Designing a Mobile-First Food Delivery Experience for Faster Ordering and Fulfilment

Industry

Food & Resturant

Services Provided

UI UX Design

Mobile App Development

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INTRODUCTION

Improving How Customers Discover, Customize, and Receive Food

A mobile-first food delivery application was designed and developed for a regional food-tech operator looking to improve ordering speed, order accuracy, and customer retention across high-density urban zones.
The client’s existing platform had grown rapidly during early adoption but began showing clear usability and operational gaps as order volumes increased. Tenet was engaged to redesign the end-to-end mobile experience, reduce friction during ordering, and align the product with real-world kitchen and delivery workflows.
Following the launch of the new application, the platform recorded faster checkout completion, fewer order-related complaints, and improved repeat usage within the first three months of rollout.

Note: The original name of the application has been withheld to comply with NDA obligations. A placeholder name has been used where required for documentation purposes only.

BACKGROUND

As competition intensified in the food delivery space, the client faced increasing pressure to improve customer experience while maintaining delivery efficiency. Internal reviews and user feedback highlighted several challenges within the existing app:

Users struggled to browse menus efficiently during peak hours, especially on slower mobile networks.
Dish customisation was inconsistent, leading to frequent order modifications and refunds.
Order tracking lacked real-time clarity, resulting in higher support queries.
The checkout process required too many steps, causing drop-offs before payment completion.

Additionally, kitchen partners reported issues with incomplete customization details and last-minute changes that disrupted preparation workflows. The client needed a mobile-first solution that balanced customer convenience with operational clarity for kitchens and delivery partners.

APPROACH

The product strategy focused on simplifying decision-making, reducing friction, and improving transparency across the order lifecycle. The application was structured around four core design and technology priorities.

Simplified Restaurant Discovery

Restaurant listings were reorganized using proximity, preparation time, cuisine preference, and historical ordering behaviour. Visual hierarchy was refined to surface popular items and offers without overwhelming users.

Intelligent Dish Customisation

Customisation flows were redesigned to be context-aware, allowing users to modify ingredients, portion sizes, and add-ons without navigating away from the menu. Validation logic reduced incompatible selections, improving order accuracy at the kitchen level.

Streamlined Checkout Flow

The checkout process was reduced to a concise, mobile-optimised sequence with clear pricing breakdowns, delivery time estimates, and saved preferences. Payment methods were prioritised based on past user behaviour to minimise input effort.

Real-Time Order Tracking

Live order status updates were introduced, covering kitchen preparation, dispatch, and last-mile delivery. Status messaging was aligned with actual operational milestones to manage user expectations more accurately.

User testing was conducted across multiple customer segments, including frequent users, first-time customers, and late-night orderers, to validate usability under real-world conditions.improvements in layout, readability, accessibility, and micro-interactions.