What's Cooking
What's Cooking
A playful Gen Z recipe app for discovery, community, and creators.
A playful Gen Z recipe app for discovery, community, and creators.
About
About
What’s Cooking is a recipe app geared for a subset of Gen Z users, which we referred to as ‘Hands-On-Foodies.’ Foodies who are actively learning, exploring, and cooking food for themselves and their friends. From its multi-colouredpalette to its fun and playful interactions, What’s Cooking brings the energy to recipe discovery. Showcasing creators and empowering a sense of community, users can save, like, and share their favourite recipes.
What’s Cooking is a recipe app geared for a subset of Gen Z users, which we referred to as ‘Hands-On-Foodies.’ Foodies who are actively learning, exploring, and cooking food for themselves and their friends. From its multi-colouredpalette to its fun and playful interactions, What’s Cooking brings the energy to recipe discovery. Showcasing creators and empowering a sense of community, users can save, like, and share their favourite recipes.
Role
Role
Design Lead
Design Lead
Platform
Platform
iOS / Android
iOS / Android
Client
Client
Kraft Heinz
Kraft Heinz
Type
Type
Product Design
Product Design
,
,
Consumer Product Goods
Consumer Product Goods
Year
Year
2024-2025
2024-2025
Focus
Focus
Gen Z recipe discovery, social interaction, community, creator-first content
Gen Z recipe discovery, social interaction, community, creator-first content
Challenge
Challenge
Design a recipe app tailored for a Gen Z audience we dubbed "Hands On Foodies": young people learning to cook, exploring food culture, and sharing the experience. We needed to deliver a bold, energetic experience that prioritized community, creator content, and simplicity while increasing acquisition, retention, and content engagement.
Design a recipe app tailored for a Gen Z audience we dubbed "Hands On Foodies": young people learning to cook, exploring food culture, and sharing the experience. We needed to deliver a bold, energetic experience that prioritized community, creator content, and simplicity while increasing acquisition, retention, and content engagement.
My Role
My Role
Led and mentored a design team across User Experience, User Interface, and motion designers
Co-defined the product roadmap using feedback, insights, and org goals with Product Manager
Collaborated with Product Managers, Development Engineering, Strategy and Brand Teams
Prototyped high-fidelity Figma prototypes with logic using variables across areas of the app including the immersive feed recipe pages, creator profiles, and cooking modes
Contributed to design system refinements based on evolving product direction
Led and mentored a design team across User Experience, User Interface, and motion designers
Co-defined the product roadmap using feedback, insights, and org goals with Product Manager
Collaborated with Product Managers, Development Engineering, Strategy and Brand Teams
Prototyped high-fidelity Figma prototypes with logic using variables across areas of the app including the immersive feed recipe pages, creator profiles, and cooking modes
Contributed to design system refinements based on evolving product direction
Focus
Focus
To bring clarity to a broad Gen Z audience, I collaborated with Product and Strategy to shape a roadmap rooted in user insight. We synthesized App Store reviews, organic ideas, and network survey data into recurring themes, leading to four core experience pillars: ease of discovery, trusted content, delight, and community. These pillars helped us prioritize features across acquisition, retention, and engagement. I contributed directly to roadmap definition, sprint ceremonies including sprint planning, and evolving priorities across multiple releases.
To bring clarity to a broad Gen Z audience, I collaborated with Product and Strategy to shape a roadmap rooted in user insight. We synthesized App Store reviews, organic ideas, and network survey data into recurring themes, leading to four core experience pillars: ease of discovery, trusted content, delight, and community. These pillars helped us prioritize features across acquisition, retention, and engagement. I contributed directly to roadmap definition, sprint ceremonies including sprint planning, and evolving priorities across multiple releases.
Insights
Insights
We approached research as an ongoing, accessible loop. Guerrilla-style interviews with our internal and external network helped us generate and prioritize ideas quickly. Focus groups and onboarding data pointed to key drop-off points and opportunities for improvement. Having a more flexible approach to user feedback let us stay close to the user and move fast, while still validating the direction with clear signals from real people using the app.
