Eat Together.
A redesign focused on turning everyday meals into clearer, more human connection.
Brief Overview
Turning shared meals into something more
Eat Together was founded on a deeply human centered belief: that sharing a meal, even briefly, can create meaningful connection. The startup brings students together for small group meals, transforming everyday dining into an opportunity for conversation, perspective sharing, and authentic social connection.
In early conversations, the founders emphasized that the product should never feel transactional or superficial. It should help students understand the person across from them, spark genuine dialogue, and create an environment where individuals are respected as whole human beings rather than reduced to labels or cliques.
As the platform expanded to over 600 University of Washington students, that vision extended into features like a restaurant picker, dining dollar exchange, friend recommendation algorithm, and a gallery for capturing past gatherings. Each feature was designed to support connection before, during, and after the meal.
In early conversations, the founders emphasized that the product should never feel transactional or superficial. It should help students understand the person across from them, spark genuine dialogue, and create an environment where individuals are respected as whole human beings rather than reduced to labels or cliques.
As the platform expanded to over 600 University of Washington students, that vision extended into features like a restaurant picker, dining dollar exchange, friend recommendation algorithm, and a gallery for capturing past gatherings. Each feature was designed to support connection before, during, and after the meal.
Where the vision took shape
Core Team meeting with Eat Together’s founder, director, and design team: Eric Xiao, Navneeth Dhamotharan, Ruweyda Abdi, Mumtaz Sheikhaden, and Sebastian Hriscu, where we aligned on vision, goals, and the direction for the upcoming redesign.
The Problem
When profiles fail, connection never begins
As adoption increased and more students began meeting through the app, the profile became the trust layer of that mission.
Yet it was not clearly guiding users from setup to real connection.
The iconography was confusing, key actions were hidden behind unclear symbols, and the settings pages lacked hierarchy and context. Users were unsure where to tap to edit information, adjust preferences, or complete important sections. This uncertainty slowed momentum and created friction at critical moments, weakening the confidence needed to move from browsing a profile to actually meeting someone.
The Solution
Turning confusion into clarity across the product
To address the confusing iconography and unclear settings structure, I reworked the profile experience to make navigation more intuitive and identity signals easier to scan. During the 20 week cohort, I led a cross functional team to introduce clearer hierarchy, simplified edit flows, and more descriptive interaction patterns so users could understand what to do and where to tap without hesitation.
As these improvements exposed deeper system inconsistencies, I continued tackling the problem on the core team. I refined interaction feedback, improved accessibility standards, and aligned components within a more cohesive design system. What began as a profile redesign evolved into a broader effort to ensure the product consistently supports genuine connection through clarity, usability, and thoughtful detail.
As these improvements exposed deeper system inconsistencies, I continued tackling the problem on the core team. I refined interaction feedback, improved accessibility standards, and aligned components within a more cohesive design system. What began as a profile redesign evolved into a broader effort to ensure the product consistently supports genuine connection through clarity, usability, and thoughtful detail.
User Research
Understanding where connection breaks down
I conducted 5 user interviews and grouped insights through an affinity diagram to identify the biggest blockers in the profile experience. I paired this with a competitive review to better understand how similar platforms reduce friction and guide action. Patterns quickly emerged: students were not struggling because of missing features, but because of unclear navigation, confusing controls, and misplaced emphasis within the interface.
Top pain points (what blocked users)
Friction was structural, not functional. Users needed clearer pathways, stronger hierarchy, and more intuitive interaction cues to move confidently toward connection.
Value Proposition
Designing for genuine connection, not just coordination
From this proposition, I defined a set of guiding design principles: prioritize identity signals over filler content, reduce friction at moments of action, and design interactions that feel human.
Every interface decision was evaluated against three questions: Does this make it easier to understand someone? Does it reduce hesitation before meeting? Does it preserve dignity and individuality? These principles shaped hierarchy, interaction feedback, accessibility standards, and system consistency across the product.
