Helping families decide what to cook with less effort
Indofood is one of Indonesia’s leading consumer goods companies, with around 40 brands across noodles, dairy, snacks, seasonings, beverages, and other food categories. Its role in consumers’ lives extends beyond selling products. The company also seeks to understand the everyday problems its customers face and create useful ways to help solve them.
One of those problems is familiar to many households: deciding what to cook. Mothers often influence daily meal choices, yet they may run out of ideas, repeat the same recipes, or struggle to plan meals around the ingredients already available at home.
Indofood partnered with Suitmedia to revamp MasakApaYa, its digital cooking platform. The goal was to make recipe discovery faster, more relevant, and less mentally demanding, while helping users move from “What should I cook?” to a practical answer.
Recipe search was not only a content problem
1. A large recipe library can create more choice than clarity
MasakApaYa already had the potential to become a valuable source of cooking inspiration. But a large collection of recipes does not automatically make meal planning easier.
When users face too many options without a clear way to narrow them down, the search itself becomes tiring. They may browse without finding something suitable, abandon the website, or return to familiar recipes because choosing something new takes too much effort.
The challenge was therefore not simply to add more recipes. It was to help users identify the right recipe quickly, based on their household needs, preferences, available ingredients, and level of cooking experience.
2. The user’s real question was usually broader than “Find a recipe”
A mother looking for cooking inspiration may begin with different starting points. She may know the main ingredient in the refrigerator, want a particular type of dish, need a family-friendly menu, or simply want something different from what she prepared yesterday.
These are different forms of the same underlying need: reduce uncertainty around the next meal. A platform that assumes every user starts by typing a recipe name will miss many of the ways people actually make food decisions.
Suitmedia therefore approached the project by first asking why users needed MasakApaYa. This helped shift the focus from a traditional recipe database toward a more flexible decision-support experience.
3. Personal relevance mattered as much as usability
Indofood wanted to create a more helpful relationship with consumers, not just a static website containing cooking content. To do that, MasakApaYa needed to feel more relevant to each user.
If every visitor saw the same collection of recipes in the same order, the platform would place the burden of filtering on the user. Personalization offered a way to reduce that effort by using information provided during registration to present menus aligned with individual interests.
The purpose was not personalization for its own sake. It was to make the large volume of content feel more manageable and useful.
4. The experience needed to welcome different levels of confidence
Not every user approaches cooking with the same knowledge. Some may be experienced home cooks looking for inspiration, while others may be beginners who are unfamiliar with culinary terms, kitchen tools, or certain ingredients.
A platform designed only for experienced cooks could unintentionally exclude the very users who need the most guidance. MasakApaYa therefore needed to support both discovery and learning.
This broadened the project’s responsibility. The website had to help users choose what to cook, understand how to prepare it, and feel more confident throughout the process.
Designing the platform around how people make meal decisions
1. Begin with the two most important user needs
Suitmedia’s research and observation identified two central needs. First, users wanted to find interesting recipes suitable for their families quickly. Second, they wanted to select ingredients already available at home and discover what they could make with them.
These needs became the foundation for the new experience. Instead of treating the website as a library that users had to explore, the design treated it as a tool for helping them make a decision.
This distinction guided the information architecture, search flow, personalization, and feature priorities. Every major choice was evaluated against a simple question: does this help users reach a suitable meal with less effort?
2. Use a clean interface to keep attention on the decision
The visual design was made light and clean. This was a deliberate choice because the primary task was not to impress users with complexity; it was to help them choose.
A lighter interface reduced visual competition between recipes, categories, instructions, and promotional elements. It allowed food imagery and key actions to receive the attention they deserved without making the page feel crowded.
The design also supported faster scanning. Users could understand where to search, how to filter, and which recipe information mattered without having to interpret a complicated visual system.
3. Make personalization useful from the beginning
During registration, users provided information about their interests. MasakApaYa then used that information to present different menu recommendations to different users.
