Dinnerly’s simple steps for dinner prep

Busy people everywhere rejoiced when meal kits arrived on the food scene a few years ago. Dinnerly promises meal simplicity in both ingredients and preparation—and the mobile app experience is as easy to use as the meals are to make.

The app shows the meals delivered for the week, upcoming meals, and tracking info. Tapping on the meal image takes the user to the easy-to-follow recipe.

A progress bar across the middle of the screen shows users how many steps are in the recipe. Users swipe left or right to move from one step to the next.

When a user has finished a recipe, Dinnerly offers the opportunity to rate the meal on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. This quick feedback can help Dinnerly make adjustments to its meal offerings in the future.

And on the occasion when even 7 steps might be too many, Dinnerly takes the opportunity to amuse the user—and remind them just how easy the meals are to prepare (this one was only 3 steps!).

What makes this really good UX:

• The home screen makes it easy for users to access anything they need, with current and upcoming deliveries across the bottom of the screen, along with account information. And in case the user needs assistance, there is a well-placed “Get Help” button at the top of the screen.
• Users know at any time how many steps are left in the meal preparation because of the progress bar and predominantly displayed step numbers across the top of the screen.
• Within the recipe instructions, the ingredients are in bold, drawing the users’ eye to what is needed for that particular step. The user can then make sure that the right ingredients are ready to go.
• Dinnerly keeps the meal rating system simple. It would be easy to collect additional feedback, like “Rate the spice level” or “Rate the ease of instructions,” but microsurveys like this one make it more likely that users will provide feedback.