Real Meal
Food delivery is convenient, but many restaurants are actually ghost kitchens, corporate-run facilities posing as local eateries. Users trying to support small businesses often order from mass production facilities without realizing it.
I designed a Chrome extension called “Real Meal” to solve this problem, ensuring transparency for users who want to make informed choices about where their money goes.
My Role:
UI Design, UX design, Prototyping
Team:
All alone ;(
Tools:
Figma
Year:
2024
STEP 0: CONTEXT
Before this project, there was no easy way to identify ghost kitchens while browsing food delivery apps. Users had to manually search for addresses and cross-check them with Google Maps, which was tedious and impractical.
The goal? A seamless, non-intrusive tool that flags ghost kitchens instantly without disrupting the ordering experience.
Before Real Meal:
After Real Meal:
STEP 1: THE PROBLEM
Users frequently mistook ghost kitchens for independent restaurants because:
Delivery apps don’t disclose whether a restaurant is a ghost kitchen.
Searching for legitimacy required too many steps (Googling addresses, checking reviews).
STEP 2: STARTING SOMEWHERE
Originally, I thought about building an app.
However, this introduced a lot of extra steps for the user. Just searching up the location would be easier then logging into a third-party app.
That is when I decided to pivot to something less intrusive, like a pop-up warning.
STEP 3: ITERATING ON THE DESIGN
After multiple iterations and feedback cycles, the final design features:
A subtle but clear warning system that blends with the delivery app UI.
An info panel for users who want details on why a restaurant was flagged.
A "verified" tag for real, independently-owned businesses to highlight authenticity.
STEP 4: TAKEAWAYS
I learned that the best design choices aren’t always the flashiest; they’re the ones that remove friction, surface the right information at the right time, and empower users to make informed decisions.
A well-placed, subtle alert can shift behavior without disruption—and that’s the kind of impact thoughtful design should have.
Let’s collab!