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2020-2021
Chef iQ

Designing
Smart Cooker

As an IoT product designer, I led multiple design projects for CHEF iQ's first product, the smart cooker and mobile app. This was part of CHEF iQ’s mission to create a connected kitchen for every home chef, aiming to provide an easy and delightful cooking experience.
Consumer technology
Food tech
Physical to digital interaction
Branding to product design
Digital content strategy
Dashboard design
Scaling design system
Design ownership

Owning multiple key features that engage users the most, developed through a rapid agile process

My objective was to enhance the engagement rate among current users. To achieve this, I actively collaborated with the customer support team to identify users' top pain points and worked with product managers to outline a roadmap focused on increasing engagement. Consequently, I took ownership and launched several key features, ranging from search functionality to scaling the design system.
Anna's ChefiQ work
Case study #1

Ingredient search feature

Design goal

How can we boost engagement with the 'Calculator' feature, which currently has the lowest engagement rate?

Data indicated that the 'Calculator,' a main feature, had the lowest engagement rate. I spearheaded its enhancement in collaboration with an engineer.
Smart cooker images
Problem analysis

Conducting a user flow review to tackle the key problem

Lack of context on how users can use this feature

I mapped out the users' end-to-end visit experience to approach solutions with systemic thinking.

Too many steps

I encouraged the team to think outside the box to generate ideas, as this could also aid in refining our roadmap.
Smart cooker images
Soluton assumption

How can we enhance this feature to be more inviting and intuitive, enticing users to give it a try?

Given our small team size, limited budget, and tight timeline, I streamlined the process and research to enhance agility. I developed a design solution based on my assumptions, moving forward without waiting for team feedback.

How might we set expectations by using prompts like 'What do you want to cook?

How might we intelligently automate multiple manual steps to simplify user tasks?

How might we clearly show users how to use this feature from the start?

How might we introduce a smart search feature that simplifies and shortens multiple steps for users?

Solution development

Add the prompt 'What are you looking to cook?' to the search field to demonstrate how to use the feature

Smart cooker images
Solution development

Collaborating with a lead engineer, I enhanced the usability of the search functionality by focusing on three key areas:

1. Implemented breadcrumbs to navigate the depth of subcategories, from ingredients to detailed subcategories.
2. Enabled instant search results display as users type a single letter.
3. Introduced ingredient icons to make the search experience delightful and encourage exploration, even without a specific search intent.
Smart cooker images
Solution development

Cut down three steps through automation of search results

Leveraging the search feature, I streamlined the user process by reducing the steps from seven to four, making the feature significantly easier to use.
Smart cooker images
Result

Impact: Tripled engagement rate

The outcome was highly successful, with engagement tripling within a month and the calculator conversion rate for completing manual cook tasks increasing by more than 30%.
212% ↑
Calculator engagement rate
30.7%↑
Calculator result conversion
14.7%↑
DAU
Case study #2

How can we enhance the customer support experience to help users address complex connectivity issues between their devices and the mobile app?

Identifying problem

Both users and the customer support team encounter significant challenges due to an ineffective FAQ feature.

Mockup

From User feedback through interviews

Our users are frustrated by disorganized categorization and poorly written content and search experience that block solve the issues.
Mockup

From the customer support team

The customer support team handles an excessive number of calls due to inadequate information and poor navigation in the current FAQ section.
Mockup

Current experience assessment

The help content was distributed across three different platforms: the physical user guide, the mobile app, and our website. That make users frustrated.
Success metrics

Both users and the customer support team encounter significant challenges due to an ineffective FAQ feature.

Enabling users’ self-service -> Reducing the average amount of customer service tickets submitted by 20%

Reduce customer support interactions to fewer than three exchanges on average.

Achieve positive feedback from over 70% of users in the next in-depth interview.

Market research

Investigating best practices: What's the most effective method for delivering customer support in IoT products?

Key takeaway:
1) When managing a vast array of topics, a search feature becomes indispensable.
2)Visual guides empower users to troubleshoot their IoT devices effectively.
3)Live chat functionality ranks highest in user satisfaction.
Smart cooker images
Solution assumption

So, which solution would be most beneficial for our users?

Based on the competitive analysis, I've aligned potential solutions that can tackle the identified problem from both our users' and customer service team's perspectives.
Smart cooker image
Case studies
1

Ingredient search feature

Improve user engagement for one of the main features with the lowest engagement rate.
2

Help center feature

Design self-guided, user-focused help and support content to resolve user issues for both the cooker and mobile app.
3

CHEF iQ blog

Redesign the CHEF iQ blog to enhance user acquisition and retention.
Solution devlopment

First approach: Start from the highest impact for users and then assess feasibility

Initially, we didn't have clear requirements for tech constraints or the timeline. Therefore, I began with the optimal solution to ensure high user satisfaction. As we gained more clarity on the technical constraints, I refined the design proposal to balance user impact with reduced development effort. This approach allowed for easier updates and roadmapping for future versions.
Mockup
I mapped out all potential design solutions according to their level of effort and impact.
Mockup
The initial proposal included features like live chat and call booking to offer multiple channels for user and customer service team interactions based on their needs. However, we later removed these options to minimize development effort.
Validation

What UX/UI design best supports users in effectively troubleshooting and resolving their issues independently?

To optimize the FAQ search and troubleshooting visual guide, I developed several options. To better understand users' mental models, I conducted a small-scale usability test with five participants, as recommended by user research leader Jakob Nielsen, who states that five users can uncover 85% of usability issues. After gathering feedback from stakeholders on these options, I confidently proceeded with the handoff process.
Mockup
Usability testing for search experience
Mockup
Usability testing for visual guide
Solution devlopment

Final solution alignment: Let's focus on a self-service help center with easy-to-follow visual guidance and efficient search results

Mockup
Move to middle ground solution for less development team's effort but still good impact on users' satisfaction
Mockup
Mapping a quick IA
Mockup
Mapping Lo-fi mockups with design system components
Final design

This new help center feature was launched in April 2021

Cooker display interface visual guide

Mockup

Mobile app setting visual guide

Mockup

Cooker functionality visual guide (work with visual designer)

Mockup

Troubleshooting search result feature

Mockup

Redesign of the Help Center input field to integrate with Salesforce.

Mockup

Add call center hours to improve user support

Final design

This new help center feature was launched in April 2021

Impact

Loved by Chef iQ's users & CS team!

After the launch of the new help center, our team observed valuable feedback from users, and the volume of support tickets decreased by nearly 15% within a couple of months. This reduction significantly lowers the workload for our customer service team.
Case study #3

How can we redesign the CHEF iQ blog to enhance branding and develop an engaging content strategy that significantly increases new user acquisitions?

My role

As a UX design lead, I collaborate with the marketing team and copywriters to revamp CHEF iQ's blog, ensuring it is both visually pleasing and features an engaging content strategy.

The existing design suffered from poor navigation and broken interfaces, making it difficult to access content.
Final design

This new blog was launched in June 2021 and still on official website

My role extended beyond homepage design; I also collaborated on content strategy, working with writers to create copy and categorize content topics. The result was highly successful. After launching, the blog's engagement rate tripled within a month.
© 2024 Anna Oh
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