RESEARCH PROJECT
| 2022.02–06 · TU/e
Safe Eat
Allergy-Aware Dining Experience
Helping diners with food allergies make safer, more confident ordering decisions.
4
research interviews
Explored allergy-related uncertainty in dining decisions.
2
testing rounds
Concept refined through iterative evaluation.
8
allergen categories
Represented in the prototype.
01
Overview
Designing a safer dining experience for people with food allergies
Safe Eat explored how digital menus could help people with food allergies make safer and more confident dining decisions.
While packaged food usually provides structured allergen information, restaurant ordering often depends on incomplete menu descriptions, inconsistent staff communication, and uncertainty around cross-contamination. This project investigated how a digital menu system could make allergy-related information clearer, more actionable, and easier to verify in real time.
Rather than simply displaying more information, the concept reframed the menu as a decision-support experience—helping users scan, filter, assess risk, and confirm safer choices before placing an order.
Project introduction video.
Role
UX Researcher & Interaction Designer
Project Type
Individual research and design project
Scope
UX research, interaction design, service design, concept development, prototyping, user testing
Team
Individual project by Poyang (David) Huang
Mentored by Yaliang Chuang (TU/e)
Institution
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e)
Project Status
Research concept · high-fidelity prototype
Duration
February–June 2022
02
Product Problem
Why dining with food allergies feels uncertain
For people with food allergies, dining out is not just inconvenient—it can be risky. Unlike grocery shopping, where packaged food is clearly labeled, restaurant decisions often depend on partial menu descriptions, uncertain staff knowledge, and the possibility of cross-contamination.
The core problem was therefore not a lack of food information alone. It was a lack of confidence at the moment of decision: users needed to understand what was safe enough to order, what required verification, and where uncertainty still remained.
03
Research Insights
Avoidance, verification, and dining stress
Interviews with people living with food allergies revealed a consistent pattern of proactive avoidance. Participants often felt more confident managing food at home, where labels and ingredients were clearer and more controllable. Dining out, however, remained stressful because menu information was incomplete, cross-contamination was difficult to assess, and staff communication could be unreliable.
The problem was therefore not simply identifying allergens. It was making a safe dining decision with enough confidence to place an order.
04
Design Direction
From uncertain menus to actionable safety signals
The design response focused on reducing decision uncertainty rather than simply displaying more information. Instead of treating allergen data as static labels, the concept reframed the menu as a guided decision-support system that helps users scan, filter, assess risk, and confirm safer choices before ordering.
The interface therefore needed to do more than present ingredients. It had to translate uncertainty into clearer signals and support action at the right moment.
05
Core Experience
A personal allergy-aware digital menu
The final concept was designed as a QR-based personal menu that diners could access on their own phones. Instead of relying only on restaurant-provided allergen labels, users could filter dishes based on their needs, review clearer safety signals, inspect ingredients and substitutions, and confirm safer choices before sending the order to the kitchen.
Using a personal device also supported privacy, convenience, and a more individualized safety experience.
Final Design
A personal, allergy-aware digital menu designed for quicker filtering, clearer risk visibility, and safer ordering.
Scan → Filter → Review → Confirm
Try the prototype ▶
Key features
UI Flow
06
Testing & Iteration
Refining the menu through user testing
The concept was tested in two rounds. An initial role-play session helped surface early usability issues and identify where allergen information, interaction feedback, and ordering flow needed refinement. A second round evaluated the improved prototype through semi-structured interviews.
Across both rounds, participants reported feeling more in control, less stressed, and more confident when allergen information was clearly filtered, visually signaled, and confirmed before ordering.
Round 1 — Initial User Test
The first prototype was tested in a simulated restaurant setting. Participants used the concept while ordering food and shared feedback on clarity, usability issues, and information needs for safer decision-making.
Round 2 — Refined Prototype Evaluation
A second round with a revised prototype showed improvements in confidence, clarity, and usability. Participants felt more in control and reported lower stress while making dining decisions.
Iteration takeaway: Testing showed that safety support depended not only on content accuracy, but also on how clearly uncertainty, confirmation, and next steps were communicated.
07
Key Takeaways
What this project showed
Safe Eat reinforced that safer dining is not only an information problem. People need to interpret risk, understand uncertainty, and feel confident enough to act on the information available to them.
The project therefore shifted the role of the digital menu from passive allergen disclosure toward active decision support.
01 — Safety signals matter
Filters and glanceable risk indicators can reduce the effort required to interpret menu safety and help users identify relevant options more quickly.
02 — Confidence can be designed
Clearer information hierarchy, confirmation, and substitution options gave users more control over the ordering process and reduced uncertainty at key decision points.
03 — Labels need nuance
A critical learning was the need to distinguish between “contains allergens” and “may contain allergens,” since trace exposure and cross-contamination can carry very different levels of risk.
04 — Digital support should complement human support
A digital menu can reduce uncertainty, but safer dining still benefits from staff communication, restaurant awareness, and clear escalation when information is incomplete.
Summary
The strongest design opportunity is therefore not simply better allergen disclosure, but helping diners move from uncertainty toward a safer and more confident decision.
