📝 Project Background

I was contracted by a client to conduct a comprehensive user research project focused on the online food ordering landscape in Tanzania. The research involved exploring the experiences and challenges of both customers and businesses, including customer pain points, ordering behaviors, platform preferences, and desired features. Additionally, the project assessed the operational difficulties faced by restaurants and delivery services. The research also included a competitive analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the market, with the aim of uncovering potential gaps and opportunities.

🧐 Research Objectives

Customers

Objectives

  • Understand the customer experience and pain points in the online food ordering process. 

  • Determine the frequency and motivations behind online food orders.

  • Identify customer preferences and behaviors regarding online food ordering platforms. 

  • Discover which Apps customers currently use to order Food.

  • Find out what customers desire in Food Ordering Platforms.

Questions

  • What are the primary challenges customers face when ordering food online in Tanzania? 

  • How frequently do customers order food online, and what motivates their decision to do so? 

  • What factors influence customers' choice of online food ordering platforms? 

  • How do customers typically solve problems encountered during the online food ordering process?

👷🏾‍♀️ Understanding the User

To ensure a human-centered design approach, I immersed myself in the field as one of the Jaza Stars, interacting directly with customers and conducting daily inventory audits. This hands-on experience enabled me to deeply empathize with users, prioritize their needs, and identify crucial pain points.


Pain Points Identified:

  1. Network connectivity challenges

  2. Technical skill gap

  3. Steep learning curve and complexity of the previous app

  4. Tedious counter book process

Restaurants & Delivery Services

Objectives

  • Assess the challenges and pain points faced by restaurants and delivery services in the online food delivery market. 

  • Understand the operational dynamics and frequency of online order fulfillment. 

  • Explore opportunities for collaboration and partnership with restaurants and delivery services. 

  • Discover which Apps Businesses are currently using. 

  • Find out what features Businesses desire in online order fulfillment Platforms

Questions

  • What are the main difficulties restaurants and delivery services encounter when fulfilling online food orders? 

  • How frequently do restaurants and delivery services handle online orders, and what factors influence their capacity? 

  • What strategies do restaurants and delivery services employ to address challenges in online food delivery? 

  • What are the prevailing commission charges and fee structures for restaurants and delivery services in the online food delivery market?

Competitor Analysis

Objectives

  • Analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of existing competitors in the Tanzanian online food delivery market. 

  • Understand competitor fee structures, geographic coverage, and market positioning. 

  • Identify potential gaps and opportunities for differentiation in the market.

Questions

  • What are the strengths and weaknesses of key competitors in the Tanzanian online food delivery market? 

  • What opportunities and threats do competitors face in the market landscape? 

  • How do competitors structure their fees, and what is their geographic coverage? 

  • What unique value propositions do competitors offer, and how can our business differentiate itself effectively?

👩🏾‍💻 Competitor Analysis

As part of the competitor analysis, I conducted secondary research on food delivery service providers both in Tanzania and globally, followed by a manual review of their applications. This process involved evaluating key competitors' fee structures, geographic coverage, and market positioning. By analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, and unique value propositions, I was able to identify potential gaps and opportunities for differentiation in the market. The research also included in-depth assessments of user interfaces, features, and overall user experiences.

✏️ CSD Matrix

Certainties

These are the facts or insights that are well-established and agreed upon, providing a solid foundation for decision-making.

👷🏾‍♀️ Understanding the User

To ensure a human-centered design approach, I immersed myself in the field as one of the Jaza Stars, interacting directly with customers and conducting daily inventory audits. This hands-on experience enabled me to deeply empathize with users, prioritize their needs, and identify crucial pain points.


Pain Points Identified:

  1. Network connectivity challenges

  2. Technical skill gap

  3. Steep learning curve and complexity of the previous app

  4. Tedious counter book process

Suppositions/Assumptions

Unexpected findings or assumptions that challenge existing beliefs or reveal new perspectives. They require further investigation to understand their impact.

👷🏾‍♀️ Understanding the User

To ensure a human-centered design approach, I immersed myself in the field as one of the Jaza Stars, interacting directly with customers and conducting daily inventory audits. This hands-on experience enabled me to deeply empathize with users, prioritize their needs, and identify crucial pain points.


Pain Points Identified:

  1. Network connectivity challenges

  2. Technical skill gap

  3. Steep learning curve and complexity of the previous app

  4. Tedious counter book process

Doubts

These are areas of uncertainty or risk, where there is insufficient information or conflicting evidence. They highlight potential challenges that need to be addressed.

👷🏾‍♀️ Understanding the User

To ensure a human-centered design approach, I immersed myself in the field as one of the Jaza Stars, interacting directly with customers and conducting daily inventory audits. This hands-on experience enabled me to deeply empathize with users, prioritize their needs, and identify crucial pain points.


Pain Points Identified:

  1. Network connectivity challenges

  2. Technical skill gap

  3. Steep learning curve and complexity of the previous app

  4. Tedious counter book process

💬 Customer Survey

I collaborated with the lead UX researcher to create a survey aimed at gathering valuable customer insights. Over the course of a few weeks, we successfully collected 77 responses, providing us with data to better understand user behaviours, preferences, and pain points in the online food ordering process.

See survey questions here

Below are examples of data collected.

💬 Business Survey

We then developed a similar survey for businesses to complete, aiming to better understand their experience with delivery service providers and to explore potential opportunities for enhancing the B2B experience.

See survey questions here

✨ Project Takeaways

The project concluded unexpectedly due to a client emergency, leading to its cancellation. Despite this, the research revealed important insights: while the food delivery market in Tanzania is competitive and considered a luxury by many, there are significant untapped opportunities. For example, offering more affordable delivery options, providing businesses with the ability to sell surplus food at discounted prices, or creating services tailored to different income levels could fill existing gaps.

Throughout this project, I honed my skills in conducting secondary research, identifying market gaps, and deepening my understanding of B2B dynamics in the food delivery industry. Additionally, I learned the importance of flexibility in project management and the value of considering sustainability in business models.