Redesigning the oldest food delivery app in Greece
Written by @Mike Polizos
Back in 2020, our product team had a brainstorming session on the future of food delivery. It lasted around 8 hours in a local outdoor restaurant. This session led to the redesign of the first-ever food delivery app, in Greece, in 2021, followed by its successful acquisition by one of the biggest multinationals in online food-delivery services in 2022. This is the story behind it.
Let’s start this with a confession. We love working with inspiring and leading organisations worldwide. However, we gladly grab any chance to explore our ideas and ways we can transform entire markets driven by user experience, data, and design. Now and then, our different teams and experts brainstorm on problems that need creative solutions. The happy ending of this story is that on that specific journey, we met great professionals who were very excited to bring some of these ideas to life as one team 🙌
🍴Our thoughts on the future of food delivery apps
The food delivery industry has rapidly growning the last two years, with approximately 60% of consumers ordering takeout food at least once a week. Mapping out the future trends was a very intriguing topic for our team since we had to brainstorm around the last-mile options, future automation, personalised experiences, food delivery subscriptions, food waste management, and so on. We tried to imagine features we could see in an app tomorrow and some that would be a consumer’s dream in the near future.
We do have a few favourite ideas to share coming out of these 8 hours of brainstorming among UX and visual designers, strategists, and writers:
1. How about a personalised experience in a virtual supermarket?
Navigating a virtual supermarket that includes our favourite products only can turn shopping into the most personalised experience. Our idea of a virtual supermarket doesn’t just have products but also services, like our weekly laundry pick-up.
2. The idea of a universal basket
A universal basket, automated delivery organisation, and no need for separate orders, payments, and hustle. The best option for busy people and shopping fans.
3. Having a butler with a monthly subscription
For those times you can’t decide what to order or, if you’d love to find your coffee waiting for you at the office, your favourite app becomes as personalised as it gets. Having butler services means that many of your ordering needs can be met before you even think of them, and your weekly habits can be your recurrent deliveries.
💡When visionary teams meet teams with a vision
Mouhalis Group manages a series of companies, including online mini-markets and the first food delivery app in Greece, delivery.gr, while being among our CRM team clients. Even though we never discussed the possibility of working on a project like this, when we shared our ideas and proposal with their team, we knew that this was the beginning of a long-lasting collaboration.
Before getting into the details of our work, we needed to agree on how we envisioned the new delivery.gr. Could it be a fully green and healthy food delivery app or a broader service with more mass appeal? Our long discussions and market research in combination with the delivery.gr network of experts and services going beyond restaurants happily led to the decision of introducing, to the Greek market, the concept of a super app.
A super app is a mobile application that offers a wide range of services beyond the traditional capabilities of a single-purpose app. Super apps typically combine features from multiple apps, with the goal of becoming a one-stop shop for users, where they can access multiple services without having to switch between different apps. As a result, they are more convenient, allowing them to perform various tasks within the same interface.
We believe that brands should always strive to be innovative and take risks in order to stay competitive in today’s rapidly evolving market. In the case of the food delivery industry, we saw an opportunity to not only update an existing app but also set a new standard by creating a super app with a wide range of services. And we were lucky enough to work with a team that was open to new ideas and willing to trust us in this process. delivery.gr was the first-ever food delivery app in Greece. 15 years later, we introduced its new branding identity and product design, aiming not just to revive its popularity but also to facilitate this transition.
🔨 How we worked
We brought together a team of experts from different fields to work together, including strategy leads, product designers, writers, visual designers, scientists, and researchers. We worked in a fast-paced environment, using a mix of the Design Sprint, Hackathon, and Agile Scrum methodologies. We divided the team into two groups, one working on branding and the other on product design. Both teams regularly communicated with daily meetings and shared progress in Asana and via our common Slack channel.
This process helped us to stay aligned while also giving each team the autonomy to work independently. We followed our trusted product design methodology and piloted-and-adapted when the team’s needs required to.
