Bites
Drive engagement on Yelp's mobile app with a new feature: bite-sized video reviews.
Overview
This project focuses on the journey of adding a new feature to Yelp, a platform that crowdsources business reviews and ratings, to increase user engagement on its mobile app. To make the experience more engaging, we introduce a new feature: short-form video reviews called Bites.
This project is a fictitious scenario, completed as part of Designlab’s UX Academy. It is not in any way affiliated with, endorsed by, or representative of Yelp or its views, strategies, or official designs.
Role
Product Designer
Tools
Figma
Whimsical
Skills
User Research
User Flows
Wireframing
Prototyping
Usability Testing
Duration
4 weeks
The Challenge
Yelp users struggle with restaurant discovery and selection, finding the process to be inefficient and cumbersome.
The default organization of search results feels unintuitive and lacks personalization. In addition, the process of sifting through user reviews is time consuming and cumbersome, resulting in reduced user satisfaction and engagement with the platform.
The Solution
Get food and restaurant recommendations delivered to you based on your preferences and location.
The solution provides users with personalized, visually engaging food content to elevate and streamline the restaurant discovery & selection experience through the use of an individual's bookmark, check-in and engagement history.
Bites is a first step towards strengthening Yelp Business.
The Bites feature is the first step of a broader strategy to strengthen the Yelp Business product, which aims to enable Yelp to offer small business owners with access content creators for marketing opportunities, while simultaneously providing content creators with another platform to monetize their content.
Research
Research indicates that users leverage Yelp primarily to access ratings and reviews for local restaurants.
Users lamented that while they found the rating and review system helpful, the restaurant discovery process–from conducting searches to sifting through reviews–was extremely cumbersome and time consuming.
I use Yelp everyday to figure out where to eat, but it could take up to 30 minutes sometimes.
I wish search results were sorted by proximity as a default.
I wish search results were endless so I didn't have to complete a new search each time to see more results.
Furthermore, it became apparent that users were turning to other platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram, for food content. Users liked the storytelling aspect of these food reviews and the more they engaged with the content, the more similar content would be delivered to their feed. However, users noted that while the food content was enticing, they would always cross reference Yelp to check user reviews and ratings to "pulse check" the authenticity of the video reviews.
Users still value what Yelp is providing, but the method of information discovery no longer meets user needs or preferences of today.
Users want quick success with minimal effort
Users want to quickly (<30 min) find nearby restaurant that match their liking.
Users want to conduct minimal searches to find what they need.
Users are visual learners
Users much prefer the "show and tell" method when it comes to information absorption over long blocks of text
Our design challenge
How might we provide users with a more streamlined, personalized approach to restaurant discovery that incentivizes users to engage with Yelp's mobile app?
Explorations
The research pointed to a strong opportunity to incorporate short-form videos into the Yelp ecosystem.
We know that users are already regularly engaging with and seeking out short-form video content, and then cross-referencing with Yelp, so there was a significant opportunity to bridge the gap and bring those short-form videos directly into the Yelp experience.
Iteration #1: Finding a balance between tech feasibility and user needs.
I produced a low fidelity prototype to gauge how the MVP of this feature would resonate with users, considering it would be compared against much more mature versions found on competing platforms.
User testing revealed that it was necessary to reconsider how robust the MVP should be and how the feature would be surfaced to users.
While the feature resonated and delighted users, the first design didn't enable easy access to the feature and seemed to be confusing users as to whether it was a standalone feature or related to the Yelp reviews.
3 out of 5 users(60%) indicated they were expecting a more robust feature during testing.
This signaled that users didn't resonate with the functionality of the feature at this level and we would risk the feature not having the desired impact with users if released at this level.
Iteration #2 : Refining the experience to drive value for users
Taking user feedback into consideration, the second iteration focused on adding more context to improve comprehension of the feature, rethinking its entry points, and adding more editing features to delight the user.
The end to end experience with a Bite
While the updated concept was well received among testing participants, there were opportunities to improve the search experience and information hierarchy. Additionally, I felt that there were still opportunities to afford users more customization over the content they were seeing, especially when it came to location and proximity.
The experience of adding a Bite
The design of the Bite editing experience leverages user familiarity with other short-form video platforms. User testing revealed that the assumption that users could recognize the familiar look and feel and understand how to engage with the interface without extensive onboarding.
One key tradeoff made here was the decision to opt for royalty free music to avoid delaying the launch of the MVP. The thought here was that it would take time to obtain licensing for an extensive catalog, and that we could provide users with an extensive catalog in a future update, once licensing is obtained.
Final outcome
Incorporating the feedback from the high fidelity screens, I refined the prototype further and finalized a solution ready for delivery. I made updates to the search experience as well as the information hierarchy as I felt they would have the most impact on a user's experience and impression of the feature. I chose to save the commenting feature for a later iteration to balance out tech feasibility and felt that users can rely on the existing Yelp reviews for additional information for the MVP.
Restaurant discovery with Bites
This new feature is introduced to users on the app homepage with a little description as to what it is so users understand context. Users can swipe right to view more videos to find one they want to watch.
The search button was moved from the top right corner to the action tool bar so that it is more visible to users. Search results provide another entry point into the feature.
Business Information is now the first thing users see on a Bite. Clicking on the card brings users to the Business Page.
Users can easily access business reviews from the video in case they want to check out other customer experiences with the business.
Uploading and editing a Bite
Bites are uploaded through the traditional method of adding a user review on Yelp. When prompted, users can choose to upload a video, which will then will redirect them into the editing experience for a Bite.
Users are given basic editing features that are comparable to what is offered by competitors: adding music, basic effects and text overlay.
Users are given a preview of their written review as well as their attached Bite before posting.
Next steps
This MVP marks the initial phase of a broader flywheel strategy designed to fuel growth and engagement on Yelp. By leveraging the Bite feature through Yelp Business, the platform attracts creators, boosts user interaction, and encourages businesses to subscribe to Yelp Business, ultimately driving increased revenue.
Takeaways
These lessons have refined my approach to problem-solving, reinforcing the value of thoughtful trade-offs and the importance of user-centered design.
Balancing ambition with feasability
A key challenge was balancing the need for a competitive feature set with technical constraints for an MVP. While a less robust version initially seemed prudent to minimize resource investment, it risked underwhelming users and failing to drive engagement. The solution was a strategic compromise: include essential features like royalty-free music, with plans to expand functionality in future updates. This approach managed user expectations, respected resource limitations, and allowed for iterative enhancements over time.
Rethinking design assumptions
An important takeaway was recognizing that competitor designs aren't always user-friendly. While the top-right placement of the search icon is common in short-form video platforms, testing revealed it confused users. This highlighted the need to validate design decisions through user feedback rather than assuming competitor practices are optimal.