It’s a hustling and bustling world we are living in, and in this fast-paced world, we need a fast solution from everything. So, that’s how food delivery apps came into existence. We all love delicious, lip-smacking food! Don’t we? Moreover, what can be a better combination than food with the ease of getting it whenever we want? The popularity of food delivery apps is increasing every day with more and more countries embracing the culture of packed, delivered food at their doorsteps. Be it a lazy Sunday afternoon or a last-minute house party, these food delivery apps are a savior. If you’re looking to invest your time and money in app development, this is the best segment to get in. On the other hand, if you’re a restaurant owner looking to expand your business, go for the app. Food delivery apps are the next big thing in the world of mobile apps.

The app store is full of food delivery apps; be it third-party apps or franchise-specific apps. Therefore, it needs some effort to distinguish your app from others, given they all fulfill the same purpose. In this article, we discuss how you can distinguish your food app by following some good UX design practices.

Importance Of UI/UX Design For A Food Delivery App

Food is a satisfying feeling, and so should be the process of ordering it. The experience of ordering food should be something fun, exciting, and not to forget – easy. For this, you need to design a good UX for your app. And why do we need a good UX design for food delivery apps? Let’s find out.

To Entice The Users

A great user experience design attracts the users and makes them stick with the app. Undoubtedly, the users continue using only those apps which are more comfortable for them to use and through which they can make the most. That’s why a good UX design is vital to attract more users.

To Create A Lasting Impression

Thanks to the unlimited internet, users are randomly downloading apps and checking them out. The app store is full of these apps, and the users are spoiled with choices. To make a good impression on these users and make them stick to your app, the importance of a good UX design goes a long way. These users are hard to please, so if you want them to keep using your app, you need to ace your UX game.

To Get Loyal, Repeat Customers

Giving users a great experience is the best way to ensure their loyalty. They have no reason to bounce off to a new app if they already love your app. 

Numerous factors contribute to the creation of a great food app design. Here are some important factors for designing an app that you need to consider to create a lovable food delivery app.

1. Focus On A Minimalistic Design

Design is the best way to capture the users’ attention as it’s the first thing we notice when we open an app. The visual elements like the fonts, icons, transition effects etc.all contribute to the UX of an app.

It is highly advisable to go with a minimalist approach for designing a food app. The UI must be as basic as it can be, and use clear lines with a generous amount of negative space. Minimalist design has a decluttered look to it, that decreases the cognitive load. It allows users to easily find the thing they are searching for. The minimalist app design makes the process of browsing and ordering food straightforward.

2. Color Theory Of Making People Hungry

Believe it or not, colors play a huge psychological role in the food selection and ordering process. So what color you use for your app design food becomes critical. The colors to be used on the food delivery app interface needs to excite the appetite of the user rather than suppress it.

Read more about color theories here

Use colors that make us think of food. Imagine red, or green, or yellow, these colors are closely associated with food because most food that we see, are of such colors. Consider some popular food apps, you will see that they make use of colors red and green very subtly. This way the app subtly excites our hunger while we are on the app, browsing for what to order.

3. Ease Of Movement – From Login To Payment

The ease of movement is another crucial factor to consider when you are designing the UX for your food app. Right from the moment a user logs in, places an order, and makes a payment, everything should be done seamlessly, without any glitches. Any hitches will only make the ordering process more complicated and annoying, meaning the users are going to leave your app and probably going to use another app to get their food.

As part of improving the user experience, some features are absolutely necessary and are real must-haves in a food delivery app.

Simple Onboarding Process

The signup and login process is the very first point where you can lose users, without actually getting them on-board. You need to keep the onboarding process as simple as possible, with minimum steps. The user should be able to create a profile and add the payment information as smoothly as possible. Remember that the key to success for a food delivery app is quick and easy ordering. People don’t want to follow a tiresome process to order their food.

Read more about app navigation practices here

Location Tracking

No! They don’t want to keep calling the restaurant or the customer care team to know the location of their food. Neither do they want to be bombarded with restaurants so far away from them that it’s senseless to order from them. They want to see restaurants that are near to them and must be able to track the precise location and status of their orders. Thus, location tracking is a UX necessity for your food delivery app design.

Easy Search And Find

They are hungry, and that’s why they are on your app. Hungry people are already short on patience, and a tedious search option will only make the matter worse. No one likes to go through endless searching and finding. Therefore, the apps with a better search and find functions are better than the ones where I had to go through a hundred filters. 

• Use the location tracking to locate and present the nearest food joints first.
• Use the rating system, show the restaurants with higher rating first.
• Have easy access list, like cuisines, and make it easy for the user to find the desirable food.
• Add a deep filtering system. Allergies, lactose intolerance makes it hard for people to order food online, and they need to know if the place they are ordering from caters to their special dietary needs.

Delivery Timing And Cost

Displaying accurate delivery timing and cost should be a top priority. Delayed delivery is one of the biggest reasons for people disliking a particular app. It reduces their trust in the app and gives them reasons to try out other apps. So make sure to display the precise delivery time at all times. Displaying the correct delivery time may not necessarily assure on-time delivery at all times, but surely reduces users’ anxiety as they can see the exact status.

Even the cost should be clearly displayed at all time. All items must be accompanied by its price (inclusive of all taxes and delivery charges). Hidden taxes and charges would only make the customer mistrust your app. The overall cart at the end of the order must also include the total cost, including the delivery charges if applicable, so that the users and check, be assured about the total order cost, and then only make the payment.

Convenient, Multiple Payment Options

In today’s world,  people have a lot of options to make payments. They can make payments using various e-wallets, credit or debit cards, net banking, payment apps, or by the good-old method of cash on delivery. As a food ordering app, you must give them every possible option of payment. This will ensure that they make payment using the method they want, rather than the method you want them to pay from.

Ease and utility are the key factors when it comes to food delivery apps today, and the UX of the app is what creates ease and increases utility. Giving more importance to the UX design is crucial for your food delivery app development. Talk to our design champs for more info.