Domino’s App Redesign – case study

Disclaimers and Acknowledgments

• This is a personal case study. I was not hired by Domino’s or a third party to develop this project.
• This project is based solely on the Brazilian market.
• This isn’t a typical before-and-after case study. I’m not analyzing the current app’s strengths and weaknesses to improve it. If I had followed that path, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to showcase my full process and work style, since many aspects would already be defined.
• In an ideal scenario, I wouldn’t be collecting data online. I’d rely on internal tools, user research, and official company data.
• Since I write this blog in English, I decided to keep English as the UI language as well.

Introduction

I’m a regular customer of Domino’s Brazil, and I hate to say it, but ordering through the app hasn’t been as enjoyable as eating their pizza. So I asked myself: what would I change if I could redesign it?

I took the question seriously. More importantly, I saw it as a great opportunity to showcase my UX process.

Below, I share my process from knowing nothing about an industry to delivering a product that is truly aligned with user needs and business goals.

To avoid making this even longer, I won’t go into too much detail beyond the most impactful features of the app.

To give you a hint, my process is simple: think before you build. It sounds easy, but it isn’t.

Making thoughtful decisions requires something tangible. That means data. Designing without it is just shooting in the dark.

My process starts with gathering, interpreting, and connecting data to guide the creation of design solutions. Every other step is built on this foundation.

Following this data-driven process helps me enter the development with a solid understanding of the project and hit the ground running.

This is the idea of what’s coming next.

Enjoy the scroll!

Final product — sneak peek

Here’s a small preview in case you’d like to see a few final screens before diving into the sea of text below.

Okay, let’s get this process started.

1. Discover

At this stage, I gather as much data as possible. This usually means jumping from site to site, ticket system, or any other tools, collecting insights that help me fully understand the landscape of the product I’m designing.

Market Context

To warm up and understand what’s at stake, it’s always a good idea to start with the market numbers. Food delivery in Brazil is a billion-dollar market. Here’s the data I found during my research.

Food Delivery Landscape (Brazil)

• Online food delivery market: USD 12.8B (2024).
• Pizza delivery market: USD 2B (2024).
• Burgers remain the most ordered food via delivery in Brazil.
• 81% of middle & upper-income consumers order delivery regularly.
• iFood dominates with 82.2% usage; Rappi follows with 9.1%.
• 32% order delivery 1–3x/month.
• Dinner is the peak occasion, nearly 2x lunch volume.
• 60% of orders happen outside apps (WhatsApp, phone, social).
• Pizza via delivery costs ~11% more than other pizza options.
• 68% of Brazilian users abandon orders because platform prices are too high.
• 90% would order more if platform delivery prices matched in-store prices.

Sources: Abrasel (1), Abrasel (2), Deep Market Insights, E-Commerce Brasil, Grand View Horizon, iFood (1), iFood (2), Instituto Locomotiva, Kantar (1), Kantar (2)

Brand Context – Domino’s

Understanding the business and its brand is essential to designing effective solutions.

This case is unique because a global brand is adapting to the market of a single country. The Brazilian pizza market has its own challenges, so Domino’s operates differently here to fit the local culture.

Global Positioning

• Pioneer of pizza delivery.
• A technology company that happens to sell pizza.
• Mission: sell pizza with more fun.
• Strong delivery promise (30 minutes).
• Fresh dough, 48h fermentation.
• Dough is hand-stretched.
• Hottest ovens in the market keep pizzas hot.
• Domino’s created a heat-resistant box that keeps the crust crispy.

Sources: Domino’s (1), Domino’s (2), Domino’s (3)

Domino’s Brazil

• ~220 stores nationwide, 5.8M customers (2024).
• Neighborhood mindset with regional strategies.
• AI planned to personalize delivery.
• 50% off if delivery is late.
• Thinner crusts boosted sales.
• Caipira pizza drove local growth.
• Lasagna added for Brazilian demand.
• Tuesday “Buy 1, Get 2” peaks demand.
• Younger audience: Easy to eat while gaming/streaming.
• Domino’s wants to expand into pop culture.

