An app for matcha drinkers to discover and share cafes through matcha-specific insights.
ROLE
Lead Product Designer, UX Researcher
USER PROBLEM
Highly rated cafes don’t always have high quality matcha, making it difficult for drinkers to trust ratings alone. In addition, matcha preferences vary; some users want ceremonial grade powder, some want new flavors, and others care about price. Current ratings or navigation apps don’t provide matcha-specific insights, leaving both needs unmet.
Maptcha is a community-driven app that helps drinkers discover cafes based on only one factor: matcha.
The platform focuses on factors like green color, ceremonial grade, and sweetness which are not included in more general food review apps. Matcha creates a space where matcha enthusiasts can explore, compare, and connect, making every cup more intentional.
Conducting a Qualtrics survey helped discover that different matcha consumption groups had different priorities when it came to matcha qualities.
This made it clear that the app needed a filter bar that allowed users to update their recommondations based on the preferences that were most important to them, such as price or ceremonial grade.
The survey also helped to clarify the most important app features. Amongst all consumption groups, the most voted on features were:
- A map of nearby cafes (8 votes)
- Photos of matcha drinks from real customers (3 votes)
- Transparency about matcha quality/sourcing (3 votes)
Designing a User Persona helped clarify the target audience, design priorities, and user pain points.
Amongst the most important of these were that the user is someone who already knows and loves matcha (not a casual drinker) and seeks community among fellow matcha drinkers.
Brainstorming different app formats was the most important way to figure out the user flow.
My brainstorms could be separated into two key ideas: a map matcha experience and a social aspect. Just making one of these felt insufficient. The app should have a map feature and a be a social page, creating a cohesive experience that takes both ideas into account.
Creating low fidelity wireframes made the user journey more clear.
Getting feedback on my app helped influence the final prototype, such as the suggestion to foreground the cafe location, rather than username, on the social feed.
I used Fogg Behavior Model to influence the design: for a target behavior to happen, motivation, ability, and prompt must be available simultaneously. This gave me the idea to implement a discover page.
1. Motivation: the social feed creates a sense of community, desire to try new places or make more posts
2. Ability: filter sliders for “Price, Sweet, Color, Distance” reduce decision friction, (Hick’s Law states that too many options reduce engagement)
3. Prompt: A discover page could be implemented showing users new cafes they can try.
I took this opportunity to re-evaluate the most and least important app features.
The must have features included a map page, a social feed, a home page, a way for users to adjust preferences, a profile page, and a posting screen.
The visual identity needed to feel friendly while maintaining a sense of clarity for usability.
Having a mascot was really important to Maptcha, because it emphasized the fun, quirky aesthetic. The green color neeeded to be dark and saturated, to communicate good quality tea.
Discover cafes near you based on your personal prefrences.
The home page suggests local cafes with high quality, dark-green matcha. View cafe certifications and user reviews at the click of a button.
Find cafes anywhere using the matcha map feature.
The map and preferences panel allows you to quickly search for cafes based on location, price, sweetness, color, and ceremonial certification.
See where your friends are drinking matcha, save locations, post reviews, and earn badges.
The social page lets you see where your friends have been going recently, and the profile lets you save locations and make posts of your own.
Specificity drives trust.
- Users wanted matcha-only insights like color, grade, and flavor profile, which general cafe apps overlook. Designing around these details gave Maptcha a unique value.
Combining utility and community was key.
- Brainstorms showed that users wanted both a map experience for discovery and a social experience for connection, leading to a hybrid design that balanced both needs.