Culinary Care
Introduction
Chicago-based nonprofit Culinary Care delivers free restaurant meals to cancer patients and their loved ones during chemotherapy sessions. The organization has one full-time employee, a couple of part-time employees, and a team of dedicated volunteers. Despite the small team, it’s a mighty organization that has delivered thousands of donated meals.
The Challenge
In the first meeting, our client assumed that users needed more transparency around the service. We learned once a user applied online to the Culinary Care program, all communication, including questions, changes to delivery, and food orders, were done over the phone and email. This was very taxing on a small team of employees. Users were also confused about the service. Did they qualify? How did it work? What if they needed to make a change to a delivery time or location? Our client needed a solution to better communicate Culinary Care’s service and empower users to request and edit an order independently.
Solution
Using a Design Thinking approach, our team came up with the following solution: Adaptive web design is allowing for unique desktop and mobile experiences. We designed a mobile onboarding, enrollment form, and a portal for ‘on-the-go’ changes to orders. The portal allowed existing users to edit delivery dates, times, and personal information such as food preferences. Additionally, we provided a suggested, redesigned Culinary Care home screen. During user interviews, we asked them to walk us through the current home screen and identify points of confusion. There were many. We also believed redesigning the homepage would help users better understand Culinary Care’s mission and how the service works.
Research Methodology
Stakeholder and User Qualitative Interviews
“The most important thing is the convenience of ordering the food and it showing up at the hospital. It’s also important there isn’t a lot of coordination for the caregiver.” - Tre, caregiver
Insight: Users want a simpler onboarding and menu order process It was important to know what daily life was like for patients and caregivers. We wanted to understand what it’s like to receive chemotherapy. How long does it take? How does it affect taste buds and appetites? What are the emotional, physical, and mental challenges are patients and caregivers experiencing? My colleague and I spent days interviewing cancer patients, caregivers, and medical professionals. I took the lead during this process, writing up questions and interview scripts. I drew on my journalism experience of asking tough and delicate questions. It was our duty to get an accurate picture of what life is like for these folks, and that kind of honesty often comes from hard questions, asking for details, and sometimes uncomfortable silences.
“At first I didn’t reach out to Culinary Care because I didn’t know if was for people like me and if they could meet my dietary needs.” - Rachel, patient
Insight: Users need clear and better communication on what Culinary Care does, who it’s for and how it works. Affinity Diagraming
We created a user journey map to show the step by step process of finding and registering for Culinary Care. In addition to those steps, we also identified many pain points. Mapping out the user experience helped us understand frustrations and where they encountered points of confusion.
Affinity Diagramming
After a dozen in-depth interviews with various stakeholders and potential users, my partner and I combed through the audio recordings, took notes, and coded google spreadsheets looking for patterns. We then took that information and began to Affinity Diagram to highlight themes.
Journey Map
We also created journey map to show the step by step process of finding and registering for Culinary Care. In addition to those steps, we also identified many pain points. Mapping out the user experience helped us understand frustrations and where they encountered points of confusion.
User Pain Points
Confusion about eligibility
Who is the website speaking too?
Who do I contact with questions?
What if I need to change a delivery location or time?
What is the call to action on the website?
Confusing enrollment form
Unclear about next steps
Can the service accommodate a special diet?
Human-Centered Designs
We moved forward with adaptive web design because it gave a unique experience depending on screen size. A Culinary Care user could enroll with the service on a desktop or mobile, and once approved by Culinary Care, the user could access the mobile portal. This portal was designed to be more ergonomic and easy to use in an on-the-go setting. This design decision was completely inspired by research. We found most users used their mobile devices in the hospital setting. They needed the ability to change their delivery date, add orders, and accommodate changing taste preferences. Users also wanted transparency over timelines and the process in general, i.e., how many meals they were allowed to order and how many others were allowed to eat with them. We also took into consideration the economic feasibility for Culinary Care as a small nonprofit. We concluded that the development of an adaptive website is more cost-effective than a new app.
