01 β Overview
The Challenge
Nepal's food delivery market is growing fast, but the existing apps β Foodmandu, Bhojdeals and others β share a visual identity that feels imported rather than built for Nepal. Generic flat icons, neutral colour palettes, and interfaces that could belong to any city in South Asia. Swaadd (ΰ€Έΰ₯ΰ€΅ΰ€Ύΰ€¦) β meaning "taste" in Nepali β is a concept for a food delivery app designed from the ground up for Kathmandu, with a visual language that reflects local culture.
The goal was a complete hi-fidelity design handoff: 4 separate apps (Customer, Seller, Rider, Admin), a unified design system, and full Figma component specs β everything a development team would need to build.
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Generic Visual Identity
Existing apps look identical to international competitors β no local cultural identity or visual language rooted in Nepal.
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No Nepal-First Design System
No food delivery app in Nepal had a documented design system with Devanagari type, local colour tokens, and NPR-first pricing.
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Fragmented User Roles
Customer, seller and rider experiences are often crammed into one app β creating cognitive overload for each user type.
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Payment Integration Gaps
Nepali users rely on eSewa, Khalti and COD. Most apps treat these as afterthoughts rather than primary payment flows.
02 β Research
Competitive Landscape
I audited three key food delivery platforms in Nepal to understand what existed and where the design opportunity lay.
| Criteria | Foodmandu | Bhojdeals | Pathao Food |
|---|
| Local Visual Identity | Generic | Partial | International |
| Design System | Informal | None visible | Consistent |
| Devanagari Support | None | None | None |
| eSewa / Khalti First | Supported | Supported | Prominent |
| Dedicated Seller App | Web only | No | Yes |
| Rider App | Yes | No | Yes |
| Admin Dashboard | Basic | Unknown | Yes |
Key Opportunity
No competitor uses Devanagari type, a locally-rooted colour system, or positions its visual identity as distinctly Nepali. Swaadd can own that space β a food delivery platform that looks and feels like it was built in Kathmandu, not adapted from a Delhi or Jakarta template.
03 β User Research
User Personas
I defined two primary user personas representing the most critical roles in the Swaadd ecosystem β the customer ordering food and the restaurant seller managing their business.
Goals
Order momos and dal bhat quickly during lunch. Track delivery in real time. Pay with eSewa without friction.
Frustrations
Apps that redirect to browser for payment. Estimated times that are always wrong. No Nepali language option.
Behaviour
Orders 3-4 times per week. Decides based on rating and delivery time. Checks order history to reorder favourites.
eSewa userMobile-firstRepeat ordererRating-conscious
Goals
Manage incoming orders in real time. See daily revenue and ratings. Update menu prices without calling support.
Frustrations
Complex dashboards with too many tabs. Order notifications that arrive late. No clear way to accept or reject orders quickly.
Behaviour
Uses the app on a tablet behind the counter. Checks earnings weekly. Updates menu seasonally.
Tablet userRevenue-focusedNeeds simplicityReal-time ops
04 β Design Principles
What Shaped Every Decision
π³π΅Nepal-First Identity
Every colour, typeface and icon choice should feel rooted in Nepali culture β not borrowed from a generic template.
πOne System, Four Apps
All 4 apps share one design system. Users switching between roles should feel instant familiarity.
β‘Speed Over Decoration
Delivery apps are used under time pressure. Every screen should resolve the user's need in the fewest possible taps.
π³Local Payments First
eSewa and Khalti are not secondary options β they are the primary payment methods for Nepali users.
πHandoff-Ready Components
Every component is documented with tokens, spacing values, and state variants β developer-ready from day one.
πBilingual by Design
Devanagari and Latin text must coexist naturally. Mukta was chosen as the typeface because it was built for exactly this.
05 β Design System
Colour Tokens & Typography
The Swaadd design system is built on 5 colour tokens that reflect Nepali cultural associations β red for energy and appetite, saffron for warmth and tradition, green for freshness, blue for trust, and cream for warmth.
Display / App Name β Syne
Swaadd
Bilingual Label β Mukta (Devanagari + Latin)
ΰ€Έΰ₯ΰ€΅ΰ€Ύΰ€¦ Β· Taste
Body / UI Text β DM Sans
Thamel, Kathmandu βΌ Β· Search momos, dal bhat, chowmeinβ¦
Tags / Labels β DM Sans Bold
Hi-Fidelity Design Β· Design Handoff Ready
06 β App Architecture
Four Apps, One System
Each app is designed for a distinct user role with its own primary goal β but all share the same token set, component library and interaction patterns.
- Welcome screen with eSewa / Khalti login
- Home feed β promo banners, category pills, restaurant cards
- Cart & checkout with live order tracking and map
- Dashboard β revenue, order count, ratings at a glance
- Incoming orders β accept / reject with one tap
- Online / offline toggle with 15-second order accept timer
- Delivery flow β pickup β en route β delivered with earnings
- Analytics dashboard β 1,284 orders Β· 124 restaurants Β· Rs 12.8L revenue
- Weekly orders chart, top restaurants, recent activity feed
07 β Key Design Decisions
Why I Designed It This Way
01
Deep Red as Primary
Red (#B5281C) was chosen as primary not just for appetite appeal, but because it echoes Nepali cultural associations β temples, festivals, sindoor. It makes Swaadd feel distinctly local.
02
Mukta as the Typeface
Mukta handles both Devanagari and Latin at the same weight and optical size β the only typeface that lets "Swaadd" and "ΰ€Έΰ₯ΰ€΅ΰ€Ύΰ€¦" sit on the same line without visual tension.
03
15-Second Rider Timer
The accept/decline timer was set to 15 seconds after benchmarking against Pathao and Foodmandu β long enough to read the order details, short enough to keep delivery SLAs realistic.
04
eSewa Login on Welcome Screen
Rather than a standard email/password login, the customer app leads with eSewa login β meeting Nepali users at the payment method they already trust and use daily.
05
Role-Specific App Colors
Customer uses Primary Red, Seller uses Green, Rider uses Blue, Admin uses Saffron β all from the same palette but unmistakably different. Users always know which role they're in.
06
Design Tokens Over Hardcoded Values
Every colour, spacing and type size is a named token β not a hex code typed inline. This makes the handoff reliable and ensures the developer builds what was designed.
08 β Reflections
What I Learned
01
Designing for multiple user roles requires systems thinking β when 4 apps share one design system, every component decision has 4x the consequences. Tokens aren't optional β they're what keeps everything consistent.02
Cultural identity is a design decision β choosing Mukta over Inter, and deep red over orange, wasn't aesthetic preference. It was a deliberate choice to make Swaadd feel like it belongs in Kathmandu.03
Hi-fi without wireframes first is dangerous β I built this as a hi-fi first pass, and some screen flows were revised 3-4 times because structural problems only appeared at pixel level. Wireframes (like the ΰ€ΰ€Ύΰ€¨ΰ€Ύ App document) should always come first.04
Payment UX is product UX β in Nepal, how you pay is as important as what you're buying. Treating eSewa and Khalti as primary β not secondary β changed the entire onboarding flow design.
What Comes Next
The hi-fi handoff is complete. Here's what would follow if this project moved into development.
π§ͺUsability Testing
Test with 5 real users per role β customer, seller, rider β to validate flows before a single line of code is written.
πFull Bilingual UI
Expand all screens to full Nepali-language variants. The design system already supports it β it needs copy written in Devanagari.
π±Android Variant
Current designs target iPhone 14 Pro. An Android variant following Material 3 guidelines would be needed before launch in Nepal's market.
π View Full PDF Handoff