Introduction
Epicurious is Condé Nast’s recipe platform, trusted by millions of home cooks and culinary enthusiasts around the world. With a library of over 50,000 professionally tested recipes from renowned sources like Bon Appétit and Gourmet, it has been a go-to destination for reliable, diverse, and delicious cooking inspiration for more than two decades. Our vision is to build a vibrant community that fosters deeper connections between our readers, our editors, and the brands they love.
Community Goals
Our goal is to build habits that drive engagement among our readers. We’re focused on increasing:
The number of logged-in users
Time spent on our sites
Interactions such as comments, likes, and replies
This initiative is designed to expand a toolkit of community features, including commenting, rating, and voting. To start, we developed a flexible, foundational backend using Coral and a unified O&O platform that any brand can easily adopt.
Community & Utility
User Engagement
Culinary Authority
How Reviews & Ratings used to be served on Epicurious App
The previous Review and Ratings section on Epicurious allowed users to rate or review recipes, including the option for anonymous submissions. However, with limited flexibility and interactivity, there was an opportunity to create a more dynamic and engaging community experience.
User Experience Research
Objective
For H2, the objective is to ideate on fostering community within the Epicurious app to attract users and drive loyal usage. This initiative is informed by in-house research on gaps in the current ratings experience, as well as we interviewed 7 participants who are subscribers and free users who are actively engaged in food and recipe communities.
Methodology
Study method: 60 mins, remote, moderated
Number of participants & age: 7; 18-60
Location: US
User type: Subscribers, Free users engaged in community interactions; Recruited via usertesting.com
Surface tested: Epicurious App, Recipe apps/sites
Research Questions
How well does the current rating and reviewing experience serve the needs of our users?
How do users perceive ‘community engagement’ in the context of a recipe app - Epicurious?
What expectations do the users have about ‘community engagement’ on a recipe app - Epicurious?
Which alternative platforms do users turn to when they are unable to find specific content on Epicurious?
Where was the review experience falling short?
Hard to Gauge Review Sentiment
Users struggle to quickly understand the overall sentiment of reviews due to the lack of visible or summarised ratings alongside review texts.
Limited Interactivity and Expression
The review section lacks interactive features such as conversational threads, the ability to ask questions, validate information, or attach photos to reviews.
Time-Consuming to Find Valuable Information
Users have difficulty identifying helpful tips, suggestions, or ingredient substitutions because relevant information is buried within long blocks of text.
No Option for Quick Feedback
Users are unable to express quick reactions or select from pre-filled review tags (e.g., "easy to follow", "great taste"), forcing them to write longer reviews for simple feedback.
Dependence on External Resources
Users often leave the app to consult third-party sources (Google, YouTube, AI assistants) for clarifications about unfamiliar ingredients or cooking techniques.
Quick Statistics
85%
of users trust named reviews more than anonymous ones.
99%+
of users rely on reviews for engagement and trusting the recipe.
30%
of reviews are updated, and 77% of initially negative ratings become positive upon revision.
What are we trying to solve
“The old Epicurious ratings and reviews section made it difficult for users to quickly extract useful insights, engage with others, or share feedback efficiently, which led many to leave the platform in search of better answers and inspiration elsewhere.”
1
Users lacked motivation to leave comments due to limited collaboration option.
2
Standalone comments without ratings didn’t build enough trust.
3
Lack of interaction with editors or fellow cooks created a disconnect.
Our solutions for a better Community Experience
Transform the community into a place where users can easily discover tips, tricks, shared experiences, and even interact with other users.
Enable comment threads and group activities so users can connect, collaborate, and feel like part of the Epi community.
Have easy-to-use tags for users to add to their comments, allowing quick feedback without the need for lengthy notes that can get lost in long discussions.
Always display a rating with every review to clarify the user’s experience and provide reasoning for feedback.
Enable users to upload images, letting them share their cooking journeys and visually document their experiences throughout.
Adding a Note flow
Registered users with a username can add likes, replies, and 'Notes.' Calling them 'Notes' creates a personalised feel, making it the perfect space for users to drop quick tips and questions for the community.
“Create Username” screen in Onboarding flow
When a user signs up for the first time, they are asked to create a username during their onboarding journey.
Users can choose to skip this step, but they will be asked again when they try to like a recipe, add a note, or reply.
“Create Username” in recipe page flow
Subscribed users can freely view recipe pages and the comment section. However, to add a comment, reply, or like, they must first set a Username. If a user attempts any of these actions without a name, a modal will appear prompting them to create one.
Phase 2 Community Engagement
Phase 2 will significantly enhance community engagement by introducing new ways for readers to interact with each other and our content. Key features include the ability to communicate directly with our Editors and the option for users to add images to their comments.
