Mealee – Kitchen Order Taking App
Timeline
Jun 2020 – Jan 2021
Platform
Android Mobile App
Role
UX/UI Designer
Team
UX Designer (myself), Frontend Developer, Backend Developer
🎯 The Challenge
Restaurants needed a unified solution to manage kitchen orders, billing, inventory, and staff roles—many relied on disconnected tools and manual processes. The goal was to design a streamlined, mobile-first order management system that would be easy to adopt by kitchen staff, cashiers, and hotel managers.
Our first mobile app made with sauce color theme all over the app. Discussed with the hotel owners, waiters and cashiers to understand the pain points. Did brainstorming with the team to get all the team members inputs. Sketched the paper wireframes and ensured that all the features needed are covered up. Analyzed the features to be added in each screen. Transformed the paper to digital wireframes. Features included KOT, Custom Menu Management, Track Orders and Generate Sales Report.
🔍 Discovery & Research
Conducted on-site interviews and observations with hotel owners, cashiers, and waiters to understand pain points in their daily workflow.
Identified critical needs like:
Fast and clear KOT (Kitchen Order Ticket) generation
Custom menu flexibility per restaurant
Quick sales reports for managers
Easy role-based access for different staff typesRestaurants needed a unified solution to manage kitchen orders, billing, inventory, and staff roles—many relied on disconnected tools and manual processes. The goal was to design a streamlined, mobile-first order management system that would be easy to adopt by kitchen staff, cashiers, and hotel managers.
Our first mobile app made with sauce color theme all over the app. Discussed with the hotel owners, waiters and cashiers to understand the pain points. Did brainstorming with the team to get all the team members inputs. Sketched the paper wireframes and ensured that all the features needed are covered up. Analyzed the features to be added in each screen. Transformed the paper to digital wireframes. Features included KOT, Custom Menu Management, Track Orders and Generate Sales Report.
🧠 Ideation & Wireframing
Facilitated team brainstorming sessions to align technical feasibility with user expectations.
Created paper wireframes to map out the flow of key features.
Ensured all necessary operations like taking orders, editing items, and checking reports were covered in the layout.
Translated sketches into digital wireframes using Adobe XD
🎨 Visual Design & Style Guide
Designed a “sauce theme” visual identity—playful and food-oriented, resonating with the restaurant context.
Developed a style guide defining typography, color palette, icons, and component behavior to ensure consistency across the app.
⚙️ Key Features Designed
Kitchen Order Ticket (KOT) interface
– Minimal tap design to support fast-paced environments.
Custom Menu Management
– Add/remove dishes, variants, and pricing per restaurant.
Order Tracking
– Real-time status updates from kitchen to cashier.
Sales Report Generation
– Simple summary screens accessible to owners and admins.
👥 Testing & Iteration
Conducted interactive prototype demos with real users (owners, cashiers, waiters).
Gathered feedback on clarity, navigation, and flow.
Updated UI for fast input
Add table numbers to reduce order errors
Improve contrast for better readability in low-light kitchens
🚀 Outcome
App launched on Android in January 2021.
Adopted by 4 hotels within the first rollout phase.
Positive feedback on usability, especially from waiters and cashiers for order speed and error reduction.
Continued to contribute to feature iterations post-launch with ongoing design refinements.
🧾 Artifacts
Paper Wireframe
💡 Reflection
Mealee was my first full product design ownership. From ideation to usability testing, I learned how to translate real-world business needs into user-centric features while balancing stakeholder inputs and technical constraints.