Design Principles

To start creating an application it is vital to have some basic design principles that will guide the team through discussions on what direction to take. Some of the basic principles have been visualized and written down in the image below. The process starts by thinking about what the important elements are in the equation. A few of these elements of course are that it is about food and people. In discussions and conversations with people I eventually narrowed down the list of principles to the ones that can be found below. Having these on the background during the creation of wire frames and discussions on functionality is useful. It helps in gaining insights and also the realization whether or not a specific need has been (or can be) fulfilled.

Top Level Functionality

The menu of the application will consist of 7 options. At my place, near me, meal pick-up, my meals, my thanks, pick-up requests and settings. When devising these menu options the design principles were considered. In the visualization below one can see which design principle is important for which menu option. This is just a top level overview, when clicking on one of the options it sometimes leads to other options which can lead to other screens/options. Some menu options just lead to one screen with some options.

At my place and near me have been taken together because they were also created together. The difference is that at my place is focused on your home location, where you usually cook. Thus you can see if there is anything near that location. However you are not always home, at times you want to see what is being offered around you right now, not necessarily at home. Both menu options lead to a selection of meals being offered either near your home or near you current location. The details of the meals being offered will be discussed later on in a lower level functionality focus.

Meal Pick-Up leads to a screen which allows you to see which meals you can go an pick up, when and where. The details of this screen will be discussed in a lower level functionality focus.

My meals shows you an aggregation of all the meals you have created since you joined ShareYourMeal. The details of this screen will be discussed in a lower level functionality focus.

My thanks shows you the gratitude you have received from people who have enjoyed a meal cooked by you. The details of this screen will be discussed in a lower level functionality focus.

Pick Up-Requests shows you requests from people who want to eat what you are going to prepare. The details of this screen will be discussed in a lower level functionality focus.

The settings screen contains options to adjust some functionality of the application. The details of this screen will be discussed in a lower level functionality focus.