Food experiences app: discovering cities through local, guided food tours

Overview

The project started as an MVP for a startup. The client decided not to invest in the app after the tourism market was affected. I found the niche very interesting, so I built the prototype anyway, with a new UI.

The product is a mobile-first platform for hand-picked, local-led food experiences: day trips, workshops and guided tours.

The problem

According to multiple studies, 61% of travellers choose a destination for its food or drink, and 34% plan a dedicated food tourism trip. Yet many struggle to find authentic, vetted local food tours without hours of research.

A tour with someone who knows the local food culture means better information, more confidence in the quality of the places and a better experience: an insider’s view of how locals eat and where they go.

Goals

1. Intuitive layout

   Booking travel should be fast and familiar. User research helped to understand needs, preferences and pain points.

2. Accessibility and inclusivity

   Designing with accessibility and inclusivity in mind lets the platform appeal to a wider audience.

3. Optimised search and filters

   Users can combine several parameters to narrow down results quickly, and each result shows its key details at a glance.

4. Transparent booking

   Users have strict time and money limits, so anything that can affect their choice should be disclosed clearly.

Design decisions

Research shows a high willingness to invest in quality experiences, so I prioritised social proof: a prominent “Check recommendations” onboarding screen and detailed review counts on search results, to build trust straight away.

The UI goal was an intuitive, accessible interface with bold colours, a light and a dark version, a very simple user flow, onboarding pages, a modern landing page, search filters and consistent elements.

Home and onboarding

The home screen opens with a search by city and the promise of the app. Three onboarding screens follow the flow: explore cities through food, book a local, check recommendations. Each screen comes in a dark and a light theme.

• Home, dark
• Home, light
• Onboarding, dark
• Onboarding, light

Browse and search

Experience cards show the type (workshop, day trip or guided tour), duration, city, rating, review count and price. Search results can be filtered, and a city with no matching tours gets an empty state instead of a blank screen.

• Experiences, dark
• Experiences, light
• Search results and empty state

Landing page and city page

On the web, the landing page repeats the promise (authentic travel experiences, hand-picked places, vetted by locals) next to a search by city. The city page groups popular experiences and workshops, with filters for dates and prices.

• Landing page, dark
• Landing page, light
• City page, dark
• City page, light