A quick comparison of two cooking iPad apps shows some great design practices--and some bad ones.

1. EPICURIOUS versus BIG OVEN
{ A brief review of two iPad recipe apps}

2. The graphic interfaces of the Epicurious and Big Oven apps are very
polished, with vibrant graphics and well-organized layouts.
But the user interface—how people actually search and use recipes—
hasn’t been as carefully considered. Let’s view each app’s
landing screen, attempt a search, read a recipe, add ingredients to a
grocery list and then check the list.
As a quick visual cue, Epicurious screens will have a gray backgrounds,
while Big Oven will have white.

3. EPICURIOUS Landing Screen (Part 1)
Tapping Featured shows
Epicurious’ seasonal
search categories
Users can also select
Search or Favorites, or
their shopping list

4. EPICURIOUS Landing Screen (Part 2)
Users can search by
entering text AND by
tapping icons, leading to
confusing results
This pop-up search
method is inefficient.
Users must swipe to
find the correct icons,
and the complicated
interface is hard to use.

5. BIG OVEN Landing Screen
Easy search is key:
better to have provided
a text search field at
the top of the pop-up

6. EPICURIOUS Search Results
Well organized,
easy to scan, with the
tabs providing
filters along the side
Recipes can’t be
rated on the iPad,
diminishing positive
user experience

7. BIG OVEN Search Results
Recipe tags are not
helpful due to repetition
(main dishes) and
confusing categories
(what’s the difference
between ribs, roasts,
steaks and chops etc?).
Preparation and
total cooking times
would be more helpful.
EPICU R IO U S ve rsu s B IG O V EN

8. EPICURIOUS Recipe
The ingredients can
only be seen in the
pop-up, which obscures
the recipe text
Users must repeatedly
tap between the
ingredients and the
recipe to make the dish

9. BIG OVEN Recipe
Tapping Prepare redraws
the screen with larger
text and extends the
iPad’s active-screen
timer, though few users
will realize it
The ingredients and
recipe are shown
together, making it
easy to follow.

10. EPICURIOUS Add to Grocery List
Tapping this icon the
changes its color,
indicating ALL
ingredients have been
added to the grocery
list. Ingredients can’t
be individually added

11. BIG OVEN Add to Grocery List
Sure to confuse users,
boxes can be checked...
...OR text can be tapped,
which highlights the row
and provides a pop-up.
Neither method actually
functions correctly, and
ALL of the ingredients
will be added to the list.

12. EPICURIOUS Grocery List
No indication of
checkboxes’ function
Items cannot be deleted
on this screen, only on
the recipe screen. Few
users will discover that.
The list will become too
long and users will avoid
this function entirely

13. BIG OVEN Grocery List
Custom items can be
entered here, but users
might assume these are
labels for the columns
below. Leading off with
the word “Add” would
provide a visual cue
Users have to tap Edit
and enter another
pop-up to delete
items, neither
intuitive nor efficient
No indication of
checkboxes’ function
Poor information
architecture has led to
two unusable entries
(how big a roast? what’s
missing from Other?)

14. In summary, both apps have appealing graphic interfaces
which take good advantage of the iPad’s amazing screen fidelity.
Unfortunately neither user interface has been planned out
carefully enough, and users will be frustrated by some overly-complicated
search functions, difficult recipe usage and disastrous grocery lists.