This made the platform more relevant without requiring users to manually filter the entire recipe collection every time they visited. A user interested in certain ingredients, menu types, or cooking preferences could receive content more closely aligned with those interests.
The benefit was both immediate and cumulative. As users encountered recipes that felt more relevant, they had more reason to return. Over time, repeated use could also help the platform become a more familiar part of meal planning rather than a one-time search destination.
4. Keep the primary search flow simple
Suitmedia designed a straightforward flow: users could begin by searching for a recipe or ingredient, then review a list of relevant recipes and select the one that best suited their needs.
This sequence reduced unnecessary steps between intention and result. Users did not need to understand the full structure of the website before beginning a search.
A simple flow also created a clear foundation for the platform’s more advanced features. Whether a user searched for “chicken,” a specific dish, or a broader ingredient combination, the experience led toward the same outcome: a manageable set of cooking possibilities.
5. Organize content around real cooking decisions
To make the recipe collection easier to explore, MasakApaYa organized content into categories including menu type, thematic menu, national dish, ingredient, and cooking technique.
These categories reflected different ways users might think about food. Someone may be planning breakfast, looking for an Indonesian dish, starting with an ingredient, or trying a particular cooking method.
The value of multiple entry points is that users do not have to translate their need into one specific search behavior. They can explore the platform using the language and context that feels most natural to them.
This reduced cognitive load by replacing an undifferentiated collection of recipes with clearer paths through the content.
6. Let ingredients become the starting point
The ingredient-based feature addressed one of the most practical situations in home cooking: deciding what to do with what is already in the refrigerator.
Users could combine available ingredients and receive recipe suggestions based on that combination. This reversed the traditional recipe-search process. Instead of starting with a dish and then gathering ingredients, users could start with their existing supplies and discover possible dishes.
The feature also helped reduce waste and improve everyday practicality. It connected digital inspiration with the physical reality of the household kitchen, making the platform more useful at the exact moment a meal decision needed to be made.
7. Add guidance for users who need more than inspiration
MasakApaYa introduced Masakpedia to help users who were less familiar with cooking terminology, kitchen tools, spices, and other ingredients.
This feature recognized that a recipe can still feel inaccessible even when it is easy to find. If a user does not understand a cooking term or know how to use a particular tool, the platform must provide enough context to help them continue.
Cooking videos extended this support by showing the preparation process step by step. Visual instruction can reduce uncertainty in ways that written recipes alone may not, particularly for users learning a technique for the first time.
Together, Masakpedia and the cooking videos helped the platform serve as both a recipe discovery tool and a practical learning resource.
8. Connect content usefulness with Indofood’s broader relationship
The platform was designed around consumer needs, but it also strengthened Indofood’s role in everyday food decisions. The company could support users before, during, and after product purchase by helping them decide what to cook and how to prepare it.
This created a more meaningful role for the brand. Indofood was not only appearing as a producer of food products; it was providing useful guidance around the routines in which those products were used.
That distinction matters in consumer goods. A digital platform becomes more valuable when it contributes to a household habit rather than functioning only as a promotional catalogue.
Engagement increased when discovery became easier
1. The redesigned experience attracted more visits
Within 30 days of the new website launch, MasakApaYa recorded a 228% increase in pageviews and a 142% increase in monthly visitors compared with the previous period.
These results indicate that the redesigned platform gained significantly more attention after launch. The combination of a clearer interface, more relevant content, and stronger discovery features gave users more reasons to visit and explore the site.
The increase in pageviews also suggests that users were not only arriving at the platform, but interacting with more of its content. This is consistent with the project’s objective of making recipe discovery more engaging and useful.
2. Users explored more content during each visit
Pages per session increased by 23%. This is an important signal because it points to deeper exploration rather than simple increases in traffic.
When users move through more pages, they may be comparing recipes, exploring categories, reading cooking guidance, or looking for additional inspiration. In this case, the result suggests that the improved structure helped users continue their journey beyond the first page.
The platform became easier to browse without becoming directionless. Users had more ways to explore, but the categories and search flows gave that exploration a clear purpose.
