A chef & portfolio recipe aggregator
Spicing up the culinary industry
In the current e-career climate, there is
no dedicated space for a chef to set up
their own portfolio unless they use sites like 'Wix' or Squarespace.
Hearth & Steel hopes to
create a culinary community by showcasing
chef portfolios and recipe collections in one big melting pot.
The 'chefs' behind the project
I was the UX Designer for Hearth & Steel. I worked with five web
developers to actualize the project over the course of one month
after spending one month of research and design preparation as a
class assignment.
The plights of a culinary artist
Most professional chefs do not have an efficient way to showcase
their talent nor do they have a reliable way to craft their recipes.
Presenting the winning dish
The goals of Hearth & Steele were to provide culinary artists with a
community to showcase tried and true recipes, as well as provide
culinary artists with a platform to display their portfolios.
As part of the class project parameters, developing a mobile version
of the site took priority. Once a mobile version was completed it
was easily converted into a desktop site.
Concocting research
I interviewed and polled both amateur and professional chefs.
Polling potential users on how they would use the site to
their advantages and if they wanted to be
all-inclusive of different types of culinary artists.
If you have any dietary restrictions, would you want to search for
recipes meeting that criteria?
Our design features chef portfolios, would you want to include bakers
and mixologists as well?
Key research ingredients
- 2/3 cup* of chefs interviewed use Twitter or Instagram to showcase their culinary feats.
- 1/4 cup* of chefs utilized a notebook or journal to keep notes on recipes.
- 1/8 cup* of chefs have culinary tutorialson Vimeo and YouTube.
- 1 cup* of chfes would be open to all types of culinary artists.
Preheat oven to 350F and note that no chef interviewed had an actual
portfolio on the internet. With these take-aways in mind,
it was clear that Hearth & Steel would be more than just a
portfolio site.
Hearth & Steel would become an inclusive community where chefs can
share recipes and experiences. *(1 cup = 20 chefs; 2/3 cup = 17
chefs; 1/4 cup = 5 chefs; 1/8 cup = 3 chefs. Chefs provide no
nutritional value and therefore should not be consumed.)
Preparing the dish
When I sketched these screens, I felt the most important feature
would be to contact a chef featured on the Hearth & Steel site.
These screens took some inspiration from the sketches.
Now we're cooking
Utilizing the chosen designs, I started to actualize the
application.
Some of the system colors made the design feel dated. So I envisoned
a more modern approach to the site.
Onto the second course
The desktop version was more easily realized as a marriage of two
mobile screens.
The desktop version received the modern treatment as well.
Wrapping up the meal
What started as a simple portfolio site quickly grew into a massive
culinary community. By working with developers, I've learned that
there are some limitations in how quickly and app can be developed.
I have also taken away from this project that
my desire to solve many problems can debilitate the design
process.
For Hearth & Steel's future, I would like to see more support for
culinary students.