How we identified NeoTaste’s high-leverage features in 14 days
NeoTaste had a vision, but needed certainty. We ran a high-velocity design sprint to move from competing ideas to a validated product roadmap, saving months of unproven development.
Our role
Bringing uncertainty to clarity in 2 weeks
User research deep dive to uncover pain points in discovery and booking flows.
Mapped opportunities across the product to spot the highest-leverage wins.
Prototyped two competing concepts to address engagement and retention.
Tested with real users to see which approach resonated and reduced friction.
Delivered clear next steps so the team knew exactly what to prioritize building.
Instead of sinking time and money into expensive features with uncertain impact, the sprint gave Neotaste evidence-backed clarity on what would truly move the needle, and a prototype their team could confidently build from.
Uncovering friction
Through early user interviews, we discovered two blockers hurting Neotaste’s growth:
Restaurant discovery felt overwhelming: People faced cognitive overload and struggled to find places that matched their interests.
Invites weren’t working: instead of sharing restaurants through Neotaste, users defaulted to Google Maps to coordinate with friends. This broke the growth loop, kept sharing (and discovery) outside the app.
These weren’t just UX issues, they were business problems directly impacting retention and engagement.
To tackle them, we prototyped and tested two competing solutions: one designed to improve social invites, and another to create a more focused discovery flow.
Users wanted more control and less generic suggestions.
We tested a progressive taste profile and smarter saved places to make discovery feel personal, and worth returning to.
Users quickly saw the value of completing a few simple preference tasks upfront, getting tailored suggestions right away, while the system learned from their patterns over time.
Reimagining Invites
Invites were key to growth, but felt out of place. Users wanted easier sharing, clearer entry points, and the option to involve friends right at booking, when excitement peaked. We tested quick wins and deeper updates to make sharing natural and visible.
1
Direct access to restaurant websites
2
Share button visibility
3
Invites at the booking moment
4
Improved map experience
Show distance & travel time clearly (so users could decide fast)
Surface precise addresses with direct context.
Encourage location sharing with friends for coordination.
5
Making reviews more actionable
Star ratings weren’t enough. We added badges that show what makes a place special — like friendly staff or great coffee — making reviews easier to scan and giving partner restaurants recognition.
6
Photos in reviews
Users rely heavily on photos before visiting. We let them add images to reviews, setting better expectations.
7
User-generated tags
Custom tags made reviews more scannable and discovery more personal.
8
Emotion-driven sharing
We tested sharing through emotional, contextual sections (“catch up”) to make invites feel more natural and engaging.
9
Richer share previews
We improved shared links with deal details and saved lists, giving friends more context and a stronger reason to join.