🟡 The “brand” new delivery.gr
To start with, it is not that easy to proceed with a total rebranding of a service, especially when its audience loved and trusted it for years. Against the odds, this was our first suggestion to the team!
We knew this process would refresh the brand image and align with the evolving market trends. We proposed the idea for a new identity wanting to stand out from the competition and boost its appeal to its target audience.
To accomplish this, we went for a branding strategy emphasising positivity and deliciousness through the use of the colour yellow, a minimal colour palette, and a fun, gender-neutral tone of voice. The choice of yellow as the main colour of the new identity was definitely a bold move that set the brand apart from its competitors, as no other food delivery apps in the Greek market use it. Our highlight was a new mascot, a 3D illustrated delivery guy, introduced to identify with delivery.gr. This element is meant to help with customer engagement and create a connection with the brand.
Revamping its tone of voice included, first of all, making it consistent across all communication channels. One of the biggest challenges was to achieve gender neutrality using a non-genderless language; Greek. The new brand’s tone of voice is minimal, fun, and spot-on, aligns with current market trends, and positions the brand to better connect with its target audience.
In conclusion, the rebranding process was a total blast! We got to play around with fresh ideas and bring them to life, believing that trying new things can only lead to some seriously awesome outcomes.
👉 Learn about our approach to rebranding Delivery.gr by visiting our Behance Case Study
⚙️Our product design approach
Or how the matter composition theory inspired ways to craft interface design systems
Concerning our UI/UX approach, we really focused on improving the user experience through seamless navigation and clear user flows. We developed a design system based on three modular sections: navigation, content, and cart, allowing easy adaptation to different screen resolutions while maintaining a consistent user experience.
Interesting inside info: our product design strategy was driven by more than 400 user stories, coming out from different user profiles and personas!
The design system was developed using the principles and rules of Atomic Design, a methodology that uses the analogy of chemistry and the study of the composition of matter. Just as the universe consists of a fixed set of “atomic elements” that form the building blocks of everything around us, the design system consists of modular components that can be mixed and matched to create different pages.
This approach comes with quicker prototyping, easier updating and removal of parts of the site, and a more modular file structure. The result is a design system with fewer components overall, where each one is conveniently adaptable by stretching to any resolution. Additionally, these components include hidden properties that turn visible in accordance with different screen widths, allowing for optimal user experience on any device. With this design system, we had in our hands an easy-to-use and intuitive app that enhances the overall user experience.
Explore more about our product design approach in our 👉Behance case study.
📃 Our closing note: summarising the experience for our team
What we loved most about this project was the opportunity to learn and collaborate smoothly with another team. These are our reflections on what we kept out of this experience by the end of 2021 when we had the chance to see the brand-new delivery.gr live:
How a new approach to food delivery services prioritising user convenience can lead to a one-stop shop for everything they need.
The importance of the research we did around the food delivery industry and the positive impact technology can bring.
The opportunity for delivery.gr to reach new heights with the support of a big player in the field.
A reminder of the potential of trying new things and of never settling up for things that used to work so far.
The chance to brainstorm on the future of the food delivery industry.
Our favourite part of the job: keep improving the customers’ experience.
A recognition that a good user experience and design can play a role in the success of a business.
The unique experience of being part of a team that works together towards a common goal.
This project works as an example of how being open and visionary can lead to success in today’s rapidly evolving market. It’s crucial for brands to keep an eye on market trends and be willing to experiment, innovate, and meet the ever-changing needs of consumers.
😯 And then, the unexpected happened!
While we were fortunate to play a role in the design of the brand-new delivery.gr, the app has since been acquired by one of the biggest players in the online food delivery service. Even if the specific results of our work may not be visible to the public this time, we proudly acknowledge that its success is a result of the collective efforts of different experts and of a team vision that we shaped together.
We really thank the delivery.gr team for making us part of this journey!
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