Value proposition
Help students build real connections through meals by making it easy to express preferences and discover compatible people.
Branding
Using visual identity to reinforce human connection
Eat Together’s design system already had a clear visual foundation, using green as a primary color, rounded iconography, and Inter for typography. My focus was not to reinvent it, but to strengthen its consistency across the product. As new features were introduced, patterns had started to drift in spacing, hierarchy, and component usage. I worked to realign screens to the existing system, clarify typography scales, standardize component behavior, and ensure visual decisions felt intentional rather than one off. The goal was to make the system feel cohesive at scale, so every screen reflects the same level of polish and reinforces the human centered nature of the product.
Creating clarity through structure.
Standardized spacing and iconography to strengthen hierarchy and ensure every screen feels consistent, intentional, and easy to navigate.
Final Cohort Designs
Our Team's Solution
Clear hierarchy for faster scanning.
Users consistently looked at tags first to decide who they would want to meet, so I made tags easier to scan and faster to update.
I surfaced high-signal details like school and food preferences earlier while reducing emphasis on lower-signal content.
The result is a profile that reflects what users care about and makes personalization feel intentional instead of overwhelming.
Beyond the Cohort
Growing into Design Leadership
After the 20 week cohort, I transitioned onto Eat Together’s design team, where I had the opportunity to learn from other designers and deepen my skills in prototyping and color accessibility. Working more closely within the design function allowed me to refine my craft, explore interaction details more intentionally, and contribute to system level thinking beyond a single feature. I became more thoughtful about how visual decisions impact usability, accessibility, and overall product cohesion across the app.
As I grew in the role, I stepped into a Lead Product Designer position on the core team. My focus expanded from shipping individual features to shaping a more cohesive product experience. I led efforts around accessibility standards, refined microinteractions, and introduced dark mode to ensure the app feels intentional and consistent across contexts.
As I grew in the role, I stepped into a Lead Product Designer position on the core team. My focus expanded from shipping individual features to shaping a more cohesive product experience. I led efforts around accessibility standards, refined microinteractions, and introduced dark mode to ensure the app feels intentional and consistent across contexts.
Core Team
Dark Mode
Dark mode became a deeper systems project than expected. As I began translating screens into a darker surface, it became clear that many light mode layouts relied on color and elevation in ways that did not hold up in low contrast environments. Several components had to be redesigned to preserve hierarchy, clarity, and visual balance once background values shifted.
Through color audits, I identified multiple contrast failures and inconsistencies within our token structure that required correction before scaling. I conducted competitive reviews and facilitated usability sessions to evaluate legibility, perceived depth, and comfort during extended use. Within a 10 week timeline, I reworked affected components, standardized contrast ratios, aligned tokens with accessibility guidelines, and delivered updated flows to engineering. The outcome was a cohesive dark mode experience supported by a more accurate and resilient design system.
Through color audits, I identified multiple contrast failures and inconsistencies within our token structure that required correction before scaling. I conducted competitive reviews and facilitated usability sessions to evaluate legibility, perceived depth, and comfort during extended use. Within a 10 week timeline, I reworked affected components, standardized contrast ratios, aligned tokens with accessibility guidelines, and delivered updated flows to engineering. The outcome was a cohesive dark mode experience supported by a more accurate and resilient design system.
Bringing consistency and accessibility to dark mode.
I led usability testing and a competitive review to shape a dark mode that keeps hierarchy intact, feels clean and cohesive, and stays consistent across the app.
Navigation System Enhancement
Making the Navigation Feel Alive
As part of strengthening the overall product feel, I prototyped a new navigation bar interaction where icons subtly bounce on tap. The goal was to introduce immediate, tactile feedback without adding visual noise. For a student audience that frequently moves between screens, the interaction reinforces orientation and confirms state change in a way that feels playful but controlled.
I studied interaction patterns from products with similar young, mobile first audiences and focused on principles of clarity, responsiveness, and delight without distraction. The motion is quick, consistent, and purposeful, aligning with Eat Together’s energetic tone while maintaining usability and accessibility standards.
