March 2023

Updated Sept 2024

Pepper Chef is a gamified cooking app designed to teach college students and young adults how to cook while improving their financial literacy. Originally designed for the UXL Designathon, our concept was nominated and won the UX research category, but our UI fidelity did not meet standards to place top 3.

While the core UX challenge and research remained the same, I took extra time after the event to rehaul the UI, ensuring the visual hierarchy, engagement mechanics, and financial insights were better integrated into the experience.

Product Designer, UX Designer, UI Designer, Graphic Designer, UX Researcher

3 Designers

40 hours + 48 hours post-event rehaul

Pepper Chef was initially developed in a 40-hour design sprint at the UXL Designathon. While the concept was recognized (1st place UX research, Rogers recognition), and nominated for multiple awards, the execution fell short. Our early design lacked depth, clear visuals, and meaningful gamification, leaving strong insights underused.

Revisiting Pepper Chef post-event was always inevitable. Reflecting critically on past work and continuously iterating has always shaped my approach to product design. Rather than viewing previous designs as final, I challenged myself to leverage some of the skills I have developed since then.

I want to transform this surface-level product into a little more polished, engaging, and impactful experience (hopefully).

To be transparent, the comparison between the original 40-hour sprint and this redesign isn't perfectly balanced. The iteration I made benefited from an additional 8 hours and existing foundational research. Given these advantages, the substantial improvements demonstrated in the A/B tests reflect meaningful growth rather than a direct competition.

Pepper Chef won 1st place for UX research at UXL Designathon, earning a $500 cash prize and recognition from Rogers Communication for its research-driven approach.

I replaced nearly every screen, reworked interactions, and redesigned core features. The overhaul improved usability, engagement, and clarity, turning an early prototype into a polished product.

A/B testing showed a 550% improvement across usability, navigation, decision-making speed, financial awareness, and engagement. Users completed tasks faster, moved through recipes with less friction, and actively tracked cost savings, proving the redesign’s impact.

I've seen talented designers struggle during designathons, not from lack of skill, but from unclear processes and chaotic teamwork. Defining clear roles, structured roadmaps, and agile methods helped our team sustain pace, deliver thoughtfully, and elevate our work within just 40 hours.

Initially, revisiting Pepper Chef felt like admitting defeat. The original wasn't good enough. But that mindset undervalues the purpose of iteration. Leveraging skills in auto layout, component systems, and stronger product thinking transformed Pepper Chef significantly. Great products aren’t perfect immediately; they improve through continuous iteration.

Even running on minimal sleep during the Designathon and a few team changes during the competition, I learned attitude shapes outcomes. A positive, supportive team environment led directly to better ideas, faster iteration, and stronger results.