Toque App

Weekly meals made easy, with a dash of spontaneity.

TOQUE is a cooking app offering guided recipes and tools to build confidence in the kitchen. While helpful for learning, many users stop using the app after the initial excitement. My research revealed that users needed simpler ways to plan meals, decide what to cook and stay motivated over time. To address this, I redesigned the experience by introducing Tales-based Recipes and an AI Chef Assistant.

They help users plan weekly meals, get ingredients delivered, cook hands-free with voice guidance from their virtual chef, and order story-based meals for fun or last-minute cravings. These features simplify meal planning, reduce decision fatigue, and make cooking feel more fun and engaging, helping users build lasting cooking habits.

Role: Solo Product Designer (UX/UI) Timeline: 5 weeks ‍ Tools used: Figma

Main Methodologies Used
Discover: Toque Analysis, Competitive Analysis, Qualitative Interviews, Affinity Mapping, I-Statements
Define: Personas, User Flow Map
Ideate: Problem Statements, HMWs, Crazy 8’s, Feature Prioritisation, Wireframing, Sketches, Mid-Fidelity, Usability Testing
Deliver: High-Fidelity Design, Style Guide

For more detail, scroll down for the full case study or view the research via the links below.

Research

Case Study in a Nutshell

The Problem: Toque users struggle with lack of time and meal inspiration, making it hard to stay engaged and cook consistently.

The Solution: This research led to two complementary concepts designed to merge into one seamless application: Flavour Tales, delivering last-minute, tales-based recipes, and Chef’s Ally, an AI-powered meal planner and chef assistant for a personalised, stress-free diet.

The Impact: Together, these solutions simplify decisions, spark creativity, and build consistent cooking habits, driving long-term engagement and retention.

Flavour Tales
Dishes inspired by stories

The Idea
Transforms demotivated moments into culinary adventures.

How It Works
Story‑inspired recipes, delivered fast to your door.

The Experience
Fast, inspiring, and easy-to-follow cooking journeys.

The Impact
Turns low-energy moments into joy, joyful, creative self-care.

Watch the prototype below!

Chef’s Ally
Your Personal Chef

The Idea
Turns weekly meal planning into a personalised chef experience.

How It Works
AI-powered weekly meal plans tailored to your tastes and lifestyle.

The Experience
Warm, guided, hands-free support for balanced meals.

The impact
Eat well, have fun, and feel supported with an easy, balanced diet.

Watch the low-res prototype below!

Detailed Case Study, Empathise & Discover

What’s Toque?

Toque is a recipe-sharing app for novice and intermediate cooks who want to expand their personal dishes collection.

The Challenge

Increase engagement and repeat use

High-Level Goals

Introduce cooking tutorials and innovative features

Interviews Key Insights/Pain Points

”I want variety, but new recipes take too much time and feel difficult.”

“Planning healthy meals is exhausting.”

“Often meals feel repetitive and boring.”

“I find it hard to organise my meals efficiently, ensuring good results without feeling like I'm wasting time”

Define Phase

Which problems have the most impact?

One issue stood out above the rest:

Healthy, varied eating is the goal; time and inspiration are the challenge.

“I want to eat healthy and varied meals, but planning is time-consuming, so I often fall back on the same boring dishes.”

Who is Melinda?

Melinda, our Persona, is a busy professional passionate about cooking, seeks better organisation and support to efficiently plan meals while making the experience relaxing and inspiring.

"Cooking should be efficient, but also something I look forward to."

“Melinda needs a personalised and effortless way to organise her meals without compromising creativity or spontaneity so that she can fully enjoy cooking as a relaxing and satisfying experience.”

Ideate and Design Phase

How did I make the Toque App more inspiring and genuinely useful?

