Search less, savor more.

Project Overview

Forkfull simplifies meal planning and home cooking with a personalized, all-in-one recipe platform. Easily search and filter recipes by dietary needs, ingredients, and dish types. Save your favorites, create custom collections, and get inspired with recommendations tailored to your lifestyle. Whether you’re managing restrictions or just looking for fresh ideas, Forkfull helps you cook smarter, eat healthier, and enjoy mealtime more.

Meet the users

  • Novice at cooking

    Age: 21
    Education: B.S. in progress
    Location: NJIT

    Logan is a college student living away from home for the first time. There are limited cooking tools and appliances in his dorm building, but he still wants to learn how to cook after growing tired of the dining hall and food around campus.

  • Stay-at-home Dad

    Age: 32
    Occupation: Freelance writer
    Location: Suburbs
    Family: Partner, 2 kids

    Marcus is a young father living with his kids and wife, who works in the city, leaving Marcus to care for their young children. He loves cooking but often has trouble keeping track of what ingredients he needs from the grocery store and what his kids would like.

  • Busy Professional

    Age: 25
    Occupation: Stock trader
    Family: Partner

    Ella is a professional in her field, and spending most of her hours in the office leaves her little time to plan what to eat or cook. She’s also been vegetarian for several years and is considering being vegan, but finds it challenging to find nutritious and filling vegan meals.

Wireframes

Core app functions:

  • Search & filtering for recipes based on dietary needs, dish types, and ingredients

  • Recipe submission and tagging, with customizable public/private visibility

  • Social integration, allowing users to add recipes from social media

  • Personal collection building, where users can save and organize favorite recipes

Low fidelity wireframes

Forkfull-app (1600 x 600 px) (2).png
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Forkfull-app (1600 x 600 px) (3).png

Key Design Decisions

  • Card-swipe interface makes recipe browsing fun, fast, and low-pressure.

    Why it matters:

    • Reduces cognitive load compared to traditional category/list views

    • Encourages exploration and discovery

    • Adds a layer of emotional engagement (the joy of finding a good meal)

  • Lets users adjust servings and prep time instantly.

    Why it matters:

    • Makes the app inclusive of single-person households and flexible eaters

    • Reduces waste and friction in the cooking process

    • Adds a subtle sense of responsiveness and personalization

  • Get smart meal suggestions based on ingredient input.

    Why it matters:

    • Supports sustainability by reducing food waste

    • Feels more human and adaptive than strict recipe searches

    • Adds real utility without bloating the app

  • Allows users to get value quickly.

    Why it matters:

    • Supports fast, casual use of the app

    • Removes barriers to entry

    • Gives users a sense of progress and value immediately

Color Palette

I chose a warm, earthy color palette inspired by natural ingredients (terracotta, olive green, fig, and cream) to evoke a grounded, cozy atmosphere that reflects that joy of home cooking. The tones balance vibrancy with softness, signaling creativity without overwhelming the user, and steering away from the sterile whites or diet-app blues common in the space.

Typography

I paired Albert Sans, a clean, modern sans-serif for body text with Alata, a slightly rounded display font for headers to balance clarity with warmth. This combination ensured high legibility across devices while reinforcing a friendly, approachable tone that fits the brand’s personality - supportive and inviting.

Reflection & Next Steps

Working on Forkfull taught me how powerful thoughtful UX can be in reframing everyday tasks as something joyful rather than burdensome. Through research, I gained a deeper understanding of how emotional needs outweigh purely functional ones in food-related experiences.

If I were to revisit this project, I’d explore:

  • Long-term engagement strategies, like ingredient tracking or seasonal inspiration, to build daily habits

  • Deeper collaboration with developers early on to validate technical feasibility for features like real-time ingredient scaling

  • Accessibility testing to ensure usability across a wider range of users, including those with cognitive or motor differences.

Forkfull helped me grow as a product designer by blending strategic thinking, research-driven decisions, and visual storytelling - skills I’m excited to keep applying and refining in real-world product teams.