Sources: Domino’s (1), Domino’s (2), Dominos (3), Dominos (4),

Domino’s Product & Experience

Being mindful of a product’s particularities is key to meeting business goals. At the same time, understanding how users feel while buying the product is crucial to improving their experience.

Menu & Offering

• Offers 29 flavors and build-your-own pizzas with 100+ combinations.
• Four types of dough: traditional, pan, thin, and stuffed crust.
• Expanded sweet pizzas with larger sizes and new flavors like dulce de leche and churros.
• Lasagna, calzone, and sandwiches were added to boost lunch sales.
• Partners with Coca-Cola, Heineken, Amstel, and Red Bull for beverages.
• Some items are only available for delivery or takeaway.

Sources: Domino’s (1), Domino’s (2), Meio & Mensagem

Digital Experience

• Customers track orders in real time with the Pizza Tracker.
• Includes Pizza Builder for fully customizable online orders.

Source: Domino’s

User Feedback & Signals based on frequency

1. App freezing or crashing, especially during peak order times
2. Wait times significantly longer than the brand’s delivery promise
3. Login and account access issues, including password and authentication errors
4. Payment failures or errors during checkout
5. Promotions not applying or disappearing before checkout
6. Orders being accepted but never delivered due to addresses in unclear delivery areas
7. Confusing interface, with unclear cart pricing and flows that make ordering harder
8. Difficulty finding support in the app

Source: Reclame AQUI, Domino’s Pizza Brasil Reviews

Brand & Visual Identity

Studying the brand is fundamental to aligning its communication tone and style with the experience I am designing. The product being developed needs to match how the brand communicates across other channels and meet user expectations.

• Domino’s refreshed the brand with a playful, modern style for younger users.
• Keeps the iconic red and blue, now brighter and more vibrant.
• Introduced Domino’s Sans, a thicker, more playful font.
• Younger-looking uniforms, in-store visuals, and brighter digital and print materials.

Sources: Domino’s (1), Domino’s (2)

Target User – Gen Z

Having clarity about the audience’s profile and behavior acts as a north star guiding my decision-making process.

Profile

• Individuals born between 1997 and 2012.
• Digital-first, convenience-driven.
• They value authenticity, sustainability, and inclusivity.
• Rely on personalized recommendations from food delivery apps.
• Eco-friendly packaging and sustainable food options are important to Gen Z.

Sources: Deliverect, Kantar, Wikipedia

Behavior

• 71% are influenced by online reviews and user-generated content.
• 60% will switch brands for better loyalty rewards.
• Are attracted by customization and personalized recommendations.
• Follow influencers for trends and recommendations.
• Subscribe to delivery platforms for perks like free delivery.
• Gaming is a top entertainment activity for Gen Z.
• Familiar with apps like iFood, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Threads, Discord, Reddit.

Source: Deliverect, Deloitte, SQ Magazine

Pizza Consumption Insights

Understanding the user’s consumption context helps ensure the experience I’m designing supports the occasion.

Category customer

• Pizza is a shared meal: 95% of people eat it with family and 46% with friends.
• Peak consumption: weekend dinners and late night.
• Not a lunch habit in Brazil.
• Rainy days boost delivery orders.
• Ideal size: large pizza, eight slices.
• Flavor ranking: calabresa, chicken + creamy cheese, mozzarella, chocolate, margherita, portuguese.
• People order delivery more on rainy days when going out is inconvenient.
• Crust preference: 68% thin, 23% thick.
• When enjoying pizza, 62% of Brazilians prefer cola soft drinks.

Sources: B&R, Domino’s, iFood (1), iFood (2), InfoMoney, VR

Domino’s customer

• Choices change based on who users are ordering with.
• Calabresa is the most ordered flavor. Cheese, chicken, and pepperoni follow.
• Desserts from pizzerias are growing.
• In 2025, Ovomaltine stood out among sweet pizzas.

