Introducing a way to communicate savings indirectly in a meal planning app
Overview
Goulash is a meal planning app that sits between recipe discovery and grocery delivery. The idea is to help users save money, reduce food waste, and spend less time deciding what to cook.
The main idea is that you can save money. However, when I joined the project, there was no indication of savings in the user interface.
After some research and benchmarking, I prepared communication based on showing a price for each meal. But I had to change my idea because it turned out we couldn’t show specific discounts or prices for individual meals because of local laws. I had to come up with indirect signals that people would still believe.
I’ve created a set of ways to communicate indirect savings, including a tab with only discounted recipes, a banner informing about discounted ingredients within a recipe, or a drawer explaining and defining pricing tiers. The patterns have been added and are available in the app in the form I designed them.
The redesigned cookbook experience highlights savings from the start. I added a ‘deals’ tab for filtered browsing and put discount badges on recipe cards. I also explained the price tiers and how the discount value is calculated.
Key design decisions
Introduced a dedicated tab for recipes with discounts.
It makes it easier for people to find recipes with a focus on budget-friendly choices.
Highlighted meals that included discounted ingredients with eye-catching badges.
So that it’s instantly clear which meals are cheaper and by what percent.
I’ve added clear explanations to the price tiers and how discounts are calculated.
At first, the price tiers were just $ symbols with no explanation. I gave them some exact figures on price ranges to make it clear how much the meal would cost. I also included some info on how discounts are calculated and what the approximate percentage actually means.
Shopping cart highlights savings for easy total cost tracking.
Price comparisons show the original price and the discounted price, so users can easily spot savings.