Yum Lab — Learn. Cook. Shop. Designed for Kids

Three questions to the project team

What was the particular challenge of the project from a UX point of view?
The core UX challenge was balancing three competing needs simultaneously. First, the interface had to feel playful and approachable for a 12-year-old without feeling childish. The tone and visual language needed to treat kids as capable individuals. Second, real safety concerns had to be embedded into the experience invisibly: appliance recognition triggers safety tutorials before dangerous tools are used, and parent payment verification keeps families in the loop without making kids feel supervised. Third, cooking is a complex, multi-step physical skill. Translating that into clear, hands-free digital guidance without overwhelming young users required every instruction to earn its place on screen.

What was your personal highlight in the development process? Was there an aha!-moment, was there a low point?
The inspiration was deeply personal. Growing up, I ate whatever my parents cooked, dishes chosen for their taste, not mine. My younger brother still does, and I watch him get frustrated every mealtime. That frustration became my design brief. The aha-moment was realizing this is a problem with two sides: kids who want agency over what they eat, and parents who want more time for themselves. Yum Lab is my answer to both. It gives kids real independence starting in the kitchen, and gives parents the gift of one less daily decision. Designing a genuine win-win outcome is what I always aim for, and this project finally gave me one.

Where do you see yourself and the project in the next five years?
In five years, I see Yum Lab as a leading platform in children's life-skills education, an app that parents trust and kids genuinely love to open. Beyond features and downloads, I hope it shifts how families think about independence: that a 13-year-old cooking their own dinner is not a burden lifted, but a capability earned. For myself, this project confirmed that the most meaningful design problems are hiding in ordinary family life. I want to keep finding them, the daily frustrations no one has thought to solve yet, and building products that make real life a little more joyful for everyone involved.