Afrilish Partner Mobile App
Afrilish Partner is a UK-based African food vendor app that connects African food vendors with customers across the UK. The mobile app was designed to help them increase sales, improve visibility, and deliver a seamless experience to their customers.
An overview of the project
This case study provides a glimpse into the re-design of the partner version of Afrilish, an African food delivery app. While the customer app was redesigned to ensure efficient meal ordering, we also needed a user-friendly interface for the sellers (partners). The partner app was redesigned to easily onboard our different categories of sellers and allow them to upload their menus. It was also reimagined to address the challenges faced by African food vendors in managing orders, inventory, and customer interactions efficiently. By offering a comprehensive platform tailored to their needs, the app aims to help vendors streamline operations, improve service delivery, and grow their businesses.
For this project, I worked as the sole designer and product lead. I collaborated closely with the developers to build a fully functional MVP that adheres to the design. In this case study, I’ll walk you through some of the key processes I followed during the app redesign, within the scope of what I’m permitted to share.
The problem
While still aiming to serve the growing population of African migrants and food enthusiasts in the UK, Afrilish developed a dedicated app for African vendors, referred to as partners. Recognizing the increasing demand for African cuisine, Afrilish focused on mid-sized and large restaurants but also saw the potential in the market for small-scale food vendors. However, the challenge with incorporating these smaller vendors was how to do so safely and hygienically for customers, one of the key problems Afrilish sought to address, one of which they found a solution. In addition, the previous app lacked essential features such as efficient inventory management, streamlined communication, efficient onboarding, and an effective order management system. These were critical areas I identified when tasked with the redesign, and they became part of the primary focus for improvements in the new app.
The solution
The app was developed with a vendor-centered approach, designed to cater to the diverse needs of African food vendors, from small-scale businesses to larger, established restaurants, while recognizing the unique challenges these vendors face. The app ensures that small vendors comply with government regulations and that hygiene levels are effectively communicated to customers. The redesign also introduced key improvements aimed at enhancing vendor operations. The new app streamlines processes, allowing vendors to manage their businesses more efficiently, improve communication with customers, and handle orders with better accuracy and speed. These changes help vendors deliver a better overall experience.
A glimpse into the past
The redesign of the seller app wasn’t just about improving the user interface, it was also driven by the need to resolve critical vendor challenges. Below are screenshots of the app in its original form, before these much-needed improvements were implemented.
This frame shows the previous orders page and vendor analytic page
This frame shows a different view of the vendor analytic page
My design process is not a linear one
A brief introduction into my design approach for this project: To ensure an optimal design outcome, I follow the design thinking process. It's important to note that my design process is not linear; each step is open to revisits and iterations. For example, if I'm brainstorming solutions (Ideation stage) and realize I've missed something during the user research phase, I will return to the Define stage (where I gather user insights) and repeat the process to ensure all information is thoroughly covered.
Meet some of our typical user groups🧑🍳👨🏾🍳💒
While conducting user and market research which is the first stage of my design process, I identified five key personas to ensure the platform caters to the diverse needs of African food vendors in the UK. These personas represent the wide range of sellers using the app, from established restaurant owners to private vendors. Each has unique goals, challenges, and requirements when it comes to managing their businesses. As part of our user needs, I considered the Busy Catering Business that needs a streamlined solution for handling bulk orders and coordinating deliveries to multiple event venues and the Event Planner who is looking for efficient ways to schedule large food orders in advance and ensure timely deliveries for her clients. While all four personas are essential to the design of the app, I'll visually represent just two personas to give an idea into some needs, wants and concerns of the vendors that were learnt during the research.
Gathering the insights
Next, I created a comprehensive mind map to visualize the insights gathered from my research and the understanding gained through the personas. It provides a clear overview of how critical aspects like order management, menu updates, inventory control, and customer communication should be structured to meet the unique requirements of various types of sellers. By organizing these insights, I was able to identify the most effective solutions and prioritize features that enhance the overall seller experience.
Wireframing the solution
Using this structure, I designed high-level mid-fidelity wireframes to represent the skeletal framework of the final design. These wireframes were used to communicate the design concept to the client and to identify possible iterations where necessary before moving forward with the high fidelity design.
Mid fidelity Wireframes
High Fidelity Designs
After completing the wireframing stage, the design process transitioned into creating high-fidelity designs for the seller app. I transformed the skeletal frame into visually appealing mockups, incorporating brand colors, improved typography, and refined components to provide a realistic representation of the final product's look and feel. I've outlined some screens from the high fidelity designs into sections below.
Sign up screens
These screens allow vendors to easily register their information, verify their email, and select the categories they belong to. I organized the vendor types within the app to provide a more personalized and tailored experience for each vendor.
Home screens
These screens are designed to display necessary vendor insights, with the option to filter by specific timeframes. This functionality is important because it keeps the vendors informed on their progress and gives relevant insight when necessary. They also showcase different versions of the homepage: one before the vendor has completed their profile with important information, and another after they’ve completed their profile and are fully functional vendors on the platform.
Order screens
These screens are designed to help vendors with easy order management. For each order, a vendor can accept it and update the progress during processing. This functionality allows us to track orders and keep buyers informed. Additionally, it indicates when an order has been successfully completed by the vendor. Vendors can also see how many orders they have, as well as review completed and ongoing orders (this screen is available on the live app but is not shown in this case study).
Get rider screen
This screen shows the process of a vendor sending out an order for delivery. Afrilish offers two delivery options to cater to the vendor's needs, providing ease of use and flexibility.
Get in touch with riders screen
These screens help streamline vendor-rider communication. They illustrate when a vendor reaches out to a rider, possibly to track an order. They also show how we ensure a meal has been delivered (through customer code) when a vendor chooses to use their own rider.
Menu screens
These screens help vendors effectively manage inventory by allowing them to see how many items are in stock and how many are out of stock. They can also create menu items and categorize them. This helps users easily find items in a vendors menu. Additionally, where necessary, simplified descriptions are provided to help vendors better understand the process.
Help screens
Understanding where users get stuck and providing simple solutions is a crucial part of design. After testing with some users, we realized that the term "categories" caused confusion, so we added a descriptive help text to guide users.
Wallet, payment insight and profile screens
These screens show the seller's wallet, their payment insights to foster transparency, and their profile screens.
Improvements recorded
The redesign of the Afrilish seller app brought substantial improvements over the previous version, greatly enhancing the vendor experience. Order management was simplified, allowing vendors to easily accept, track, and update orders in real-time, addressing the inefficiencies of the older system. Inventory control was significantly improved, giving vendors a clear view of stock levels to avoid overselling, a key issue in the past. Vendor-customer communication was also streamlined, enabling direct contact with riders and better order tracking, making the overall process smoother for both parties. The onboarding experience was made more intuitive and efficient, allowing vendors to set up quickly and with ease. Overall, these enhancements made the app more efficient and user-friendly for vendors.
Impact made
The redesign focused on providing a more intuitive interface, reducing vendor confusion, and ensuring smoother operations. As a result, vendor adoption increased by over 100%, creating a platform that better supports vendors, allowing them to focus on growing their businesses while offering a better experience to their customers. Through these improvements, Afrilish is now positioned to meet the evolving needs of its vendors and provide them with the tools they need to succeed.
