Factor Household Sharing
May 2023
UX & UI Designer - UXA Add A Feature Capstone
As a recent subscriber to Factor’s Meal Subscription service myself, I saw an excellent opportunity to design a new family sharing feature for their product as a part of my Capstone 2 Project in Designlab’s UX Academy.
I was the sole product designer on this project, conducting all research, interviews, and design myself over the span of about three weeks in May 2023.
I was the sole product designer on this project, conducting all research, interviews, and design myself over the span of about three weeks in May 2023.
Introduction & Background
Factor is a subscription-based meal service that sends a box of ready-made meals to subscribers’ doorsteps on a weekly basis. It works similarly to their parent company Hello Fresh—but instead of sending ingredients, Factor ships fresh, pre-cooked meals that are ready to eat after just two minutes in the microwave.
Currently there is only the option for one user per plan to select all 4-36 meals in each box they receive. If the user does not make their own selections, meals will be pre-selected for them based on a single chosen Dietary Preference.
By tailoring Factor’s digital product to better accommodate for multiple dietary preferences, and multiple devices, within a single household, we might be able to expand the appeal of the product to families who need more options.
Keeping Subscribers
As I was recruiting participants for research, I discovered that most users tend to perceive meal subscription services as overpriced novelties.
While many of the people I spoke with have tried meal subscription boxes, very few of them had ever kept their subscriptions for longer than a month. One user even jokingly referred to them as “podcast products.”
While many of the people I spoke with have tried meal subscription boxes, very few of them had ever kept their subscriptions for longer than a month. One user even jokingly referred to them as “podcast products.”
Factor currently advertises their service as providing “fresh, ready-prepared meals that support even the busiest of lifestyles.”
How might we might we encourage subscribers to incorporate Factor boxes into their lifestyle long-term, without having to change anything about the service or the price?
How might we might we encourage subscribers to incorporate Factor boxes into their lifestyle long-term, without having to change anything about the service or the price?
Research
In my recruiting, I made sure to specify that I was looking to speak with users who:
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Have experience with Meal Subscription Boxes, and
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Have shared the food with another person
I was able to speak with three users in virtual interviews, and I received six responses on a survey that was pushed out across social media and to subreddits specific to these services.
Three of my participants had experience with Factor specifically, one of which has been using Factor for the last nine months.
Key Insights
Whether it is a Recipe service or a Readymade service, it seems like there are three main things that brought all nine users to these services in the first place:
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A lack of time or energy for groceries or cookingRespondents were often software engineers, students with demanding internships, or parents who work from home.
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A desire to meet nutrition goalsCombined with a lack of time - “Left to my own devices, I’ll use the same amount of money to hit up a drive through for something so much less nutritious,” as one user put it
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Sheer curiosityMany users started their subscriptions out of the desire to try new recipes and ingredients they wouldn’t otherwise think to choose or shop for on their own.
As for why users cancel, most of my participants cited tangible service-side issues such as packaging damage and food spoilage in transit, shipments getting lost, limited variety for dietary needs, and a lack of portions as what lead them to cancel, in addition to the cost.
Allergy Frustrations
When it comes to selecting meals for loved ones, it sounds like there are few complaints - as long as there aren’t any any dietary needs. 78% of participants listed that there were important dietary allergies or restrictions they had to be aware of when selecting meals for their families.
Looking at Factor’s current production process, I realized there was very little we could accommodate for feature-wise. As it stands, it would not be safe to advertise any meals as allergy-friendly, as they are all produced in the same facility.
Looking at Factor’s current production process, I realized there was very little we could accommodate for feature-wise. As it stands, it would not be safe to advertise any meals as allergy-friendly, as they are all produced in the same facility.
All things considered, I decided that splitting the task between individual users might still be of some help for many of these households, instead of always putting the onus on an individual user to check for their partner’s dietary needs on every meal. You can jump to my proposed allergy solutions
here.
Design Process
Right from the beginning, I knew I wanted to encourage testers to put themselves into the scenario, so I decided to take a persona-centered approach with the entire build.
I tied everything - the task flows, the prototype, and my testing script - to the story of Cid and Marco, a couple of young professionals who are so busy that they often forget to choose their Factor meals until the last minute.
I tied everything - the task flows, the prototype, and my testing script - to the story of Cid and Marco, a couple of young professionals who are so busy that they often forget to choose their Factor meals until the last minute.
Household sharing itself will be optional, with users being able to set it up alongside their usual account preferences under settings.
For Cid and Marco, a couple where only one of them can eat meat, I knew it would be important to include the option to split a box between multiple of the five menu types on offer.
This way, a set number of meals will always be Vegetarian for Marco by default, even on weeks when they forget to choose manually.
This way, a set number of meals will always be Vegetarian for Marco by default, even on weeks when they forget to choose manually.
