From Idea to MVP: How We Designed CoChefy Using a Design Sprint and Figma Prototyping
At 10 Grounds, we’ve helped dozens of startups turn ideas into digital products. But this time, we had the opportunity to help bring a unique vision to life — CoChefy, an AI-powered cooking assistant designed to reduce food waste and make cooking accessible for everyone.
The idea came from Asheesh Barman, a California-based founder who wanted to solve a real problem: how to help college students and busy families use what they already have in their kitchens to create real meals — instead of letting ingredients go to waste.
From Discovery to Design: Defining the Product Vision
Before writing a single line of code, our team started with a Design Sprint — a structured process that allows us to understand the problem, define critical paths, and visualize the user journey.
We used Figma, Miro, and our internal sprint framework to explore user flows for three key features that would define the MVP:
- Pantry Management – Users add and track ingredients they already have.
- Recipe Generation – The app uses AI to suggest recipes based on those ingredients.
- Cooking Word Game – A daily, food-themed word puzzle to make cooking fun and educational.
By building early prototypes in Figma, we could iterate quickly, test multiple ideas, and gather feedback before investing in development. Asheesh took these prototypes into focus groups and workshops, validating the concept with real users.
Why Prototyping First Saves Time and Money
Our philosophy is simple: it’s cheaper to think in Figma than to think in code.
Prototyping allows teams to:
- Identify usability issues early, before they’re expensive to fix.
- Validate product-market fit before engineering begins.
- Align designers, developers, and stakeholders around one clear vision.
At 10 Grounds, this isn’t just how we built CoChefy — it’s how we start nearly every client project. Whether we’re designing an internal tool or a global consumer app, our Design Sprint methodology helps ensure we build the right product before we build it fast.
Building the CoChefy MVP
Once the UX and flows were validated, we moved into development using a modern, scalable stack:
- App: TypeScript + React Native
- API: Ruby on Rails + PostgreSQL hosted on Digital Ocean
- Admin Dashboard: TypeScript + React.js + Next.js + Material Design
This combination gave us the flexibility to move quickly while maintaining a strong foundation for future features and AI-driven scalability.
Lessons from CoChefy’s Design Process
CoChefy’s discovery and design phase reaffirmed one of our core beliefs: great products are built through validation, not assumptions.
The Design Sprint and Figma prototyping process gave us clarity, speed, and confidence. It also saved time and money — two things every startup needs to protect carefully.
What’s Next in the “Building CoChefy” Series
This post is the first in our new series exploring how we built and launched CoChefy. In the next part, we’ll share the story behind the app’s official launch, and how its three main features — the Pantry, Search, and Daily Game — came to life.
Try CoChefy Yourself
CoChefy is now live! 🎉
Discover how AI can help you cook smarter, reduce waste, and make the most of what’s already in your kitchen.
Download the app and start cooking with CoChefy today: https://www.cochefyapp.com
Work With Us
At 10 Grounds, we use the same Design Sprint and prototyping process that shaped CoChefy to help startups and growing companies build validated digital products—fast, scalable, and ready for market.
If you’re planning your next product or MVP, explore how we approach development: Discover our Software Development Process