Shaping an Inspiring and Innovative Cooking App

The vision was to create not just another cooking app, but an inspiring, fun, innovative and time-saving tool available 24/7, feeding you and your family while giving you more time to spend as you wish. It helps users plan meals with confidence, get ingredients delivered, and cook hands-free with guidance from a virtual chef. Users can also quickly order story-based meals for fun, last-minute cravings, or cooking with friends, adding spontaneity to an otherwise organised weekly plan.

A little bit of How I got there!
Generating Ideas: How HMW, Crazy 8s, User Story
Flavour Tales

“How might we transform cooking into a gamified experience, making meal preparation interactive and fun?”

User Story: As Melinda, I want quick support for cravings so I can turn last-minute food desires into satisfying meals.

Flavour Tales: Themed recipes, gamified challenges, and fast ingredient delivery make spontaneous cooking easy and engaging.

Tackles: Demotivation, fatigue, and last-minute cravings bringing joy and creativity back into cooking.

Generating Ideas: How HMW, Crazy 8s, User Story
Chef’s Ally

“How might we make the meal planning process as luxurious and intuitive as a five-star hotel concierge?”

User Story: As Melinda, I want a concierge-style meal planner to effortlessly organise and personalise my meals.

Chef’s Ally: Quick onboarding, tailored menus and hands-free guidance make cooking effortless, inspiring, and exciting.

Tackles: Personalised meal-planning and cooking support, making cooking effortless and inspiring.

Ideal is to merge the solutions, Flavour Tales for spontaneous, creative cooking, Chef’s Ally for adaptable, healthy meal planning.
After Usability Testing: Testing: 67% loved Chef’s Ally; 100% tried Flavour Tales.
Users requested early filters and emphasised trust elements like expert guidance supporting AI.

Side-by-Side Solutions

Chef’s Ally

How It Works
Reimagines meal planning as a high-end
concierge experience, with home-delivered groceries,
personalised guidance, and tailored inspiration.

The Problem Solved
Eliminates time-consuming meal routines
by organising planning, preparation, and delivery
with AI and nutritionist support.

Flavour Tales

How It Works
Inspiring recipe themes, perfect for lazy
or demotivated nights, with quick ingredient delivery.

The Problem Solved
Helps users overcome lack of ideas,
demotivation, and last-minute cravings.

Deliver Phase

Flavour Tales

Engagement, Value Proposition and Call to Action

A quick animation inspires users, followed by a short intro and first call to action.

Choose Themes & Review Selections

Select themes, then review and refine your list with filters on the next screen.

Refine Your Selection

Use filters to narrow down your options and find what fits you best.

Review Recipe & Shop Ingredients

Check your selected recipe and buy all the ingredients directly from your favourite supermarkets.

Track & Earn Rewards

Check your driver’s location and collect badges to win prizes while waiting for the ingredients of your meal to arrive.

Chef’s Ally, Low-Res Wireframes

Start Your Journey

Explore what Toque offers and take your first step.

Personalise Your Journey

Answer a few quick questions to get the most personalised experience tailored to you.

Step 1 of 4: Dietary Preferences

Choose your dietary preferences, quick or detailed, it’s up to you.

Step 2–3 of 4: Pick Your Favourites & Routine

Select your top five dishes and share your schedule, workouts, lazy nights, and more.

Step 4 of 4: Plan Your Special Days

Save important moments like birthdays and dinners, and add notes to personalise them.

Your First Plan Is Ready

Discover your tailored weekly meals, pick from two options each day, or refresh until it feels just right. A fresh plan awaits you every week.

Cook with Your Virtual Chef

Follow short, easy video recipes guided by your chef voice. Pause anytime, ask questions, and get support 24/7.
You can also view the full recipe anytime on the recipe page.

To Sum Up and Next Steps

These ideas bring structure and spontaneity into one seamless experience, balancing everyday planning with moments of creativity and fun. This is just the beginning, further work is needed to refine the visual direction, integrate the features within the existing product, and validate them through other testings. The goal is to elevate Toque into a more inspiring, innovative, and truly unmissable experience.