L-Taste in Adelaide – C: Building a Digital Food Guide Through Design, User Experience and Digital Platforms

· Concept and Overview

L-Taste in Adelaide – C is a WordPress-based food discovery website designed to showcase recommended dining experiences in Adelaide through the perspective of an international student and food enthusiast. The website focuses on three categories: cafés, fine dining restaurants, and Chinese food. Rather than functioning as a comprehensive restaurant directory, the website acts as a curated food guide, highlighting selected venues based on personal experience, visual presentation, and overall dining quality.

The primary target audience consists of university students, international students, young professionals, and food lovers living in Adelaide. During my time studying in Adelaide, I noticed that restaurant recommendations were often fragmented across platforms such as Instagram, Xiaohongshu, and Google Reviews. While these platforms provide useful information, they often lack consistency and organisation. Therefore, the aim of this project was to create a visually engaging and easy-to-navigate website that centralises reliable food recommendations within a single platform.

The website also serves as a personal brand. The name “L-Taste in Adelaide – C” incorporates my initials, Lina Chen, while simultaneously representing the idea of discovering local tastes within Adelaide. This combination of personal storytelling and curated food recommendations differentiates the project from traditional review websites and establishes a stronger connection with its audience.

At the beginning of this project, my primary goal was not simply to build a website but to understand how digital platforms shape communication, creativity, and user behaviour. Through the course, I wanted to develop practical skills in WordPress website design while also gaining a deeper understanding of visual communication, user experience (UX), and digital branding.

One of the most valuable aspects of the project was learning how content organisation influences user engagement. Prior to this course, I viewed websites primarily as repositories of information. However, through studying interface design and user experience principles, I learned that successful digital platforms are designed around the needs of users rather than the preferences of creators (Johnson, 2020).

The project also expanded my understanding of photography and visual culture. Through course readings by Berger (1972) and discussions of digital media, I began to recognise that photographs do not simply document reality but actively construct meaning. This insight influenced how I selected and presented food photography throughout the website.

Beyond the technical requirements of the course, I challenged myself to extend the project into social media by creating a supporting Instagram presence. This allowed me to explore how digital platforms can work together to strengthen branding, audience engagement, and content distribution.

· Visual Communication and Design

Visual communication plays a central role in the success of L-Taste in Adelaide – C. Since food experiences are highly visual, photography became one of the most important tools for communicating the atmosphere, quality, and identity of each restaurant featured on the website.

The website adopts a minimalist design aesthetic characterised by a white background, large food images, clear typography, and generous spacing. This design choice was influenced by contemporary food blogs and lifestyle websites, which often prioritise visual storytelling over dense textual information. According to Kress (2010), communication in digital environments is increasingly multimodal, meaning that meaning is produced through the interaction of text, images, layout, and design. The website therefore uses photography and layout as primary communication tools rather than relying solely on written descriptions.

Food photography was carefully selected to create emotional engagement and encourage exploration. Berger (1972) argues that images are never neutral representations of reality but are interpreted through cultural and social contexts. In the context of this website, photographs are used not only to display food but also to communicate atmosphere, comfort, and lifestyle. Images of cafés emphasise warmth and study-friendly environments, while photographs of fine dining venues highlight elegance and exclusivity.

Typography also contributes significantly to the user experience. Following principles outlined in Typography Essentials (Saltz, 2009), the website prioritises readability through clean font choices, consistent hierarchy, and appropriate spacing. Headings are used to guide users through content while maintaining visual consistency across all pages.

The combination of photography, typography, and minimalist design creates a cohesive visual identity that reflects the website’s purpose as a curated Adelaide food guide.

· User Interface Design

The interface design of L-Taste in Adelaide – C was developed with a strong focus on usability and simplicity. Rather than creating a complex website with multiple layers of navigation, the project adopts a straightforward information architecture consisting of four primary sections: Home, Café, Fine Dining, Chinese Food, and Contact.

This structure was intentionally designed to minimise cognitive load and support efficient navigation. Johnson (2020) argues that users should not be required to remember unnecessary information while interacting with digital interfaces. By categorising restaurants into clear sections, users can quickly locate the type of dining experience they are seeking without needing to search through large amounts of content.

