Dished
A mobile app that helps users discover new recipes and explore global cuisines by connecting dishes and ingredients with their cultural and climatic origins.
TIMELINE
Jan – Mar 2025
TEAM
Solo
tools & skills
User Research, UX/UI Design
BACKGROUND
“We do not know a nation until we sit at its dining table.”
(Qin, 2013, p. 35)
Every cuisine is shaped by a region’s history, geography, climate, survival struggles, and lifestyle.
Gastronomy is often used to promote a nation’s culture to foreign audiences. For example, Thailand’s “Global Thai” program launched in 2002 increased the number of Thai restaurants worldwide to promote tourism and strengthen cultural identity. As a result, Thai food is now one of the most popular cuisines globally despite the country’s relatively small diaspora.
Open lots of Thai restaurants overseas.
Diners enjoy the food and keep returning.
More people are aware of Thai culture.
The country is now associated with delicious food and friendly people.
Tourism to Thailand increases.
Thus, cross-cultural food sharing plays a key role in preserving and spreading culture. But where does this leave countries without the means to promote themselves overseas? Burmese, Cambodian, and Laotian cuisines, for instance, are often overshadowed by Thai cuisine within Southeast Asia.
the problem for restaurants
When fewer people dine out, lesser-known cuisines are the first to be overlooked.
In the competitive restaurant industry, lesser-known nations often struggle to establish recognition for their cuisines. This is exacerbated by the rising cost of living, which compels people to stay home and cook rather than dine out.
75%
of Canadians are eating out less often due to the rising cost of living (Wilson, 2025).
62%
of U.S. adults cook at home, and for about an hour a day (Ewoldt et al., 2025).
This disproportionately affects restaurants with lesser-known cuisines, which are often confined to immigrant enclaves in low-income neighbourhoods (Park, 2017).
the problem for home cooks
Home cooks want to explore new cuisines but don’t know where to start.
The perspective of home cooks is also important. Many rely on convenience and lack the knowledge to prepare unfamiliar dishes, leading to repetitive meals that decrease satisfaction and food consumption over time (Hendricks et al., 2021). However, 71% of adult home cooks do want to learn more about cooking, especially ethnic dishes (Worsley et al., 2014). They simply need enough information to get started.
Home cooks are tired of eating the same food.
Need meal variety and new foods to increase consumption and satisfaction.
But to try new foods, they need taste information and/or sufficient familiarity.
pain points
Restaurants with lesser-known cuisines struggle to attract diners.
Increased cost of living makes dining out inaccessible to many.
Cuisines associated with "refined" taste and restaurants in high-income neighbourhoods are promoted more.
People are reluctant to try new foods due to unfamiliarity and lack of information.
Home cooks are tired of eating the same food due to limited cooking knowledge.
Cooking new dishes can be daunting, especially when having to buy new ingredients.
problem statement
Home cooks and diners struggle to explore lesser-known cuisines due to limited information and uncertainty about unfamiliar dishes.
challenge
How might we encourage people to try unfamiliar cuisines?
People are willing to taste and cook new foods when there is enough familiarity or taste information to guide them (Stallberg-White & Pliner, 1999). Introducing foods in the context of what people already enjoy increases their willingness to try unfamiliar dishes; for example, knowing a dish contains a familiar ingredient. This approach allows global cuisines to be introduced within a user’s comfort level.
goals
My overall goal was to help users discover global cuisines within their comfort level while increasing familiarity with lesser-known dishes and supporting businesses from historically overlooked communities.
Help users discover unique foods from around the world.
Connect dishes and cuisines to their cultural origins.
Increase business for restaurants and shops with lesser-known cuisines.
Adapt to the user's taste palate and diet for personalized food recommendations.
Get users comfortable trying new foods by comparing them to familiar ones.
Make global cooking more accessible by making use of existing pantry items.
competitive analysis
I analyzed existing food and recipe discovery platforms to identify current solutions and gaps in the market.
Taste Atlas
Rich content on dishes and their origins, but cluttered navigation, unclear social features, and a subjective rating system. The platform primarily serves users deeply interested in food culture.
SuperCook
Helps users generate recipes based on existing pantry items, offering a highly practical and intuitive experience, but with little emphasis on cultural discovery.
SideChef
Provides personalized recipes alongside grocery lists and meal planning. Its focus is on practicality (such as cost and detailed instructions) and lacks cultural context.
NYT Cooking
A well-established recipe platform with strong organization and filtering. However, preferences are not tied to user profiles, resulting in a less personalized experience.
design opportunity
Existing platforms prioritize either cultural depth or practical utility, but rarely both. This creates an opportunity to help users explore global cuisines through familiar ingredients and preferences, lowering the barrier to discovery while preserving cultural context.
user journey map
information architecture
wireframes
design iterations
The initial design used pixel art and bright colours for a retro-inspired look. Peer feedback indicated that the style felt overly playful and childish.
Next, I shifted to a monochromatic palette with a single accent colour and the removed dark borders around photos. While cleaner, the interface lacked visual interest due to excessive white space, and the large blocks of text required significant scrolling.
The final iteration adopted a more sophisticated, editorial direction with pops of colour and large, serif headings. By evoking the feel of a cookbook or food magazine, the design conveys a greater sense of authority and trust.
To improve flow, tabs and floating action buttons were introduced to reduce scrolling.
solution
Where taste meets discovery.
Dished is a mobile app that helps users explore food on a cultural level. Seamless navigation between cuisines, dishes, and ingredients encourages the discovery of lesser-known foods by promoting those that match a user's flavour palate and diet.
User flows were designed based on Lila's persona. As a vegetarian, Lila is primarily shown dishes that fit her diet, while non-tailored content appears only when relevant (eg. trending dishes on the Explore page or featured dishes within a cuisine).
Users go through an onboarding process to set dietary restrictions and preferred cuisines for a tailored experience.
Daily features and curated recommendations based on your diet and taste palate.
Each dish page provides extensive information, encouraging exploration and culinary discovery.
Find recipes using your pantry items or add what’s missing to your grocery list.
design
Five accent colours are used throughout Dished to represent taste, region, food group, or meal type depending on context. As users acclimate to the app, they'll gradually associate colours with meaning.
Spicy
Africa
Proteins
Sides
Sour
Americas
Grains
Mains
Umami / Salty
Oceania
Dairy
Beverages
Bitter
Asia
Vegetables
Starters & Snacks
Sweet
Europe
Fruits
Desserts
lessons learned
Consider all perspectives, not just the user.
Considering the perspectives of restaurant owners alongside home cooks helped reveal the real-world impact of limited engagement with lesser-known cuisines.
Constant iteration leads to better design.
Testing and feedback shaped Dished’s evolution, with each iteration refining flow, visual hierarchy, and usability. Over time, rudimentary concepts developed into a product that felt both functional and intuitive.