Dabbio
0-1 design
food + drink
Designed for the coffee enthusiast, professional and casual coffee drinker, Dabbio allows for exploration through maps, guides and community. Browse casually or take a deep dive into the specialty coffee scene.
Background
Coffee shops are unique in that they serve different purposes for different people. They can be a quick stop for a caffeine boost, a remote office, a creative space, or simply a place to sit and enjoy a book. It’s for this reason that people frequent coffee shops where they live and when they travel. But for some, it's about much more than convenience.
Problem
Coffee enthusiasts find themselves sifting through Google or Apple Maps when traveling, but find it hard to separate specialty shops from average shops. If research is done beforehand, they may find themselves sifting through blogs and relying on word of mouth recommendations since they tend to be more trustworthy than an online review. The specialty coffee community is missing out on a deeper connection that elevates the enthusiast's experience, while increasing shop credibility and visibility.
Solution
An elevated coffee discovery experience curated by coffee drinkers and baristas. Whether users want to dive deep into coffee culture or simply find their next shop on the map, Dabbio enhances the visibility and credibility of specialty cafes while fostering a stronger connection within the community.
Timeline
5 weeks
MY ROLE
Research
UX/UI Design
Brand identity
TOOLS
Figma
Maze
Search by city or cafe, see what’s close by, browse Dabbio’s curated guides, and filter your search to find the type of cafe you have in mind – looking for a cafe serving pour overs? There’s a filter for that.
Create and organize lists for yourself and to share with others, discover users with similar tastes, and follow user-created lists to use as guides and engage with the Dabbio community.
“I’ve had some great travel days that started with me sitting outside a cafe, watching the world go by.”
– interview participant
RESEARCH
Identifying the opportunity space
I spent the initial part of the research process looking into industry standards, looking. I audited three coffee discovery apps (European Coffee Trip, Roasters, and Best Coffee), and two adjacent exploration apps (Untappd and AllTrails).
The coffee focused apps identified specialty shops, but the amount and type of information displayed varied from shop to shop. One shop may have ample information, while another has sparse to none.
When looking into Untappd and AllTrails, the benefits of combining map-based exploration with social features became clear.
Understanding that it's about more than just coffee
I conducted interviews with participants who fell under at least one of the following categories:
People who visit specialty coffee shops
People who research coffee shops for upcoming trips
People who seek out specialty coffee shops while traveling
People who consider themselves coffee hobbyists or enthusiasts
Affinity mapping helped me organize insights and identify the following themes:
MORE THAN A CAFFEINE FIX
Coffee shops serve different purposes for different people, but for most, it's a ritualistic aspect of their day.
THE DETAILS MATTER
How the business is run impacts people's opinions of the shop. Quality, consistency, and overall experience matter the most. What equipment is used? Where are the beans sourced from? Are the baristas friendly and professional?
CONVENIENCE IS NICE, BUT TRUSTED OPINIONS GO FURTHER
The search often starts with Google or Apple Maps, sometimes getting more niche with coffee blogs, but people love the recommendation of a friend or barista.
TRAVEL ITINERARIES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Specific shops may be worked into the travel itinerary, and sometimes encourage exploration for a better or unique coffee experience.
"I always enjoyed going to wherever the nearest specialty coffee place was and getting espresso and tasting it, and thinking 'Well, how do they do it here? What beans are they using?' so it was always a way to kind of augment my travel experience…"
– interview participant
STRATEGY
A Coffee Tourist and a Casual Sipper walk into a cafe…
How might we highlight and present the local coffee scene to coffee enthusiasts, so that it enhances their experience at home and while traveling?
Dialing in the features
I wanted to design something that was informative and approachable with a communal and social aspect. However, for the scope of this project, I decided to focus on the informative features to lay a solid foundation.
Coffee shop profiles
Highlight local shops offerings and keep users informed
MAP OF SPECIALITY COFFEE SHOPS
Encourage exploration and awareness of local shops
SAVE & SHARE SHOPS
Create lists and engage with the Dabbio community
CURATED GUIDES
Explore cities with guides designed to maximize your coffee experience
Curated guides are what set this app apart from the others by providing a personal and valuable touch to the user experience.
“It’s really nice to talk to the baristas about where else to go because it’s a more localized experience then just like using Google Maps.”
– interview participant
I put together a sitemap to get a feel for how the screens could look and flow.
I mapped out two user flows to show the movement through the tasks of saving a coffee shop and sharing a coffee shop profile.
USER FLOW FOR SAVING A Coffee shop TO A LIST
USER FLOW FOR sharing a coffee shop with another user
DESIGN
Wireframing the possibilities
I decided on key screens and began sketching different layout options.
explore screen A
Combines map and list view with expandable bottom sheet.
explore screen B
toggle between MAP and LIST VIEW with swipeable card carousel.
I went with screen A for the explore page since it followed a familiar design pattern used in Google Maps and other commonly used navigation apps. Next, I brought the wireframes to mid-fidelity.
I created a prototype for the first round of usability testing to validate the two flows.
While waiting for usability test results to brew, I worked on branding to keep things moving.
Defining Dabbio’s brand while steering clear of coffee puns
I recently learned that “Dabbio” is what my 4 year old niece says instead of “cheers” simply because it’s silly and makes her laugh. It stuck with me and I began loosely calling the app Dabbio. While it’s a made up word (don’t tell my niece), I liked the idea around the meaning of cheers and the sense of community that comes with it.
I was drawn to the bold colors of travel posters, passport stamps, luggage tags, and old city maps. I took the bold orange found in these references and adjusted it to be slightly more earth-toned, complementing the natural aspect of coffee.
For the typography, I was inspired by the “Field Notes” notebooks. I liked the idea that Dabbio could be almost like a traveler's coffee journal.
Recalling from interviews that latte art is usually a sign that a drink is prepared with a certain level of care and knowledge, I went with a latte art inspired logo.
"While traveling, I'll look at their Google listing usually. I'll look at the images to see if there's latte art. To me, that means the barista knows something about what they're doing.
– interview participant
TESTING
Points of friction
For the first round of usability testing, participants completed two tasks:
Share a coffee shop’s profile with a friend
Add a coffee shop to an existing list
When reviewing the results, two things were apparent:
Users had a hard time identifying the share icon
Many users suggested a favorite feature to save a shop without assigning it to a list
final design
Applying feedback for a more intuitive design
For the second round of testing, I focused on the task of sharing a coffee shop since it generated the most feedback and was the only major change made.
Results were positive with participants describing the experience as easy, simple, and straightforward.
interact with the prototype
Reflection
As someone who loves seeking out specialty coffee shops while traveling, this was a passion project for me and I was so glad to tag in other coffee lovers for the research phase. This was the first set of interviews I conducted where I realized how much you get when you tap into something someone is passionate about.
I wanted to establish familiar design patterns while still creating something that felt personable. The personable touch came with the idea of guides and the fact that they are curated by not only the Dabbio team, but also baristas, locals and other coffee professionals. From the beginning, I knew Dabbio needed something to set it apart from other coffee shop discovery apps, and I believe I found that with the honest, community-driven approach presented throughout the design.
Moving Dabbio beyond it's current state as an MVP:
Test and iterate on new features and screens
Ideate on and build out community features and screens
Reach out to and partner with coffee shops, brands, blogs and other facets of the specialty coffee community to get the brand name out there
2026 JANE HIRSCH
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