Product Design

From Research to MVP: Designing a Local Food Discovery Platform

Designed an early-stage mobile product to connect users with local food vendors, translating research insights into a scalable discovery experience from concept to high-fidelity prototype.

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Nov 2023

FeastPass

FeastPass Logo

3 min

No

FeastPass Thumbnail

UX Design

Mobile UX

Product Discovery

Early-Stage Design

Overview

Context

FeastPass is a community-focused concept aimed at helping users discover and support local food vendors. As an early-stage initiative, the product required clarity around user needs, value proposition, and core functionality before development.

My Role

I worked as a UX/UI Designer, collaborating with stakeholders to lead research, define product direction, and design the end-to-end mobile experience.

Tools

Figma

Stakeholder Workshops

Design System Library

The Challenge

As a zero-to-one product, FeastPass faced several uncertainties:

  • Unclear user motivations around local food discovery

  • Competing assumptions about features and priorities

  • No existing product patterns or validated flows

The goal was to define a focused MVP that balanced user needs, business goals, and technical feasibility.

Challenge Image - FeastPass

Research & Product Strategy

I grounded the product direction in user research to reduce risk early.

  • Conducted two rounds of user research with 7 participants

  • Synthesized findings into clear insights and opportunity areas

  • Identified key moments where discovery, trust, and community mattered most

Research outcomes informed feature prioritization, user flows, and the overall product scope.

Approach Image - FeastPass

Interaction & System Design

Based on research insights, I:

  • Designed user flows centered around discovery and vendor engagement

  • Created low- and high-fidelity mockups for 50+ mobile screens

  • Established foundational design system elements, including core components and custom icons

Design decisions focused on clarity, simplicity, and scalability as the product evolved.

Decisions Image - FeastPass

Impact

  • Delivered an iPhone 14–compatible prototype ready for stakeholder review

  • Provided a clear MVP direction grounded in user research

  • Created reusable patterns to support future feature expansion

  • Enabled more informed product discussions and next-step planning

Impact Image - FeastPass

Prototype

Behind the Scenes

After developing the prototype, we conducted usability testing with six participants to evaluate three core MVP user flows and assess the clarity of our information hierarchy. Testing revealed opportunities to streamline onboarding and improve navigation. Participants found the three introduction screens redundant, so we consolidated them into a single page to accelerate entry into the sign-up process. The original sign-up page also surfaced readability and cognitive load issues, prompting us to increase font sizes and split the content into two focused screens—one highlighting subscription benefits and the other outlining plan options. Finally, discoverability issues around the “Events” feature led us to rethink navigation. We removed the hamburger menu, relocated Events to the bottom navigation for easier access, and reorganized account-related functions under a dedicated Profile area to create a clearer and more intuitive structure.

BTS Image 1 - FeastPass
BTS Image 2 - FeastPass
BTS Image 3 - FeastPass
BTS Image 4 - FeastPass

Reflection

This project reinforced the importance of narrowing scope in early-stage products. By grounding decisions in research and prioritizing core user needs, I was able to help shape a focused, extensible foundation rather than an overbuilt solution.

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© Emily Bai · Product Design Portfolio

© Emily Bai · Product Design Portfolio

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