Sources: Domino’s, Meio & Mensagem, Sucesso SA

Competitive Landscape

I can’t design a competitive product without knowing the players in the market and what makes them stand out. In pizza delivery, there are both direct pizza competitors and other food-delivery competitors.

Direct Pizza Competitors

• Pizza Hut – global chain, very similar menu and delivery focus.
• Patroni Pizza – large domestic franchise, strong presence in key cities.
• Pizza Makers – growing regional chain,
• Bella Capri Pizzaria – smaller regional chain, less impact nationally.
• Local independent pizzerias – many, strong in neighborhoods, often via WhatsApp or phone.

Occasion Competitors

• Burgers & sandwiches
• Chicken – shareable meals, strong dinner choice
• Asian fast food – delivery-first brands competing for dinner occasions
• Local snacks (ex: coxinha, pastel) – affordable, fast, and highly popular

Ordering Channels

• iFood – by far the dominant platform, huge market share.
• Pizza Hut App – direct pizza competitor with its own ordering channel.
• Rappi – secondary multi-category platform, smaller share than iFood.
• 99Food – emerging platform, still limited coverage and user base.
• WhatsApp – most widely used for ordering, very common with local pizzerias.
• Phone – traditional, still widely used, especially in smaller towns.

Other UX evidence

Having my design decisions backed by data is important for aligning with stakeholders.

• On-site search users can convert up to 50% higher than average (Algolia).

2. Define

Now it’s time to turn the gathered data into actionable insights, solutions, and clear guidelines to keep me focused on the right problems during the development phase.

Design Guidelines

These are the key principles I’ll follow to align with Domino’s communication standards.

• Use Domino’s refreshed vibrant color palette.
• Keep tone playful and youthful.
• Ensure the experience feels fun and modern.
• If Domino’s Sans isn’t available, use a thick, playful alternative.

Business Needs

Based on my research and analysis, here’s a list of Domino’s most likely immediate goals in Brazil.

• Compete effectively with iFood as the default delivery app.
• Expand the direct customer base.
• Boost engagement with younger audiences.
• Increase conversion and retention across first and repeat orders.
• Improve ordering, checkout, and payment flexibility to reduce friction.
• Enable intuitive product customization.
• Capture demand from popular categories like burgers.
• Increase lunchtime sales.
• Optimize promotions and upsells.
• Leverage ratings, reviews, trends, and social proof.

Users Needs

These are fundamental requirements I need to address when designing the product to ensure a smooth experience for Domino’s users.

• Quickly understand how to start ordering.
• Easily select their preferred store.
• Find products without friction.
• Access clear product information, including toppings and options.
• Feel confident when choosing a product for the first time.
• Get personalized recommendations to support decision-making.
• Decide quickly what to order at lunch.
• Customize items intuitively.
• Edit the cart or customize items during checkout without confusion.
• Paying in group without friction.
• Receive clear error messages that explain issues and how to fix them.
• Track order progress in real time.
• Schedule orders in a clear and intuitive way.
• Repeat past orders easily without going through the full process again.
• Feel rewarded and recognized for frequent ordering.

Source: Measuring U

Opportunities

By balancing business goals, user needs, and the data I’ve gathered, I can now propose some solutions. This is a crucial step in building features that truly make users’ lives easier while helping businesses become more profitable.

1. Split-the-bill

Data:
Pizza is a shared meal: 95% of people eat it with family, and 46% with friends.

User need:
Paying together without friction.

Business needs:
• Reduce cart abandonment by improving the ordering and checkout experience.
• Expand the direct customer base.

Solution:
Split-the-bill feature: users add friends’ emails so each can pay their share.

Rationale:
Reduces friction for group orders, decreases cart abandonment, and creates opt-in touchpoints with potential new users.

