Product UX/UI Design, Mobile / 2021

Background

Punch is a personal project that deals with loneliness and boredom during mealtime. The purpose of it is to help anyone who eats by themselves find good company quickly.

Why I did this

I grew up in a full house. When I moved out, I noticed I found it hard to do things alone and in quiet. It was especially hard to eat by myself, not using entertainment as a distraction. Whenever I had the chance to eat with somebody else, however, this need for background noise while eating did not even occur to me. I toyed with the idea of a lunch-date app for many years, but with the pandemic and everyone's opportunities for social interactions dramatically depleting, this idea resurfaced again and demanded my attention.

How it was done

Quantitative research My first order of business was to find out if my experience with lone dining is common. I sent out an anonymous survey request on 8 Facebook groups with a diverse crowd. In it I asked about the following topics:

1. Frequency in which respondents dine alone
2. Feelings respondents have towards it
3. What are some things they do in parallel to dining alone
4. What devices are used in that time
5. Changes in dining habits during the pandemic
6. Food restrictions (Ethical, health, religious, personal taste)
7. How do they feel about dining with someone who does not comply with those restrictions

Snippet from responses in the google form

I received 52 responses that told the following story:

• 76.9% of respondents dine by themselves almost every day