oonjung JangUX RESEARCH · MOBILE APP DESIGN · MVP DEVELOPMENT
Find and order custom cakes in one app.
- My Role
- Research
Product Design
Prototyping & Testing - Timeline
- 6 months
2024. Sept - 2025. Feb - Skills
- User Research
Product Design
Prototyping - Recognition
- 2nd Place · CEOS
OVERVIEW
Cakeway brings cake discovery, customization, and in-app ordering into one place. It addresses a fragmented process in which customers browse social media, message individual shops, and piece together information before ordering. Users can compare cakes by occasion, location, price, and design, then share their experiences through Cake Logs.
The project was created within CEOS, a cross-university student club, by a team of four developers, two planners, and two designers.
PROBLEM
Choosing a cake meant piecing together information across channels
Customers browsed social media for inspiration, then messaged individual shops to check prices, availability, and customization options. Comparing options required moving between shop accounts and conversations.
Fragmented discovery
Cake options were scattered across shop accounts, making them difficult to compare.
Details required a conversation
Customers had to contact shops to confirm availability and pricing.
SOLUTION
Introducing Cakeway
Find, customize, and order the right cake—all in one place.
A mobile experience that brings cake discovery, availability, customization, and pricing into one seamless flow—helping users find the right cake for their style, schedule, and budget.
Research and Design Decisions
What customers needed to choose a cake
Survey responses and interviews highlighted the need for visual inspiration, clearer pricing and availability, and an easier way to compare options. These findings informed the app’s browsing categories, filters, and shop information.
Organize discovery around occasions
Visual preferences and the occasion shaped cake selection. We introduced occasion-based categories to give users a starting point for browsing.
Make options easier to compare
Customers wanted to check details such as price and availability before contacting shops. We brought shop information into the app and added filters for location, price, and design.
Connect customer stories to shops
We introduced Cake Logs to let users explore customer photos and experiences alongside relevant shop information.
USABILITY TESTING
Testing identified problems with navigation and Cake Log discovery
We conducted usability testing with eight participants using Maze, followed by interviews. Findings informed revisions to the home screen and Cake Log navigation.
| Overlapping browsing options
Multiple entry points and filters made it unclear where to begin.
| An unclear distinction between Order and Discover
Participants had difficulty understanding the purpose of the Discover tab.
| A hard-to-find creation action
The floating Cake Log button was difficult to locate, and its unfamiliar wording made the action less clear.
DESIGN ITERATION
Reorganizing the home screen and Cake Log entry point
Home screen
We replaced the Order and Discover tabs with a scrollable home screen organized around occasion-based categories. The change was intended to provide a clearer starting point for browsing.
Cake Log navigation
We replaced the floating creation button with a Cake Log destination in the bottom navigation. This made the section persistently available, but added an intermediate step before creating a log.
DESIGN SYSTEM
SYSTEM FLOW
Product Overview
Discover, compare, and order in one app
1. Discover cakes for an occasion
Browse occasion-based categories and filter options by location, price, and design.
2. Compare cakes and shops
Explore product information, shop details, and customer Cake Logs before choosing.
3. Order without switching channels
Place an order within Cakeway instead of moving to a separate shop conversation.
LESSON I LEARNED
Communicating design through implementation
Communicating design through implementation
Working with developers to build the MVP taught me that design communication goes beyond sharing finished screens. I learned to explain intended behaviors and the reasoning behind design decisions, and to work through implementation questions together.
Looking beyond usability to business viability
Building the MVP pushed me to consider what it would take for Cakeway to succeed in the market. Beyond whether people could use the app, I began thinking about whether they would choose it—and how development costs, ongoing operations, and a potential revenue model could make the service financially sustainable.