2. Surface lunch options around 12pm

Data:
• Pizza is not a lunch habit in Brazil.
• 68% of Brazilian users abandon orders because platform prices are too high.

User need:
Decide quickly what to order at lunch.

Business need:
Increase lunchtime sales despite cultural habits of low pizza consumption at that time.

Solution:
Around 12pm, surface lasagna, calzone, and sandwiches prominently, supported by lunch-specific promos.

Rationale:
Reduce decision time by surfacing familiar, lunch-appropriate options at great prices.

3. Popular BR flavors first

Data:
• Domino’s top flavors: calabresa, cheese, chicken, and pepperoni.
• Overall Brazil pizza preferences: calabresa, chicken + creamy cheese, mozzarella, chocolate, margherita, Portuguese.
• When enjoying pizza, 62% of Brazilians prefer cola soft drinks.
• Crust preference: 68% thin, 23% thick.

User need:
Find products without friction.

Business need:
Enhance the app experience to boost repeat purchases.

Solution:
Prioritize popular Brazilian preferences in the menu.

Rationale:
Reduce friction and cognitive load by surfacing popular flavors upfront.

4. Ratings & Reviews

Data:
71% are influenced by online reviews and user-generated content.

User need:
Feel confident when choosing a product for the first time.

Business need:
Increase conversion and repeat orders.

Solution:
Ratings & Reviews

Rationale:
Reduces uncertainty, makes decisions faster, and increases conversion and repeat orders.

5. Loyalty program

Data:
• 32% order delivery 1–3x/month.
• 90% would order more if platform delivery prices matched in-store prices.
• 60% will switch brands for better loyalty rewards.
• Subscribe to delivery platforms for perks like free delivery.

User need:
Feel rewarded and recognized for frequent ordering.

Business need:
Increase retention and repeat purchases

Solution:
Loyalty program

Rationale:
Rewards frequent customers with real perks and prices aligned with in-store, making repeat orders feel worth it.

6. Achievements badges

User need:
Feel rewarded and recognized for frequent ordering.

Brand promise:
Sell pizza with more fun.

Business need:
Repeat purchases while strengthening direct customer engagement.

Solution:
Fun badges for actions and quirky behaviors, such as late-night orders, favorite flavors, profile completion, and ordering frequency.

Rationale:
Badges are fun and shareable, creating organic social moments. They deepen the emotional bond with the brand and reward frequent ordering.

7. Highlight Pizza Builder technology

Data:
Gen Z is attracted by customization.

User need:
Customize items intuitively.

Business need:
Increase conversions and satisfaction by enabling users to create products that match their preferences.

Solution:
Highlight Pizza Builder technology, offering a smooth, intuitive customization experience, and showcase other users’ customizations for inspiration.

Rationale:
Leverages existing tech to let users personalize their order easily, increasing engagement and satisfaction.

8. Customize each user’s home screen with AI (personalized recommendations)

Data:
Gen Z relies on personalized recommendations from food delivery apps.

User need:
Get personalized recommendations to support decision-making.

Business need:
Increase loyalty, conversion, and repeat purchases.

Solution:
Build the home screen with recommended products using AI that considers user history, demographics, time of day, trending items among similar users, and contextual factors (weather, events, promotions) to deliver highly relevant, real-time suggestions.

Rationale:
Give users relevant insights to simplify and support their ordering decisions.

9. Add a search bar

Data:
On-site search users can convert up to 50% higher than average

User need:
Find products without friction.

Business need:
Increase conversion by reducing time-to-find a product.

Solution:
Add a smart search bar at the header, enabling users to search for products, flavors, and promos faster.

Rationale:
On-site search captures high-intent users and removes browsing friction. Plus generates data that helps uncover user needs and inform new product creation.

10. One-tap reorder CTA

Data:
Gen Z is convenience-driven.

User need:
Repeat past orders easily without going through the full process again.

Business need:
Enhance the app experience to boost repeat purchases.

