Digital product for community-based culinary learning
AluChefs
The product was developed as an application that connects people with different levels of culinary practice, focusing on the sharing of techniques, processes and everyday experiences.
I worked as a Product Designer from the discovery phase through to MVP definition, with responsibility for research, scope decisions, feature prioritisation, interface design and visual identity. The central criterion was to validate the interaction model before expanding scope or technical complexity.
No decisions were made based on feature desire; only on sustained use.
Discovery and validation
A fase de discovery teve como objetivo reduzir risco de produto.
Foram conduzidas entrevistas com pessoas interessadas em culinária e um sprint de viabilidade para entender comportamentos reais de compartilhamento. A investigação buscou identificar o que motivava alguém a ensinar, comentar ou interagir, e o que bloqueava essa participação.
Os dados mostraram que o valor percebido estava associado à troca e ao reconhecimento entre usuários, não ao acúmulo de receitas. Barreiras emocionais, como exposição e receio de julgamento, apareceram de forma consistente. Questões técnicas tiveram peso secundário.
Esses achados eliminaram funcionalidades que não contribuiriam para engajamento recorrente.
Escopo do MVP
The MVP scope was defined to sustain interaction from the very first contact with the product.
Only features directly linked to exchange between people were included:
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recipe publishing
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comments and likes
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profiles with culinary history
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simple navigation for content discovery
Features that would expand scope without reinforcing recurring behaviour were intentionally excluded. The MVP was used as a direct test of the proposition, not as a reduced version of a larger product.ior.
Interface and identity
The interface was designed to reduce friction and enable immediate participation.
Visual decisions prioritised clear reading, direct actions and a low cost of exposure for the user. The visual identity followed the same principle, without competing with community-generated content.
The role of the interface was to support interaction, not to become the protagonist.
Papel do design
Design acted as a mediator between business hypotheses and observed behaviour.
This included:
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rigorous scope definition
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organisation of flows for audiences with different levels of practice
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use of prototypes to guide decisions before investment in engineering
The primary responsibility was to prevent fragile hypotheses from being scaled.
Observed outcomes
Even at an early stage, usage confirmed alignment between the proposition and actual behaviour. The product logic was quickly understood, and there was adherence to the exchange dynamic.
The MVP demonstrated sufficient consistency to evolve without the need to revisit structural decisions around scope or purpose. The primary gain was confirming where the product was sustainable and where further investment would not be justified.
Learnings
Social products depend more on scope decisions than on the volume of features.
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Exchange happens when participation requires minimal effort.
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Discovery reduces rework when it guides deliberate discarding.
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Product design involves deciding what not to build.
Closing
AluChefs consolidated a decision- and constraint-oriented design approach.
In this project, designing meant validating behaviour before scaling the solution and accepting constraints as part of building a sustainable product.