3. Visitors spent longer with the experience
Average session duration increased by 7.5%. A longer session does not automatically mean a better experience, since users may sometimes spend more time because they are confused.
However, when considered alongside increased pages per session and a lower bounce rate, the result points toward more productive engagement. Users appeared more willing to remain on the platform and interact with its recipe content.
The improvement suggests that the platform was better able to support the full decision process, from initial discovery to recipe consideration and learning.
4. Fewer users left immediately
The bounce rate decreased by 16%. This indicates that fewer visitors left after viewing only one page.
A lower bounce rate can reflect several improvements working together: clearer first impressions, more relevant content, better navigation, and stronger reasons to continue. It suggests that users were more likely to find an accessible next step after arriving at the website.
This is particularly important for a recipe platform. If visitors leave before searching or browsing, the size of the recipe collection does not matter. The redesign helped make the first interaction more effective.
5. The platform became more useful as a repeat destination
The combined engagement improvements strengthened MasakApaYa’s potential as an ongoing resource for meal planning. The website was no longer dependent only on users searching for a specific recipe; it could support discovery through personalized recommendations, ingredient combinations, categories, educational content, and videos.
That broader usefulness creates a stronger basis for return visits. A user may come back with a different ingredient, a new family preference, or a desire to learn a new technique.
The second-order effect is greater community maturity around the platform. As more users interact with the content and find value in different features, MasakApaYa can serve not only as a database, but as a recurring destination for cooking inspiration and practical knowledge.
The deeper lesson: reduce the work behind everyday decisions
1. Personalization works when it removes effort
Personalization is valuable when it helps users make decisions faster. Showing different content to different people is not enough; the recommendations must make the user’s next step clearer.
MasakApaYa used registration data to reduce the amount of filtering required. This made personalization a practical tool for lowering effort rather than a purely technical feature.
2. Search should reflect how people think, not how databases are organized
Users may search by ingredient, meal type, cooking method, theme, or dish name. Providing several paths acknowledges that people do not always approach a recipe platform with the same vocabulary or intent.
The lesson applies beyond food. Digital services become easier to use when their structure reflects real user decisions rather than internal content classifications alone.
3. Educational content expands who can participate
A platform becomes more inclusive when it supports users who are still learning. Explanations, tool guidance, ingredient definitions, and step-by-step videos help reduce the fear of making mistakes.
This broadens the platform’s addressable audience and can increase confidence over time. Users may return not only because they need a recipe, but because they are developing new skills.
4. Strong engagement comes from usefulness, not volume
The results were driven by more than a large recipe collection. The platform became more effective because it helped users narrow choices, use available ingredients, and understand the cooking process.
The principle is simple: content creates value when it helps people complete a real task. More content without better discovery can increase confusion rather than engagement.
5. A brand can become part of a household routine
By helping with meal planning, Indofood moved beyond product communication into everyday utility. The platform created more opportunities for the brand to be present when consumers were deciding, preparing, and learning.
This kind of usefulness can strengthen brand relevance over time. When a brand helps solve a recurring problem, it can earn a more durable place in people’s routines.
Strategic Insights for the C-Suite
- Design digital services around the decision customers are trying to make. A large content library has limited value if users cannot quickly identify what is relevant. Start with the user’s real question, then build the structure around helping them answer it.
- Use personalization to reduce effort, not to display complexity. Recommendations matter when they shorten the path to a useful outcome. The best personalization makes the service feel simpler and more relevant.
- Offer multiple paths to the same outcome. Different users begin with different information and vocabulary. Supporting several natural entry points can widen adoption without making the core experience harder to understand.
- Turn content into practical guidance. Explanations, examples, and step-by-step instruction help users act on information. This can increase engagement while making the brand more useful to people with different levels of confidence.
- Measure engagement as evidence of usefulness. Traffic matters, but deeper signals such as pages per session, time spent, and bounce rate help reveal whether users are finding reasons to continue. The goal is not simply to attract attention, but to help people complete a meaningful task.