Solution:
One-tap reorder from previous orders.

Rationale:
Reduce effort for frequent purchases, reinforcing habitual behavior.

11. Prominent “Start Order” CTA

Data:
Users are familiar with apps like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Threads, Discord, Reddit.

User need:
Quickly understand how to start ordering.

Business need:
Reduce friction for first-time orders and boost engagement.

Solution:
Prominent “Start Order” with a plus sign (+) similar to apps users are already familiar with.

Rationale:
Minimizes cognitive load and hesitation, helping users start ordering smoothly.

12. Pre-order ETA with AI

Data:
Users report wait times significantly longer than the brand’s delivery promise.

User need:
Get their order as fast as possible.

Business need:
Increase trust, credibility, and loyalty.

Solution:
Pre-order delivery time estimate based on real-time store demand with AI.

Rationale:
Sets expectations early, reduces frustration, and aligns the experience with real operational capacity. It preserves trust by being transparent instead of over-promising when demand is high.

13. “Packing Pizza” game

Data:
Gaming is a top entertainment activity for Gen Z.

Brand promise:
Sell pizza with more fun.

Solution:
While tracking their order, users play the simple “Packing Pizza” game, guiding a Domino’s box to collect falling pizza slices while avoiding falling burgers.

Rationale:
Reinforces Domino’s fun brand promise, engages Gen Z with interactive content, and highlights that while burgers dominate delivery, Domino’s is the preferred choice.

14. Onboarding tour

User need:
Quickly understand how to start ordering.

Business need:
Reduce friction for first-time orders.

Solution:
Onboarding tour for first-time users.

Rationale:
Minimizes cognitive load and hesitation, helping users start ordering smoothly.

Competitive Audit

Now that I have several feature ideas, I’ll compare them with top market players to decide which can provide a true advantage and should be prioritized in the development phase.

Pizza Hut

• Pre-order ETA with AI: No
• Start Order CTA: No
• One-tap reorder CTA: Yes
• Search bar: No
• Popular BR flavors first: No
• Personalized recommendations: Yes
• Ratings & Reviews: No
• Loyalty program: Yes
• Badges: No
• Pizza Builder (customization): No
• Split the bill: No
• Game while tracking orders: No

iFood

• Pre-order ETA with AI: Partially — reflects iFood orders only, not direct store demand
• Start Order CTA: No
• One-tap reorder CTA: Yes
• Search bar: Yes
• Popular BR flavors first: N/A
• Personalized recommendations: Yes
• Ratings & Reviews: Tied to restaurants, not individual menu items
• Loyalty program: Clube iFood (Paid), Restaurant-specific (free)
• Badges: No
• Pizza Builder (customization): No
• Split the bill: No
• Game while tracking orders: No

Prioritized Opportunities

Besides considering the competitive potential of each feature idea, I also evaluate its impact and effort before establishing a priority ranking.

All things considered, below is my final prioritization ranking. I ended up removing two ideas as I figured they were not exactly aligned with the project.

High impact with low effort

• 1. One-tap reorder CTA
• 2. Start Order CTA
• 3. Lunch promos and special items at 12pm
• 4. Popular BR flavors first

High impact with high effort

• 5. Pre-order ETA with AI
• 6. Loyalty program
• 7. Personalized recommendations

Low impact with low effort

• 8. Badges

Low impact with high effort

• 9. Split the bill
• 10. Ratings & Reviews — too risky, negative reviews could hurt brand image
• 11. “Packing Pizza” mini-game while tracking orders
• 12. Onboarding tour for new users — overkill — users are already familiar with ordering online.

3. Develop

At this stage, I tackle the previously listed features based on their prioritization. I start by creating user flows and interactive low-fidelity prototypes to validate the approach with stakeholders and users. Then I define the type scale and color palette. The phase concludes with a high-fidelity interactive prototype, once again validated with stakeholders and users.

