I was an apprentice at Anima, when one day my manager walked over to my desk and asked: “We’d like an app. Do you know how to make one?” I said yes, when in truth, I didn’t.
That answer was the beginning of one of the most important learning experiences of my career.
Challenge
At the time, I had never created an app before. So I figured, a good place to start was figuring out how to do it—not just how to design it, but the entire process, and how to define what it needed to be, and what purpose it would serve.
It was “starting from scratch” in the most literal sense of the saying.
Discovery
Product Discovery
Leadership had an idea; they wanted an app that could help people find vegetarian and vegan restaurants and cafés while they were out and about. They also wanted a place where they could share their own e-cook books and in general promote a vegetarian and vegan way of life, as well as their own organisation. I guess looking back, you could call it a bit of a PR stunt. “All the cool kids have an app.”
I planned and facilitated meetings with leadership to talk through the ideas behind the app, who it was for and what it needed to do. The intention wasn’t only for the design, but also creating a shared understanding of the project and agreeing on what a successful outcome would look like.
Based on those meetings, I wrote a design brief and a functional specification, with a clear direction and managed expectations, before I started designing.
User Discovery
Once I understood the product, I wanted to understand the people who would use it.
I recruited participants who matched our target audience and combined interviews with paper prototype testing using early wireframes. The goal wasn’t to validate polished designs, but to learn how people searched for vegetarian and vegan options, which apps they use the most in their day to day, and what they expected from the app. Combining interviews with early paper prototype testing also meant I could quickly test the overall structure and app flow.
Running the sessions this way allowed me to learn about users’ behaviour while also observing how they interacted with the first version of the product.
Strategy
My strategy was to create clarity before making decisions. This was especially important as I had no prior experience making apps. A big part of this project was researching and learning. All the answers I needed could be found, I just had to look for them, and ask the right questions.
Stakeholder interviews
Write design brief & functional specification
Map the product structure and user flows
Create paper prototypes
Interview users & test the prototype
Document findings & prioritise improvements
Build & test an interactive prototype
Finalize designs
Collaborate with developer
Each step answered a question before introducing the next one. Am I creating what leadership is hoping for? Does the structure make sense? Can users complete the core tasks? Which problems matter most, what should be prioritised? How does the design translate into development?
My strategy was to create clarity before making decisions
By documenting each stage, I could capture important insights for myself, and also keep my manager informed about my decisions. It also gave the developer a much clearer foundation when the final designs were handed over.
Contribution
- Clarified the project scope through a design brief and functional specification.
- Planned the product structure, sitemap and user flows.
- Designed paper prototypes and interactive UI mockups.
- Planned and conducted two rounds of user testing using paper prototypes and an interactive Marvel prototype.
- Documented research findings, usability issues and design decisions throughout the project.
- Prioritised improvements and iterated on the design between test rounds.
- Delivered the final interface designs and supporting documentation for development.
- Collaborated closely with the developer throughout implementation.
- Reviewed completed features, provided feedback and supported the delivery of the final product.
Outcome
The project resulted in a fully designed and developed mobile app where people could discover—and add—vegetarian and vegan cafés and restaurants, while also giving Anima a platform to share recipes and promote the organisation.
The app was launched and used by many of Anima’s own volunteers who shared the places they knew with each other within the vegan community.
Working closely with the developer throughout implementation also gave me my first experience of taking a product all the way from an idea to a finished release.
Learnings
This project taught me that launching a product is only just the beginning.
A product needs ownership, continuous feedback and ongoing development to stay valuable over time. Looking back, I think Animapp had real potential. But it didn’t have someone to keep evolving the experience.
But most importantly, it was the project that made something very clear to me. I had so much fun while doing it, especially shaping the product itself—understanding problems, testing ideas and working closely with people both from inside and outside the company to bring something to life.
Because of it, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in digital products. And that’s exactly what I did.