A primary user will be able to add up to three additional profiles beyond their own, with the option to invite each user to select their set number of meals via a link in their email each week.
After the secondary user has confirmed on their end, they will receive an email similar to the one that primary account holders already receive each week before the upcoming order is confirmed.
Upon clicking each week’s link, they will be taken to a limited dash view where they can select from the upcoming menu. After confirming their selections, they will have the option to stay and edit additional meal selections two menus into the future.
Upon clicking each week’s link, they will be taken to a limited dash view where they can select from the upcoming menu. After confirming their selections, they will have the option to stay and edit additional meal selections two menus into the future.
At any time, Cid will still be able to go in and make meal selections for Marco, until he’s selected for himself. For this flow, I utilized the existing progress bar pattern from Factor’s current onboarding flow.
Testers liked this flow, and did not complain about the number of clicks the way I thought they might - but it did take most of them a moment to notice the progress bar.
In a v2, I would further differentiate between Cid and Marco’s steps, perhaps by making the progress bar more prominent, or potentially color-coding their selections.
In a v2, I would further differentiate between Cid and Marco’s steps, perhaps by making the progress bar more prominent, or potentially color-coding their selections.
Potential Allergy Tweaks
While not incorporated into my prototype, I still wanted to design a few quick solutions that would better accommodate users with allergies and restrictions.
Most testers were not aware that the nutritional info for each meal would be available by clicking its image. By adding a subtle icon over the images, first-time users will have a better understanding that they are clickable in the first place.
Most testers were not aware that the nutritional info for each meal would be available by clicking its image. By adding a subtle icon over the images, first-time users will have a better understanding that they are clickable in the first place.
As for the nutritional overlays themselves, I suggest that the Allergy declarations be prioritized at the top. If we move this information to a small card right above the Nutritional Information card, users will be able reference it quickly, at a glance, without ever having to scroll.
Results
In taking the v1 prototype to testing, I was checking mainly to see if testers would complain about the number of clicks in each flow, or if their expectations of the feature align with what I designed.
After testing Flow 1 (Setting up a Household profile for Marco in Settings), I asked participants to explain to me what they expect to happen next, and what things will be like on Marco’s end.
All testers expressed the same expectation, even those who did not pause to read any copy: Marco will receive an invitation to connect with the primary account, and from then on out he will be able to select meals via links in his email.
Some users assumed that Marco will have to set his own login, with limited access to the account. Initially I had designed this feature to work similarly to the links provided in Uber Eats’s group order feature, where limited information is presented to the secondary user via a link that eventually expires - but if more security is necessary, that could be added into the flow.
All flows tested with a 100% task completion rate, with time spent on each screen averaging less than 9.4 seconds.
All testers expressed the same expectation, even those who did not pause to read any copy: Marco will receive an invitation to connect with the primary account, and from then on out he will be able to select meals via links in his email.
Some users assumed that Marco will have to set his own login, with limited access to the account. Initially I had designed this feature to work similarly to the links provided in Uber Eats’s group order feature, where limited information is presented to the secondary user via a link that eventually expires - but if more security is necessary, that could be added into the flow.
All flows tested with a 100% task completion rate, with time spent on each screen averaging less than 9.4 seconds.
Possible v2 Iterations
As this project’s timeline was limited to about three weeks, there was not time to embark on a full v2 with iterations. But here’s what I would choose to prioritize, based on testers’ feedback:
As mentioned earlier, Factor’s existing progress bar pattern is weak when applied to this feature.
I would update it to have a more tab-like appearance, so that users both immediately recognize that it is clickable.
I would update it to have a more tab-like appearance, so that users both immediately recognize that it is clickable.
Users also requested the ability to jump into any household member’s selection right from the dash.
This way, the primary user wouldn’t have to click through potentially 5 different steps just to edit a single person’s meals.
This way, the primary user wouldn’t have to click through potentially 5 different steps just to edit a single person’s meals.
Users also liked the idea of a Reminder button, so they can fling a new email link to their family member. This is great, because Factor already utilizes that pattern in their referral program!
Takeaways
For a project where I challenged myself to create a new feature for an existing product over such a limited time frame, I’m incredibly proud of how this design turned out!
Both testers and my peers at Designlab often had trouble differentiating between elements I had designed for this feature and what was a part of the existing UI kit, so that was an enormous success for this capstone’s brief.
As a current Factor subscriber myself, I really wish this feature existed for my household! Any Factor subscriber I’ve been able to put the design in front of has expressed the same sentiment, so to me, the project was a great success.
Both testers and my peers at Designlab often had trouble differentiating between elements I had designed for this feature and what was a part of the existing UI kit, so that was an enormous success for this capstone’s brief.
As a current Factor subscriber myself, I really wish this feature existed for my household! Any Factor subscriber I’ve been able to put the design in front of has expressed the same sentiment, so to me, the project was a great success.
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