Sample of a user flow

Mapping flows is important for understanding the stages users go through to complete a task. Documenting how users move between screens not only brings clarity to the product’s design but also puts stakeholders on the same page. It can also help uncover engineering or business constraints earlier in the process.

Low-fi prototype

Taking aesthetics out of the equation creates room to focus on core aspects of product design, such as functionality, usability, hierarchy, and information architecture. A low-fi prototype ensures the right mental model is applied before I spend time and energy on visual details like colors or typography. It also helps keep all stakeholders’ perspectives in sync and identify potential issues in the early stages.

To address users’ needs, business goals, and the opportunities identified during the Define phase, I created the following low-fi prototype. You can click around to test it. Please note that only the most important features are connected. Blue areas will appear if you click outside a tappable component.

Testing with users

I tested the prototype with two (although the ideal number is five) Domino’s Pizza app users. While the general mental model (placing ‘Start Order’ at the center of the bottom navigation) worked well, the user interviews revealed meaningful insights.

The “Customize” CTA is confusing

Although “Customize” (choose crust, size, toppings, etc.) is the natural step before adding a pizza to the order, the button created hesitation. Users reported it didn’t feel like part of the regular ordering flow and initially thought it was meant for special customization cases.

Both users are also used to ordering through iFood, whose app doesn’t include a CTA on product cards.

So I removed the “Customize” button to make the process closer to their existing mental model of ordering food online.

“Reorder” CTA lacks clarity

Although the option to quickly place a usual order with just a few taps felt like a win for users, they were apprehensive about what the “Reorder” button would actually do. At first, they thought it might immediately charge their cards without giving them a chance to review the order.

To reduce this hesitation, I replaced the “Reorder” label with “Add to order.” This label reassures users that the checkout flow will still happen under their review.

“Too many options”

Both users said they felt somewhat overwhelmed by the number of pizza flavors on the same page.

This reminded me of the idea behind The Paradox of Choice, which suggests that an abundance of options can lead to decision paralysis.

To address this potential issue, I decided to split the pizzas into tabs: Most popular, Classics, and Specialty. With fewer products visible at once, this could also help the page load faster.

It is important to acknowledge that placing some flavors in other tabs may make these pizzas harder for users to find. I made this decision independently for the purpose of this case study. In a real scenario, this trade-off would require alignment with the business and engineering teams.

Hard to find vegetarian options

One interviewee is a vegetarian. She said it was difficult to find vegetarian pizzas because they were spread across many options.

To improve this, I added a dropdown that lets users filter and show only vegetarian pizzas, helping them find and order faster.

Out of alphabetical order

Another observation from one user was about the menu order: why isn’t it alphabetical? He said that when ordering for a group of friends and everyone was calling out their favorite flavors, it was a struggle to scroll up and down to find them.

I assume Domino’s organizes the menu based on business intelligence and broader customer preferences. However, to support situations like this without interfering with that strategy, I added an alphabetical sorting option to the dropdown menu, giving users a more predictable way to browse.

Pre-order ETA adds credibility to the brand

Both users said that seeing a message indicating delivery times are longer than usual is better than placing an order and later getting frustrated by the delay. This information helps them plan around the wait—or decide not to order at all. It gives them a sense of control and prevents them from feeling trapped by the app.

Overall, showing a pre-order ETA adds trust, transparency, and credibility to the user experience.

“Help” is missing in orders

One of the interviewees echoed what was already stated in User Feedback & Signals based on frequency: finding support in the app is difficult. He found it annoying to leave the app to call the store, since staff always ask for the order number, forcing him to go back into the app to get it.

My prototype had anticipated a global support option in the burger menu, but this insight made me realize that linking a support option to each individual order, offering an order-specific online chat, would create a smoother experience.

Of course, eliminating phone support requires discussion with stakeholders, as it might generate extra responsibilities for Domino’s workers. For now, I added a “Help” button to each order in the “Orders” tab.

