Designing How Groups Order Food Together
My Role
Product Designer
Interaction Design, Visual Design, User Flows, Rapid Prototyping
Team
Me
Anirudh (Design Lead)
Apeksha (Research)
Omkar (Product Design)
Wasim (Interaction Design)
Timeline
4 Months, Launched in Nov 2021
Overview
Group food ordering was chaotic. 15-30 minutes deciding restaurants, multiple phones for variety, 25-minute delivery gaps. Traditional platforms treated group orders as separate transactions, missing that group dining is about shared experiences and connection.
Rebel Foods reimagined this through EatSure's "Digital Food Court", unified browsing, real-time shared carts, transparent payments. Launched across 75+ cities with 2,000+ orders, onboarded 40% new users, and 3x higher order values.
HIGHLIGHTS
Turning group ordering chaos into India's first multi-restaurant experience, tripling order values and scaling across 75+ cities.
CONTEXT
The Indian Group Dining Reality
Key market context
India's food culture is inherently social, from family gatherings to office lunches, food brings people together. Yet digital platforms hadn't caught up with this social reality.
While players like Swiggy and Zomato dominated individual ordering, no one had solved the complex challenge of group ordering that preserved individual choice while creating collective joy.
OPPORTUNITY
Turning Chaos Into Connection
Six Design Opportunities That Could Transform Group Ordering
The chaos revealed a path forward: Design for the social nature of group dining, not against it. The market gap was our chance to reimagine how technology brings people together over food.
The core business goal: Bridge the gap between individual choice and collective joy, while building an engagement engine for EatSure.
We identified six critical touchpoints where design could eliminate friction:
RESEARCH
The Research Journey
A 16-Week Journey to Uncover What Users Really Needed
We refused to design based on assumptions and followed a structured 4-phase research approach. What started as a feature request became a deep dive into how Indians share food and moments together.
Through this approach which spanned 6 weeks, we moved from market analysis to human truth discovery, validating our direction with users at every step.
Phase One: The Market Reality Check
Week 1-5
We began by analyzing the competitive landscape to understand what already existed. If someone had already solved this, we needed to know. And if they hadn't, we needed to understand why.
3.1
comp analysis
CANVAS
Key Findings from Phase 1
Every platform treated group orders like individual orders happening to the same address. They solved for logistics but completely missed the social dimension.
Phase Two: Human Truth Discovery
Week 6-10
The competitive analysis told us what was missing. Now we needed to understand why it mattered and more importantly, what users truly needed beyond just fixing logistics.
What we did
3.5
User Journey & Emotion Mapping
CANVAS
Key Emotional Insights from Phase 2
What we thought was a logistics problem was actually an emotional one. Users didn't just want faster ordering. They wanted to feel included, express care for others, and create shared moments worth celebrating
Phase Three: Solution Validation
Week 11-16
We had insights. We understood the emotional truth. But before committing to development, we needed to validate: Were we solving the right problem in the right way?
What we did
Outcome from Phase 3
The testing produced a clear mandate: build for collaboration over automation, transparency over convenience, and individual agency within collective experience.
Key Validated Features:
VISUAL DESIGN
From Concept to Composition
Our Design Philosophy: Three Core Pillars
We reframed our challenge: Instead of "How do we make ordering faster?" we asked "How do we make people feel more connected?" The answer emerged in three pillars.
Core userflows defined
4.1
All 3 User Flows
CANVAS
Host Flow
The Caring Coordinator
The host creates a group order, invites participants via shareable link, manages the unified cart with real-time visibility, and handles payment, all while feeling empowered rather than burdened.
Guest Flow
The Empowered Participant
From joining seamlessly to browsing freely, adding items confidently, and tracking transparently, this flow ensures guests never feel like an afterthought.
Tracking Flow
Live Group Order Tracking
Real-time visibility from kitchen to doorstep with map tracking, status updates, and delivery countdowns, keeping everyone in the loop and building anticipation together.
USER TESTING
Validating assumptions with real users, real groups, and real emotions
What We Needed to Learn
We had designed for transparency, collaboration, and connection. But principles on paper don't guarantee real-world success. Before scaling across cities, we needed to validate four critical assumptions about our solution.
Who We Tested With
We recruited participants who mirrored the real-world scenarios from our research, people who actually coordinate group meals, not just testers clicking through screens.
How We Ran the Tests
Our approach balanced authenticity with rigor: remote moderated sessions testing realistic scenarios, think-aloud protocols capturing user reasoning, and mixed-fidelity prototypes ensuring accurate feedback on core flows and edge cases.
What We Asked Users to Do
Four realistic tasks tested the complete journey. Each scenario validated whether our design actually delivered on the promise of effortless coordination.
How We Measured Success
Success meant more than features that worked. It meant an experience that felt effortless. We set quantitative benchmarks that ensured we'd validate both functional performance and emotional impact, proving our design delivered on its promise.
Findings from User Testing
Success meant more than features that worked. It meant an experience that felt effortless. We set quantitative benchmarks that ensured we'd validate both functional performance and emotional impact, proving our design delivered on its promise.
RESULTS & IMPACT
Measurable Success & Business Impact
Driving Growth
Real user data from the pilot phase shows strong growth, engagement, and market fit for group ordering. Each metric below highlights the business and user impact of this feature.
LEARNINGS
Design Insights & Personal Growth
Lessons That Shaped My Process
Key moments of learning that transformed how I approach research, iteration, and evidence-based design. Here are some takeaways that will carry into future projects.
