BerlinBites

A Trust-First Restaurant Review Experience

Overview

BerlinBites is a community-driven restaurant discovery app built to solve one major problem in today’s food platforms: people don’t trust reviews anymore. Most apps allow restaurants or users to delete, edit, or hide comments — creating doubt, manipulation, and inconsistent experiences.
BerlinBites redesigns this entire system with a transparent and immutable review structure, backed by engineering that prevents any form of deletion or tampering.

Our UX approach focused on trust, clarity, and honest conversations between customers and restaurants.

The Problem

Users consistently expressed frustration with existing food apps because:

  • They were unsure if reviews were real or filtered.

  • Some comments felt fake or outdated.

  • Negative experiences often disappeared.

  • Communication with restaurants was limited or nonexistent.

This lack of transparency made it difficult for people to make confident decisions.

UX Goal

Design a platform where trust is the core experience — not through fancy UI tricks, but through transparent system behavior, open communication, and predictable interactions.

Solution

1. Permanent, Non-Deletable Reviews (Tech-Backed Trust)

No user, restaurant, or admin can delete a submitted review.
This backend constraint becomes a UX strength: it makes the platform credible, honest, and resistant to manipulation.

2. Direct Restaurant–Customer Communication

Restaurants can reply publicly to any review, enabling:

  • Real customer service

  • Accountability

  • Visible issue resolution

  • Human-centered transparency

Reviews become conversations, not isolated comments.

3. Simplified Review Flow (Uber-Inspired)

To encourage authentic feedback, the review process is extremely fast:

  • 5-star rating

  • Selectable quick tags

  • Optional short comment

This keeps reviews natural, consistent, and easy to contribute.

UX Process Highlights

User Interviews

Revealed that trust was the primary barrier preventing users from relying on food apps.

Journey Mapping

Showed emotional friction at the decision stage, especially when choosing new restaurants.

Low-Fidelity Wireframes

Explored layout clarity and transparency features:

  • All reviews visible

  • Public restaurant replies

  • Verified visit indicators

  • Clean navigation patterns

 

High-Fidelity UI

A modern, minimal, friendly design that visually supports the theme of honesty and clarity.

Prototype Testing

Users felt more confident when reading permanent reviews and appreciated the open communication model.

Impact

For Users

  • Higher trust in restaurant choices

  • Honest, unfiltered experiences

  • Confidence when trying new places

For Restaurants

  • Real customer service opportunities

  • Public accountability

  • Stronger connection with local customers

  • Transparency leading to loyalty

For the Platform

  • Strong community engagement

  • Healthier review culture

  • Clear differentiation from competitors

Case Study Visual Structure

1. Personas — Understanding Our Users

Personas were created based on interviews and research.
The main insight: users need trustworthy reviews and transparent communication.

2. Wireframes — Exploring the Solution

Low-fidelity wireframes helped test structures focused on trust, clarity, and simple review submission.

3. High-Fidelity Prototype — Bringing the Experience to Life

The final UI highlights transparency: non-deletable reviews, visible restaurant replies, and a clean visual system that supports trust.

4. Video — Transparent Review Journey

A short demo showing the entire experience: reading permanent reviews, engaging with restaurant responses, and posting feedback.

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