Sofra, a culinary platform envisioned by Chef Maja (@gotvimesomaja), aimed to transform cooking into an act of love, celebrating Balkan family recipes and shared heritage.

The challenge was to translate Chef Maja’s vision — “home cooking as the foundation of joy, infused with nostalgia and family traditions” — into a user-friendly and emotionally resonant digital experience that would attract a wider audience to Sofra’s cooking courses and culinary experiences.

As the lead UX/UI designer, my role was to create a platform that not only showcased the recipes but also fostered a sense of community and connection.

Client Brief

Chef Maja’s vision was clear: “My approach is that home cooking is the foundation of a good culinary experience and the foundation of the joy in cooking and eating, with a dash of nostalgia, family recipes, learning from grandparents. I want that to be the focal point in the visual and brand identity.”

Project Goals (SMART):

• Specific: Design a platform that embodies Chef Maja’s values and vision, emphasizing home cooking, nostalgia, and family traditions.
• Measurable: Increase website traffic by 20% within the first three months of launch.
• Achievable: Create a user-friendly and emotionally engaging digital experience that is accessible on all devices.
• Relevant: Attract a wider audience to Sofra’s cooking courses and culinary experiences, aligning with the chef’s business objectives.
• Time-bound: Launch the redesigned platform within six months.

The Sofra platform successfully translated Chef Maja’s vision into a digital experience that is both user-friendly and emotionally resonant through the following Key Design Decisions. 

Key design decisions

• Visual Storytelling: Featuring Chef Maja prominently in a video was a crucial decision for conveying the brand’s values and creating an emotional connection with users.

• Intuitive Navigation: The fixed menu ensured that users could easily navigate the platform and find what they were looking for.
• Social Media Inspired Layout: Based on the insight that users often seek recipe inspiration on social media, the platform adopted a layout mimicking familiar social media feeds, making it more approachable and engaging.

• Gamification: Certification through gamification encouraged users to complete and try recipes, making the learning experience more fun and rewarding.
• Community Focus: Sections for community contributions, reviews, and discussions fostered a sense of belonging and encouraged users to share their own culinary experiences.

UX /UI design process

Living in Lyon, France, for over six years provided a unique perspective for this project.

As the culinary capital, Lyon is steeped in gastronomic tradition, and my familiarity with the local culture and appreciation for authentic cuisine deeply influenced my design decisions. I wanted to capture that same sense of warmth and tradition in the digital experience.

1. Discovery  & research

Methods:

• Questionnaire

Potential users were surveyed to understand their cooking habits, motivations, and frustrations.

Key questions included: “What inspires you to cook?” “What type of cuisine do you prefer for online master cooking classes?” “What do you look for in an online cooking course?”

The survey revealed that users primarily sought recipe inspiration on social media and valued clear, concise instructions.

• User Personas & User Journey Maps & Empathy Map

The target audience was represented by user personas such as “The Aspiring Chef” and “The Balkan Cuisine Enthusiast”

Key Insights: Users often seek recipe inspiration on social media. The platform needed to evoke a sense of familiarity and emotional connection.

2. Define

The platform needed a clear value proposition, a modern aesthetic, and an intuitive user experience. Analysis (SWOT, competitive analysis, functionality requirements, LX Canvas) revealed the importance of differentiating Sofra from other online cooking platforms by emphasizing its focus on heritage, emotion, and community.

3. Ideate

Focus: Visual storytelling to emphasize the emotional connection of cooking as an act of love.

• Process

User flow, site map, storyboard, mood board

4. Design & Prototype

Visual Language:

• Professional and formal, with a minimalist approach that evokes excitement, comfort, and curiosity.
• This was achieved through the use of clean typography, warm color palettes, and high-quality photography. The goal was to create a visually appealing and trustworthy platform that would inspire users to explore the world of Sofra.

Key Features:

• Fixed Menu: For easy navigation and brand recognition.
• Visual Storytelling: A prominent video featuring Chef Maja was used to convey the brand’s values and create an emotional connection.

• Social Media Inspired Layout: Product galleries were designed to resemble social media feeds, creating a familiar and engaging experience. This made it easy for users to browse recipes and cooking courses.

• Calendar Emphasizing Weekly Content Updates: To keep users engaged.

• Search Functionality with Emotionally-Driven Categories: (e.g., “Cooking as a Form of Love”). This allowed users to find recipes based on their mood or desired experience.

• Gamification: Certification through gamification encouraged users to complete and try recipes, making the learning experience more fun and rewarding.

• Community Focus: Sections for community contributions, reviews, and discussions fostered a sense of belonging and encouraged users to share their own culinary experiences.

• Option for a Dark Mode: To enhance user experience.

5. Testing & validation

• Methods: A/B testing, 5-second test, focus group.
• Results of focus group: 91% of participants felt the site conveyed a sense of quality and a desire to purchase. The clean, clear, and modern look was well-received. Users particularly appreciated the emotionally-driven search categories and the social media-inspired layout.

This project reinforced the importance of detailed user research and testing in the design process. Understanding the needs and preferences of the target audience proved crucial for creating a platform that truly resonated with them.

The value of visual storytelling in conveying brand values and creating an emotional connection with users was also a key takeaway.