02 · Case Study · Hospitality
Designing
Allergy-safe
Food Ordering
for Restaurants.
An app for anyone with a food allergy or intolerance — any age, any severity. Not necessarily someone anxious. Just someone who wants to feel informed and safe when ordering at a restaurant.
During a shift, I asked my colleagues if any of them had allergies. Everyone said no. A small moment that proved exactly how easily this issue gets overlooked.
Chapter 01 · The Problem
Where is the problem?
I've worked in hospitality my whole career. I've seen both sides — customers unsure whether their allergy was properly communicated, and staff without full knowledge of what's in the dish.
Between the table and the kitchen, the handoff depends on memory and goodwill. The person with the most at stake is the one with the least visibility.
That gap is where
things go wrong.
Chapter 02 · The Brief
Design something that bridges that gap — making ordering feel safe, clear, and calm for anyone with a food allergy.
Chapter 03 · Process
How I approached it.
I didn't start with competitor research. I started with what I already knew from years of working in restaurants. That lived knowledge shaped every decision in this project.
Before opening Figma, I sketched the flow on paper — figuring out which screens I needed and how they would connect.
Then I moved everything into Figma, where I kept every version of every screen throughout the process. I wanted to be able to trace each choice back to the version it came from.
Chapter 04 · The Solution
Here is my solution.
The app guides the user through four screens — from setting up an allergy profile, to browsing a filtered menu, to confirming the order.
And it doesn't stop at the customer. A kitchen-side notification closes the loop on the other end, where the real risk actually lives. The solution is only complete when both sides see the same thing.
Chapter 05 · Key Decisions
Five choices behind the design.
Severity set once, not per allergen
Severity is based on all of a user's allergies — one setting, applied uniformly — so setup has less friction. The kitchen always sees the strictest threshold that applies.
A floating Order Safely CTA
The primary action stays in view as users scroll the menu, so focus stays on the food. The decision to commit never gets buried below the fold.
Unsafe dishes stay visible
Red-flagged dishes remain on the menu, with an active add button. Users often eat with people who don't share their allergy — the app shouldn't narrow their table, only the risk.
Icons alongside color
Warning and check signs sit on top of the red and green labels on the left of each dish. The signal comes through even for users with contrast sensitivity or color-blindness.
A kitchen-side notification
The loop closes in the kitchen. A dedicated notification surfaces the allergy details and requires a Confirm or Decline — because the real risk lives on the other side of the pass.
Chapter 06 · Lessons
What I learned.
One of the most practical things I learned during this project was the importance of consistent spacing. It sounds simple, but applying it properly across every screen made a visible difference to how polished the final result felt.
I'm also proud of the progress visible across my saved versions. Each iteration looks similar, but the small decisions add up to something that feels intentional by the end.
If I'd had more time, I would have loved to conduct a few user interviews with people who actually have food allergies, to validate whether the flow felt as safe and calm to them as I intended.
Chapter 07 · Reflection
Why this one mattered.
This project came directly from my world. Working in restaurants gave me an understanding of both the customer's uncertainty and the kitchen's chaos.
Designing both sides of the experience — the restaurant and the kitchen — felt complete to me. It doesn't make sense to design one thing without including the roots.
— Milou
Chapter 08 · The Prototype
Try it yourself.
The full flow, exactly as it was designed — from allergy profile to kitchen confirmation.
Fig. 01 — Interactive Figma prototype. Use the controls to navigate. Open in Figma ↗