
Food Vendors interviews
3
Days of interviews
3
Research (Backpackers' behaviours)
Zooming out to see the whole journey of backpackers' experience.
After examining the travel journey: before, during, and after the trip, we discovered a clear gap in the “during travel” phase, especially within the food experience.
Digital Tools
Analog Tools & Activities
Lonely Planet Products
Ecosystem
Competitor Analysis
Street food market is growing among backpackers, but allergy-friendly options are scarce.
A closer look at existing food platforms reveals that most apps focus on online ordering or simple translation features. However, relying on convenience stores for meals means missing out on the authentic taste of local cuisine.
Competitor Analysis
User Personas
Who we designed for
Based on insights from the interviews, we developed three personas reflecting different eating habits.
Hygienic henry (primary persona)
"I want to eat Thai street food, but I’m worried about getting sick."
Pain Points
Workarounds
He wasn’t sure how long the food had been sitting out in open.
Only eats from stalls where he can see food being cooked fresh.
Worries that street food might come at the expense of hygiene.
Only eats at fast food chains and small restaurants where he is more comfortable.
Sees that street food is cheaper and is curious but still hesitant to order his own.
Only eats street food when he is with other experienced travellers he trusts.
PIcky pia
"I want to try Thai street food, but being vegetarian in a new country is always tricky."
Pain Points
Workarounds
Hard to find vegetarian-friendly dishes in street food.
Rely on the familiar dishes she knows, like mango sticky rice.
Can’t tell if some dishes contained hidden-meat related ingredients and ended up eating them.
Go to dedicated vegetarian street food stalls at Chatuchak Market and Chinatown.
Feels like there’s limited vegetarian options at street food stalls.
Choose Indian restaurants or packaged snacks in 7-11 if no options are available.
curious clara
"Thai food is culture on a plate. I just need guidance on what to try for a truly authentic experience."
Pain Points
Workarounds
Overwhelmed by many stalls selling variations of the same dish.
Choose randomly from one of the stalls to try out the food first.
Struggles to find unique local dishes for an authentic experience.
Asks hostel mates and local for suggestions on what to try.
Large-portion dishes make it hard to try different street food.
Buys small portions to sample as many dishes as possible.
Sketching & Wireframing
Knowing our users and start bringing out idea concepts with sketches first.
We brainstroms any possible ideas, drew sketches, and discussed with each other. Then, we did quick testing with paper prototypes and improved concept iteration many times.
Some of the sketches we made during brinstorming.
Wireframe
HMW
How might we reduce Hygienic Henry’s worries to explore and enjoy street food?
Henry's quote: "I want to eat Thai street food, but I’m worried about getting sick."
Choose Food Restrictions
Henry can select any foods or ingredients he is allergic to or prefer to avoid.
Scan Menu
He can simply scan any menu to get an instant translation of the dish list.
Check Dish Details
He views the ingredients and flavour profile of each dish, along with tips on how to enjoy it like a local.
Adjust Flavours
Henry applies food restriction preferences to automatically customize dishes.
Order Like A Local Thai
Henry can easily show the translated dish order to street food vendors.
HMW
How might we help Curious Clara discover authentic food and explore through gamification?
Clara's quote: "Thai food is culture on a plate. I just need guidance on what to try for a truly authentic experience."
Discover Dishes and Top Street Food Spots
Clara can explore a wide variety of dishes, including options from Michelin-recommended Street food stalls.
Read Food Safety Tips
There are food safety tips to how to enjoy meal with confidence and peace of mind.
Unlock street food adventure in a fun way.
With her curious mind, Clara enjoys street food while challenging herself as a food adventurer. The more she eats, the higher the foodie rank climbs!
There are six different food challenge levels based on the spice level user can eat:
Rookie - Just starting out, handles only mild spice.
Apprentice - Learning the heat, can take on medium spice.
Challenger - Ready to push limits with bold, fiery dishes.
Expert - Confident with high spice, few dishes feel too hot.
Master - Dominates extra-spicy meals with ease.
Grand Master - Fearless eater, conquers the hottest dishes without breaking a sweat.
Sitemap
Structure of YummieStreet
This is the overall structure of the application and its basic screens. There is total 14 pages.
User Flow
From dish exploration to order
This is the main user flow, starting from exploring dishes to successfully placing an order with street food vendors.
Style Guide
Colors for street food theme reflection
To get a sense of food adventure while building trust around safe and enjoyable eating experiences, I choose palette blending warmth, freshness, and cultural vibrancy to make users feel both excited to explore and confident in their choices.
Primary
#FBD779
Secondary
#B6E9DA
Tertiary
#D18932
Neutral
#000000
Food Mastery Levels Challenge Colors
Each of the six challenge levels is inspired by the colour tones of Thai dishes, from the mildest to the spiciest flavours.
Rookie
#60B480
Apprentice
#F9A900
Challenger
#EC6723
Expert
#D93619
Master
#1A3862
Grandmaster
Sans-serif font for minimalist and friendly tone
YummieStreet is street-savvy and travel-friendly focused on clarity, simplicity, and user delight. It enhances modern confidence, ideal for a food-tech product meant for global backpackers.
Button Text
16px Semibold
Label
14px Medium
Highlight
9px Medium
Our Team
Team members (Yanpo, Lynn, Grace, and me) with our instructor
Measurable Result
Final product prototype was successful among participants and final demo.
I conducted usability testing with 6 participants to validate the onboarding flow (food allergy choices) and main feature (flavor customization). Each session included error tracking, task completion, SUS, and NPS surveys.
33% completed with zero errors
while others encountered only minor slips.
50% became promoters
(NPS 9–10), showing strong advocacy potential.
83% average SUS score
(Well above the 68 benchmark), show users found the app easy to use.
100% task completion
Completed main task flow with 0 drop-offs.
Reflection
What I have learned from this project
Design is not about assumption and one-time process.
I learned the value of in-depth research in understanding Gen Z backpackers’ eating habits and challenges, and embraced iterative learning to continuously improve the product.
Gamifications make more user engagement.
I also discovered how gamification can not only encourage users to explore new experiences but also effectively meet their needs and solve real problems.
Challenges lead better learning.
Working on this project also taught me how to keep design moving forward even in imperfect conditions. It also strengthened my skills in design thinking, data synthesis, and building with empathy.
Teamwork fuels innovation.
Collaborating with the team helped us generate diverse ideas, then narrow them down into focused, user-centred solutions.
Next Steps
What I will do for future steps
Refine the design from feedback of participants.
Run usability testing again with more specific group of users.