The homepage functions as an introduction to the website and establishes the visual identity of the project. Large hero images, concise text, and clearly labelled navigation menus create an intuitive entry point for users. Each category page follows a consistent layout pattern, including restaurant images, addresses, descriptions, and featured dishes. Consistency is an important principle in user-centred design because it reduces uncertainty and helps users develop expectations about how information will be presented (Marsh, 2016).

The design also reflects principles of user-centred design discussed throughout the course. Rather than prioritising advanced technical features, the website focuses on clarity, accessibility, and ease of use. This approach aligns with the understanding that successful interfaces support users in achieving their goals as efficiently as possible.
· User Experience Across Digital Platforms

While the website serves as the central platform for the project, Instagram was used as a supporting digital platform to extend audience engagement and strengthen the overall brand identity of L-Taste in Adelaide – C. Throughout the semester, I created and published five Instagram posts featuring restaurants that were also included on the website. This created a consistent connection between social media content and website content.

The relationship between Instagram and the website was intentionally designed to create a seamless user experience across multiple digital platforms. Instagram functions as a discovery platform where users can quickly browse food photography and short descriptions, while the website provides more detailed information, including restaurant recommendations, addresses, and personal reviews. This cross-platform strategy encourages users to move between platforms depending on their information needs.

McLuhan’s concept that “the medium is the message” remains highly relevant in contemporary digital environments (McLuhan, 1964). Different platforms encourage different forms of interaction. Instagram prioritises visual engagement and rapid consumption of content, while websites support deeper exploration and structured information. By using both platforms together, the project takes advantage of the strengths of each medium.

The visual identity of the Instagram account was intentionally aligned with the website. Similar photography styles, colour palettes, and restaurant selections were used to ensure brand consistency. According to Kress (2010), meaning is created through multiple modes of communication. Therefore, maintaining visual consistency across platforms helps reinforce audience recognition and trust.

This process also improved my understanding of how digital platforms operate as interconnected systems rather than isolated spaces. Instead of viewing Instagram and the website as separate projects, I learned how they could function together as a cohesive digital ecosystem.

Although the project was relatively small in scale, basic audience metrics provided useful insights into user interests and engagement patterns. During the development of the project, five restaurant-related posts were published on Instagram to support the website and increase visibility.

The available engagement data suggested that posts featuring Chinese food generated stronger audience interest compared to fine dining content. This may be because Chinese food is more affordable, familiar, and accessible to the primary target audience of university students and young adults. Café-related content also received positive engagement due to the popularity of café culture among Adelaide students.

Website navigation patterns similarly suggest that users are most interested in practical recommendations rather than extensive written reviews. This observation supports user experience research indicating that online users often prefer visually accessible content that can be consumed quickly and efficiently (Marsh, 2016).

These findings demonstrate the value of analytics in understanding audience behaviour. Metrics do not simply measure popularity; they provide evidence that can guide future design decisions and content strategies. If the project continues to grow, more advanced analytics tools such as Google Analytics could be implemented to collect detailed information about page views, user journeys, and audience demographics.

Future analysis could also compare engagement levels across different restaurant categories to better understand the evolving interests of Adelaide food audiences.

· Future Directions

This project significantly changed the way I think about digital platforms, visual communication, and user experience. Before taking this course, I viewed websites primarily as containers for information. Through the process of designing and developing L-Taste in Adelaide – C, I learned that successful digital platforms are carefully constructed experiences that combine content, design, photography, navigation, and branding.

One of the most important lessons I learned was the value of user-centred design. Rather than focusing on what I personally wanted to include, I learned to consider what users need to see, understand, and accomplish when visiting the website. This perspective influenced decisions regarding layout, content organisation, and visual communication throughout the project.

The project also deepened my understanding of photography as a form of communication. Food photography became more than decoration; it became a tool for shaping user expectations and communicating atmosphere.

If I continue developing this project, I would expand the number of restaurant categories, introduce interactive map functionality, and allow users to submit recommendations. I would also further develop the Instagram presence and potentially integrate additional platforms such as TikTok. These improvements would strengthen audience engagement and transform the website into a more comprehensive digital food guide for Adelaide.

Ultimately, this project demonstrated how digital platforms can be used not only to share information but also to build communities, communicate cultural experiences, and create meaningful user interactions.

References

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