Yummie Street

UX/UI / Mobile App

Designed for Gen-Z backpackers, Yummie Street is a simple, budget-friendly app that helps the backpackers discover authentic Thai street food while staying safe and spending smart.

Role

UX/UI Designer

Timeline

6 weeks

Team

Rina, Yanpo, Lynn

Tools

Figma, FigJam, Miro

Making street food experience cultural and affordable

Backpackers usually travel on a limited budget, so food becomes one of the main ways they can stretch their spending. Especially in Thailand, where street food is more affordable and offers more chances to experience the full local flavors while traveling.

However only 8% of the travelers regularly try street food and 63% of them are mostly concerned about food safety and hygiene despite the fact that the incidence of street food contamination is low and not even higher than most foods.

Gen-Z backpackers often rely on word of mouth and at 7-11

An ecosystem map is a visual representation of how people interact with their environment across both physical and digital touchpoints. This process helps us identify how backpackers decide what and where to eat throughout their entire journey, finding gaps as well as opportunities to come up with creative solutions for backpackers and Lonely Planet.

Most Gen-Z backpackers rely on local and hostel recommendations to decide which place to eat, and some even ended up choosing well-known fast food chains and convenience stores like 7-11 during their journey.

Competitors miss dietary needs, clear language, and local taste

Analyzing everyday food touchpoints from local stalls, food courts, 7-11, and fast food gave us key insights to help understand the backpackers’ behavior better. It revealed certain gaps, such as how not every option caters to food restrictions, common miscommunications, or the desire for a more authentic local experience.

Criteria

Not worrying about potentially getting sick from the food

Being able to cater to specific food allergy & restrictions

Being familiar with the food and ingredients

Not worrying about miscommunication

Eating authentic food with affordable price

Market Stalls

7-11

Fast food chain

Food court

Yummie Street

Fears around safety and unclear signs hold back from trying food

But just understanding the surface wasn’t enough. We wanted to get closer. So we took an evening walk through Khao San Road to talk with both backpackers and street food vendors.

We asked about their food habits, safety concerns, travel budgets, and personal stories. This helped us understand how backpackers feel, what stops them from trying local food, and what could make the experience easier and more fun.

29

people interviewed

18 - 24

age range between

6

countries

3

days of interviews

After interviewing and gathering all the feedbacks from the backpackers for data synthesis, a lot of insights were revealed during the conversations, such as:

Usually eating at places recommended by locals
Relying on translation apps to order from vendors
Most wanting to adjust the food taste or ingredients
Some even checking over food stalls for cleanliness

Gen-Z backpackers choose food based on trust and familarity

Gathering our insights, we shaped them into personas: each reflecting different pain points and needs we uncovered along the way. These personas revealed a shared theme: trust and familiarity heavily influence food choices among Gen-Z backpackers.

Hygienic Henry (Main Persona)

"I want to eat Thai street food, but I’m worried about getting sick."

Henry is a 23-year-old backpacker from Holland, currently traveling in Thailand. He’s cautious about food hygiene, avoiding eating risky foods due to concerns about cleanliness and cultural differences. While eager to try Thai street food, he’s also hesitant about hygiene practices.

Curious Clara

"Thai food is culture on a plate. I just need guidance on what to try for a truly authentic experience."

Curious Clara is a 22-year-old traveler from the UK, eager to explore Thai culture through its street food. She’s adventurous but struggles to navigate the overwhelming variety, the portion of the dishes, and finding the best food stalls.

Picky Pia

"I want to try Thai street food, but being vegetarian in a new country is always tricky."

Pia is a 24-year-old backpacker from Germany who’s been vegetarian for over 6 years. She loves traveling, experiencing new cultures, and trying local cuisines but struggles to navigate food options in countries where vegetarianism isn’t widely understood or catered to.

Designing and bringing a worry-free street food journey to life

Once we figured out what it is that the backpackers needed from the insights, we then start visualizing the idea we had in mind to bring the yumminess to life so backpackers can get to enjoy street food without worries through sketching wireframes.

Introducing, Yummie Street!

An app that not only eases food safety concerns, but also helps backpackers learn, adjusting dish order, and collect Thai street food dishes like treasures!

With Yummie Street, you can:

Learn street food tips, explore varieties of street foods.
Adjust ingredients and flavors, order to vendor easily.
Enjoy a gamified experience, unlocking new flavors!

Helping Henry explore street food with confidence

Our primary persona, Hygienic Henry, is concerned with eating street food, mainly because of his perceived views around food safety and a lingering fear of getting sick. He wants to explore, but hesitation holds him back.

So, how might we ease Henry’s concerns and increase his confidence in exploring and enjoying a wider variety of street food? Follow along as Henry learns to trust, taste, and totally enjoy Thai street eats with Yummie Street.

Starting your Food Journey

When Hygienic Henry logs into the app first time, he will be first greeted with the onboarding page, and received the Street Food Rookie badge to start his street food journey.

Seeing the Dishes

Once Hygienic Henry arrives to the Home Page, he can scroll and look around for Thai street food dishes as well as be able to check details like ingredients and spice level.

Viewing the Food Tips

As Hygienic Henry concerns with food safety, viewing street food tips has helped him understand more about Thai street food and became more confident in eating them.

Adjusting Dish

When Hygienic Henry wants to eat something, he can also tap to see the details of the dish, and also be able to adjust ingredients and flavor to his preferences.

Show Translated Order

Once Hygienic Henry finished his adjustment, he can show the translated order for the street food vendor to see and understand clearly.

Done!

Now that he shows the menu to the vendor and receive his dish, Hygienic Henry can now eat Thai street food without any worries about food safety!

Rank Up!

Hygienic Henry can add dishes to his food collection by uploading photos. As he collects more street food, he can rank up and level up his food journey which motivates him to try out more street food!

User Flow

Sitemap

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A4.1

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A sans-serif typeface with a friendly, yet clean personality

For the typography, General Sans was chosen for its modern, sans-serif, and geometric style that reflects the clean, yet playful and approachable personality of Yummie Street. It balances simplicity with a friendly edge, making it easy to read across mobile screens while still feeling fresh and functional.

General Sans - Regular / Medium / Semibold

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789 {[(&)]}* ;:.,¿¡?!/\|¶@®©™
«» “‘”‚„ … —— †‡+<=>≠≤≥±÷×∞~≈°
$¢£¥€§#%%

Inspired by Thaitone, a color palette infused with Thai soul

The color palette was light and colorful, chosen to represent Yummie Street's adventurous vibe to enjoy exploring Thai street foods and rank up as the journey goes by. It was also inspired by Thaitone, a color scheme used in traditional Thai art, known for its earthy and tropical tones that does not only bring out the authentic charm of Thai culture but also give the app a warm, welcoming feel.

Not just a process: it's about story, empathy, and communication

Throughout 6 weeks while working on the project, as a designer I’ve come to realize the importance and learn a lot of things about the UX process in a new light. Not only research is important, but the storytelling, the presentation, every step must be done with consideration to ensure that everyone gets the message across and that the design truly addresses people’s needs in a meaningful way.

Big thanks to my teammates for all the contributions. Working alongside them helped me find my voice, express my thoughts more clearly, and realize that communication is key, not just for good teamwork, but for meaningful design too. Despite a few bumps along the way, we stayed true to the problem and created one of the most fulfilling projects we’ve ever done!

A junior UX/UI designer based in Bangkok who have a passion for creating aesthetically pleasing, user-centered design and experiences.