I studied interaction patterns from products with similar young, mobile first audiences and focused on principles of clarity, responsiveness, and delight without distraction. The motion is quick, consistent, and purposeful, aligning with Eat Together’s energetic tone while maintaining usability and accessibility standards.
Subtle motion that reinforces action.
The interaction provides clear feedback on selection, improves perceived responsiveness, and makes navigation feel intentional and alive without overwhelming the interface.
Design System & Team Operations
Designing the System Behind the Screens
As I stepped into a leadership role, I prioritized making the product feel cohesive across screens and teams. I organized recurring design
critiques and stand ups to raise the quality bar, align on interaction patterns, and reduce one off decisions. In parallel, I built a
centralized design guide in Figma that clarified component states, spacing rules, and accessibility standards so designers and engineers
were working from the same source of truth. The result was a more consistent system, smoother handoffs, and a foundation that could scale
as the product evolved.
Strengthening the foundation.
Refined color accessibility and typography standards within the design guide, improving contrast, hierarchy, and consistency across the product.
Reflection
From shipping features to shaping the product
What began as a 20 week cohort redesign of the profile experience evolved into a broader responsibility for how Eat Together feels and functions as a whole. During the cohort, I focused on making profiles clearer, more scannable, and more aligned with what students actually value when deciding who to meet.
As I transitioned onto the core team, my scope expanded beyond individual screens. Leading dark mode pushed me to think at the systems level, from contrast and accessibility to token accuracy and visual cohesion. I introduced thoughtful microinteractions to make navigation feel responsive and alive, and helped formalize a more consistent design system so decisions scaled across the app.
Across both phases, my role shifted from executing improvements to defining standards. The through line was the same: reduce friction, increase clarity, and create a product experience that feels intentional at every touchpoint.
As I transitioned onto the core team, my scope expanded beyond individual screens. Leading dark mode pushed me to think at the systems level, from contrast and accessibility to token accuracy and visual cohesion. I introduced thoughtful microinteractions to make navigation feel responsive and alive, and helped formalize a more consistent design system so decisions scaled across the app.
Across both phases, my role shifted from executing improvements to defining standards. The through line was the same: reduce friction, increase clarity, and create a product experience that feels intentional at every touchpoint.
Key Learnings
Design leadership is about clarity, not control
Across both the cohort redesign and my time on the core team, I learned that strong product design is less about individual screens and more about creating alignment. The biggest impact came from clearly framing problems, grounding decisions in user behavior, and making tradeoffs explicit across design and engineering.
I also learned the importance of building systems early. Whether refining profile hierarchy, introducing dark mode, or prototyping microinteractions, consistency reduced friction for both users and teammates.
Most importantly, I learned that leadership in design means raising the quality bar while empowering others to contribute to it. Clear standards, shared critiques, and thoughtful documentation created momentum that extended beyond any single feature.
I also learned the importance of building systems early. Whether refining profile hierarchy, introducing dark mode, or prototyping microinteractions, consistency reduced friction for both users and teammates.
Most importantly, I learned that leadership in design means raising the quality bar while empowering others to contribute to it. Clear standards, shared critiques, and thoughtful documentation created momentum that extended beyond any single feature.
Next Steps
Scaling the system with intention
The next phase focuses on validating impact and strengthening the foundation. I would run targeted usability testing to measure completion, edits, saves, and connection starts to better understand behavioral shifts after the redesign.
From a systems perspective, continuing to refine accessibility standards, documenting dark mode components more deeply, and expanding tag flexibility with stronger backend support would further mature the product. The goal is to evolve the experience without sacrificing clarity, safety, or cohesion as the app grows.
From a systems perspective, continuing to refine accessibility standards, documenting dark mode components more deeply, and expanding tag flexibility with stronger backend support would further mature the product. The goal is to evolve the experience without sacrificing clarity, safety, or cohesion as the app grows.