Confirmation screen missing

One user looked unsure if their order had gone through, which made me realize the prototype lacked a confirmation screen. At the time, after placing an order, users were taken back to the home screen, with only a darker band at the top indicating the order was on its way.

UI Design / Visual Design

Having the low-fi prototype validated, it’s time to focus on the visual design. At this stage, I usually review design references aligned with my guidelines. This helps me get inspired and develop solutions that create a strong user experience while communicating the brand’s values.

After defining the project’s visual direction, I define elements such as typeface, type scale, spacing, icons, color palettes, illustrations, and the overall image mood for the interface.

Typeface

As mentioned in the Design Guidelines, Domino’s has its own typeface, Domino’s Sans. Since I don’t have access to it, I’ve chosen a common but reliable option: Inter. It’s legible, versatile, and its popularity in digital products makes it familiar to users.

Type scale

Having a consistent and predictable type scale is essential to establishing a clear visual hierarchy of text elements, supporting the user’s reading and understanding of the product.

Spacing scale

The 8px spacing scale is now an industry standard. Using multiples of 8 for spacing (margins, padding, gaps, and grids) keeps layout proportions coherent and well structured. This helps create an intuitive and welcoming user interface.

Icons

I’ve chosen the open-source Heroicons library because the icons are aligned with UI’s needs. The icons are modern, consistent, and remain legible at small sizes. They’re also available in SVG format, which facilitates both design and development workflows.

Color palettes

For this project, I developed the color palettes based on the brand refresh imagery published on the company’s website.

During this phase, I usually expand the system with semantic palettes, including blue for information, red for errors, orange for attention, and green for success. Since Domino’s Pizza already uses blue and red, I kept those shades for system messages and introduced only orange and green.

Each color palette contains 12 shades, resulting in 60 color options overall. This provides enough flexibility while maintaining a consistent standard.

While developing the palettes, I noticed that the new official blue and red from Domino’s do not meet WCAG contrast requirements when normal white text is placed on top of these colors. This is important to keep in mind when building the final components.

Scroll right to view all color palettes.

Pizza photos

When it comes to selling products online, photos play a crucial role in the purchase process. With food, it’s no different. I’d say it’s even more important. Your food can’t just taste delicious, it also has to look delicious.

With the help of ChatGPT, I created several images of pizza and other products in the exact style and angle I wanted.

Scroll right to see more.

Illustrations

Illustrations also play a key role in creating an emotional connection with users. With the help of ChatGPT, I created a series of playful, modern illustrations designed to support and enrich the overall user experience.

High-fi prototype

Now it’s time to bring all those design pieces together and adapt the prototype based on the insights uncovered so far.

Here’s the high-fidelity prototype. It’s not entirely tappable, and only the most discussed features are available. Feel free to click around.

Notes on key interactions

Placing an order

The video below shows how smooth ordering is, from selecting a product to customizing it, checking out, and tracking delivery.

One-tap reorder CTA

I implemented basically two options for the user to reorder easily: reorder the usual from the user’s home screen, and reorder from past orders.

Reordering the usual from the home screen is super fast. The system, via AI or a traditional algorithm, compares the most frequent user’s order and suggests the most probable order for that specific user. As shown in the video below, the user can start the checkout flow with just two taps.

From the “Orders” tab, users can order their usual items or reorder based on past purchases. The video below shows the flow for starting the checkout process from a previous order.

Start Order CTA

The central area of the bottom navigation bar is reserved for the most important actions. This pattern has become an industry standard and is widely used by apps our audience is familiar with, such as TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit.

Lunch promos and special items at 12pm

A strategy could be aligned with the marketing and engineering teams to boost lunch sales. For example, to support a push notification during lunch hours, the app could automatically highlight lunch items in the menu and promote offers specific to that time of day.

The image below shows a menu highlighting items commonly associated with lunch hours in Brazil, such as lasagnas, sandwiches, and calzones.

