Foodcrush Case Study: Helping Malaysians Decide Where to Eat

Foodcrush is a food directory and ordering app for Malaysia. The Foodcrush team had a clear view of how people choose food. For them, the choice depends on how people are feeling, what they are celebrating and the time of day.

However, a plain list of restaurants does not reflect any of that. Foodcrush therefore needed an app that felt more like a friend's recommendation than a phone book. It also needed an audience, because a directory is only useful when people actually open it.

• Help users decide what to eat and where to eat it.
• Get people from "that looks good" to the restaurant door with as little friction as possible.
• Turn individual users into a community that shares great food.
• Build awareness and reach beyond the app itself.

We treated Foodcrush as two projects that support each other: a product and an audience.

On the product side, our UI and UX design work centred on decision-making. As a result, every screen had to help users narrow their options quickly. Once they had chosen, the next step had to be obvious.

On the audience side, we planned social media as part of the launch, not an afterthought. That's because a food app lives on appetising content, and social platforms are where Malaysians already discover new places to eat.

Our mobile app development and web development teams built the platform. Alongside the directory and ordering features, we added the following.

Directions in one tap

We integrated both Google Maps and Waze. As a result, users can get directions to their chosen restaurant instantly, using whichever navigation app they prefer.

A social network for food lovers

Foodcrush also includes a social layer that lets users connect with each other. Think of it as Instagram for great eats. That way, users discover places through the people they follow, not just through search results.

Social media management

To build a community and widen Foodcrush's reach, we also managed its presence on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. Our social media content team connected the brand with its audience on the channels they already use.

You can also see the visual side of this work in our Food Crush portfolio project.

Foodcrush now gives users a single place to find food, get directions and share discoveries with friends. Moreover, the app and its social channels work together: content brings people in, and the community gives them a reason to stay.

• Understand how your customers really decide. Foodcrush built around mood, occasion and time of day, not just cuisine and location.
• Remove the last step of friction. Maps and Waze integration turns interest into a visit. In practice, small conveniences like this matter.
• Plan marketing alongside the build. An app with no audience fails, however good it is. Budget for launch content from the start.
• Community features create return visits. Social sharing also gives people a reason to open the app when they are not hungry.