We approached research as an ongoing, accessible loop. Guerrilla-style interviews with our internal and external network helped us generate and prioritize ideas quickly. Focus groups and onboarding data pointed to key drop-off points and opportunities for improvement. Having a more flexible approach to user feedback let us stay close to the user and move fast, while still validating the direction with clear signals from real people using the app.
Hands On
Hands On
I created the prototype for the immersive content experience—from feed to recipe collections, profiles, cooking mode, and reviewing—and created interaction flows that emphasized delight and usability. Leading the onboarding redesign using motion and visual storytelling after discovering major drop-off issues in early funnel data. Our goal was to create an expressive interface that felt more like a creator-driven social app than a traditional recipe catalog, and the prototypes played a central role in aligning the team behind that tone and information to developers.
I created the prototype for the immersive content experience—from feed to recipe collections, profiles, cooking mode, and reviewing—and created interaction flows that emphasized delight and usability. Leading the onboarding redesign using motion and visual storytelling after discovering major drop-off issues in early funnel data. Our goal was to create an expressive interface that felt more like a creator-driven social app than a traditional recipe catalog, and the prototypes played a central role in aligning the team behind that tone and information to developers.
Systems
Systems
The existing design system gave us a strong foundation, but a shift in strategy required a refinement of What’s Cooking's brand, demanding additions and adjustments. I collaborated with engineering to evolve the system to support a more refined and simplified visual approach, updated visual treatments, and creator-driven content modules, ensuring consistency across the product, carving out a distinctive brand expression for this younger Gen Z audience.
The existing design system gave us a strong foundation, but a shift in strategy required a refinement of What’s Cooking's brand, demanding additions and adjustments. I collaborated with engineering to evolve the system to support a more refined and simplified visual approach, updated visual treatments, and creator-driven content modules, ensuring consistency across the product, carving out a distinctive brand expression for this younger Gen Z audience.
Outcome
Outcome
+ Improved onboarding completion rate through narrative redesign
+ Increased engagement by shifting focus to creator content
+ 100k+ Monthly Active Users
+ Enabled design team to move faster through clearer strategic direction
+ Delivered a branded, expressive mobile app that reflected the energy of its Gen Z audience
+ Improved onboarding completion rate through narrative redesign
+ Increased engagement by shifting focus to creator content
+ 100k+ Monthly Active Users
+ Enabled design team to move faster through clearer strategic direction
+ Delivered a branded, expressive mobile app that reflected the energy of its Gen Z audience
Highlights
Highlights
+ Integrated AI tooling (Midjourney, ElevenLabs, Runway) during content migration
+ Brought in simplicity and delight through tone, motion, and creator-first UI
+ Led with a growth mentality, balancing acquisition and retention
+ Facilitated fast, collaborative decision making across disciplines
+ Integrated AI tooling (Midjourney, ElevenLabs, Runway) during content migration
+ Brought in simplicity and delight through tone, motion, and creator-first UI
+ Led with a growth mentality, balancing acquisition and retention
+ Facilitated fast, collaborative decision making across disciplines
What I learned
Focused storytelling in onboarding and discovery can dramatically shift engagement
Gen Z users value who content comes from just as much as what it is
Motion, tone, and community are just as essential as functionality in consumer design
A feedback loop doesn’t need to be formal to be incredibly effective
Tools
Figma
Principle
After Effects
ElevenLabs
Midjourney
Runway
Airtable
Slack
Miro
Credits
Brian Cass
Design Lead
Dominique Suraya
Product Designer
Fernando Rojas Acuna
Motion Designer
Julie Stolberg
Copywriter
Credits
Brian Cass
Design Lead
Dominique Suraya
Product Designer
Fernando Rojas Acuna
Motion Designer
Julie Stolberg
Copywriter
Tools
Figma
Principle
After Effects
ElevenLabs
Midjourney
Runway
Airtable
Slack
Miro
What i Learned
Focused storytelling in onboarding and discovery can dramatically shift engagement
Gen Z users value who content comes from just as much as what it is
Motion, tone, and community are just as essential as functionality in consumer design
A feedback loop doesn’t need to be formal to be incredibly effective