Popular BR flavors first

The most popular pizza flavors in Brazil (calabrese, chicken with creamy cheese, mozzarella, chocolate, margherita, and Portuguese) are featured on the home screen and in the “Start Order” tab. This simple strategy helps Brazilians quickly find their favorite flavor and complete their order faster.

The video below shows how easy it is to find Brazilians’ favorite flavors in the app.

Pre-order ETA with AI

Letting users know how long their order will take before placing it, especially during busy hours, proved to be a positive feature in user tests.

Beyond that, it can be a competitive advantage. Platforms like iFood may estimate delivery times based only on their own data, which might not include orders placed directly through a store’s own channels.

The estimate could be calculated using the total number of orders currently being processed across all channels, along with the average delivery time under current conditions.

Keeping users informed reduces order cancellations caused by gaps in pre-order communication while positioning the brand as more transparent and user-friendly.

Search bar

As previously stated, “On-site search users can convert up to 50% higher than average.”

This feature helps users find what they want quickly, explore everything the app has to offer, and ultimately reduces friction while increasing conversions.

On top of that, the data generated from search queries can reveal new opportunities and even inspire the creation of new products.

The video below shows how the search bar can be used to navigate directly to a product page.

Burger menu & User menu

Following an intuitive information architecture, I placed content related to products, deals, and stores in the “burger menu.”

Fun fact: burgers are the main food competing with pizza in Brazil, so it’s ironic to have all pizza flavors inside something called a “burger menu,” isn’t it?

User-related information, such as profile details, addresses, and payment methods, was placed in the profile menu.

This clear separation brings clarity and helps users understand where to find specific information more quickly.

Delivery Method Dropdown

The delivery/carryout dropdown is an important filter in food delivery apps. Users see deals and products based on their selection.

Defining this early in the purchase process is crucial for setting user expectations. Informing users later that a product isn’t available for their selected option is frustrating—and not the experience any brand wants to offer.

That’s why this feature is placed in the header, an area with high visibility that naturally draws users’ attention.

In addition, during checkout, there’s a step to confirm the delivery method selected by the user.

Deals

For the promo images in the Deals tab, I used the same aspect ratio as Instagram’s feed. In addition to fitting well on mobile screens, this allows the marketing team to reuse the same assets across platforms, avoiding the need to adapt images for different channels.

Other features

As much as I wanted to let my creativity flow when designing other features, such as badges, split the bill, and the pizza packing game, mentioned on Prioritized Opportunities, I believe these would have less direct impact on users’ lives.

On that note, I’d love to explore microinteractions in the bottom navigation, but I’ll save that for a future article. This one is already long enough.

4. Monitor & Iterate

Now that development is done and the product is live, it’s time to monitor the KPIs this project aimed to improve.

A product used daily is never finished or perfect. It’s essential to keep tracking data and testing new hypotheses in a continuous cycle of iteration.

For a product like this with the features implemented, I’ll keep an eye especially on conversion rate, cart abandonment, time to order, repeat purchases, search usage, and checkout success.

With this new app, I’d also be curious to see if users feel more encouraged to order through this experience rather than WhatsApp or iFood.

5. Conclusion

In this article, I showcased how I would create a new experience for Domino’s mobile app users.

I went from understanding the market to monitoring and iterating after launch, covering key decisions along the way.

Following this process helps me reach the development phase better prepared. Without analyzing the data, I wouldn’t have arrived at many of these ideas. Designing without data rarely moves the needle, and sometimes it moves it without you even knowing how, which is terrible.

This isn’t a perfect linear process. Things change, new learnings emerge, and previous decisions may need revisiting. That’s part of the job. Learning and adapting are what allow product designers to create meaningful experiences that meet user needs and business goals.

There’s no perfect UX process. Different contexts call for different approaches. A good product designer reads the situation and chooses what fits best.

You don’t need to follow every new trend to build a great product. But you do need clarity in your thinking, and having a process helps you get there.

Thank you for your time!