Ketchapp
Sharing is even better when you only have to pay your share.
- Ketchapp
- Product Design
Context
Designing for shared experiences
Ketchapp was a concept I worked on to rethink the group dining experience through a mobile interface. The idea was simple, but the interactions were not: multiple people, shared items, individual payments, and real-time updates all happening at once. My focus was less about features and more about making this complexity feel effortless.
Problems
When everything is shared, nothing is clear
Designing for groups introduces a layer of ambiguity that’s hard to control. Who ordered what, who’s sharing, and how the total is split can quickly become confusing. I needed to design a system that keeps everyone aligned without forcing users to stop and think.
Lack of clarity in group orders
It’s often unclear who ordered what, especially as more items are added and shared between people.
Mental overhead when splitting the bill
Users have to remember what they consumed or manually calculate their share, which creates friction at the end of the experience.
Invisible group activity
There’s no easy way to see what others are ordering in real time, making the experience feel disconnected.
Unclear ownership of items
Shared dishes and drinks create ambiguity around responsibility and cost distribution.
Challenge
How might we design a group ordering experience that feels clear and fair for everyone, without overwhelming the user with complexity?
Approach
Breaking complexity into moments
I approached the flow as a sequence of small, predictable steps: joining a table, browsing, ordering, and splitting the bill. Instead of exposing everything upfront, I layered information progressively, showing just enough at each moment.
Design principles
The design principles were centered around clarity, trust, and relevance. The goal was to make complex information easy to understand, while reinforcing credibility and helping users make quick decisions with confidence.
1. Clarity over completeness
Not everything needs to be visible at once. Reducing cognitive load was more important than exposing every detail.
2. Individual control within a group
Each user should feel ownership over their actions, while still participating in a shared table.
3. Make shared actions visible
Group interactions are invisible by default, so small cues help users understand what’s happening around them.
4. Reduce friction in key moments
Joining, ordering, and paying are critical actions: they needed to be fast, obvious, and forgiving.
Impact
Removing the awkward parts
The final design sits lightly on top of the dining experience. It doesn’t try to change how restaurants work. It simply removes friction, especially around ordering and splitting the bill in a group.
