Product design / Redesign
Meetmeals
Improving a Platform's UX and Usability
Website
Webapp
B2C
B2B
The challenge
At first, I didn’t know much about Dutch culture or user expectations, so understanding that became my first challenge.
I started by testing several local food platforms and asked the founder to share competitors so I could learn fast and get ahead.
Inspired by these insights, I shaped flows similar to popular apps to meet user habits and expectations.
Meetmeals was more than just a food delivery service.
It was a bridge between people who wanted to start small home-based food businesses and those craving authentic international flavors.
The challenge was to design a platform that made this connection easy, trustworthy, and rewarding — without losing the personal touch that makes homemade food special.
One day, a teammate asked if I could spare some time to support a side project.
It turned out to be more than that. A successful startup in the Netherlands was looking to improve their product, and after an intro call with the founder, I knew I wanted to be part of it.
That was the start of Meetmeals.
This project required me to wear many hats:
I was the only product designer on the team
I handled everything from user research to final design
I worked remotely and closely with the founder, marketing, and developers
I also supported communication between design and devs using my software engineering background
The idea of Meetmeals was strong. It wanted to connect home cooks with people looking for real homemade food. But the platform was not easy to use. Many cooks felt lost when trying to join. Customers also felt unsure because they did not know who they were buying from.
My challenge was to make the platform feel easy, safe, and friendly. I needed to help home cooks start without stress. And I had to help customers trust the platform and enjoy the experience. All of this needed to happen while keeping the warm and personal feeling that homemade food brings.
Working on Meetmeals came with its own personal and design challenges for me:
I had no experience with Dutch food culture, so I had to learn quickly to make relevant design decisions
The app already existed, so I had to improve the experience without changing its core idea
Users were confused by the journey, so I had to simplify the flow while keeping it human and friendly
When I first saw the platform I knew it had good potential but also some problems People found it hard to use The food cards had too much information and the food photos were not clear
The main problems I saw were
• Navigation was hard to understand
• Food cards had too much information
• Food photos were unclear and did not catch attention
• Filters were hard to use and confusing
• Colors were too bright and made the design noisy
• The chef panel was hard to use and not well organized
Even with these problems I believed the platform could help local chefs and show different food cultures in a friendly way
I talked to two groups of people.
The first group was home cooks who want to share their food but do not know how to set prices or deliver. The second group was customers who want real homemade food but feel unsure about buying from strangers.
These talks helped me understand what they need. I changed the design from the first steps to the pictures so both cooks and customers feel safe, happy, and proud.
Before talking, I used the platform myself and found some problems like hard steps and unclear choices. I also looked at user feedback with the team to make sure these problems were real. Then I asked friends to try the platform and watched where they had trouble. Finally, I made a chef account to see how cooks use the platform.
MeetMeals should feel friendly and human. The app helps people order homemade food and supports home chefs. I focused on making everything simple, clear, and joyful for both users and chefs.
Food Comes First
The food photo is the most important part. It needs to catch the eye and create a feeling. I made the photo big and clear so people feel hungry and want to explore more.
Clear Hierarchy, Confident Choices
Each food card shows the right information in the right order. First the photo, then the name, price, food culture, and user rating. This helps people feel safe, even if they don’t know the food.
Empowering Home Chefs
Be transparent and clear about quality to create confidence.
Designing with Constraints
Highlight cultural stories and flavors through food.
When I joined, the colors, fonts, and icons were not the same. Developers had worked fast, and there was no clear design style. First, I picked a clean color palette and matching fonts. Then I worked on sizes and spacing to make everything look more balanced. I also created a custom set of icons so the style would feel complete. This design system enabled the team to work more efficiently and made the platform feel clear and intuitive, even during rapid updates.
We improved the platform to feel warmer, clearer, and easier to use.
After the redesign, chefs felt more confident sharing their dishes, and customers found it easier to explore and trust.
People started sharing stories about how the food reminded them of home.
This showed that good design is not just about looks. It can help people connect, share, and feel proud of what they create
This project taught me that good design is not only about how things work but also about how they feel. I saw how a warm and friendly design helped people trust the platform and feel welcome.
It was special to help chefs earn money doing what they love and to help others feel at home with food that reminded them of their family.
Clear communication and small design changes made a big difference.
I also learned that a clean and beautiful platform works like a nice outfit. After the redesign, many chefs were proud to show their pages and started sharing their profiles more. The new design made their food shine and gave them confidence.
In the end, this project reminded me that design can build real human connections and make people feel proud, safe, and seen.