Ombi is an iOS & web app that lets you preview & book authentic restaurants through video.

The immersive video structure lets guests guide themselves through the experience to feel the ambiance & see the food for themselves.

Gen Z & Millennials share videos to receive gratitude when restaurant-goers go to a place from their post (by making a reservation, saving, sharing, or opening directions).

Download Ombi here

Role: Founder & CEO

• Owned product strategy, product development, user research (250+ interviews), UX design, prototype testing, 2-sided marketplace growth, fundraising, recruiting, partnership development.
• Co-led product design, engineering, brand design.
• Built iOS app in Swift w/ UIKit, AVFoundation, Firebase API, Cloudinary API, Mixpanel API, etc.
• Recruited & led team of 2 engineers & 1 product designer.
• Grew SF community - acquired Ombi video creators ("Tastemakers") who reach 2.6M viewers on social media.

Key design elements

Immersive video Structure:

• "phase tabs" let guests guide themselves through interior / outdoor spaces + sections of the menu. This emulates an in-person experience & organizes spatial information (inspired by VR walkthroughs).

Designing for users’ existing decision making process:

1. Filter by experience type & neighborhood (e.g. dinner in Mission District)
2. Preview videos of restaurants’ ambiance & menu to create expectations
3. Share / choose: share web-app link w/ friends in message threads
4. Book & go: make a reservation, open directions, save to profile

Experience > efficiency:

• To connect restaurant-goers with the best experience for a specific occasion, experiential info (visual, sensory) is prioritized over location. Users browse a city through a video thumbnail UI rather than a map (videos are organized by experience > location > creator).

User Quotes

• "Ombi shows the in-between factor” - Jason C (Michelin Star Chef)
• "Berber is a full experience - I’m going to post on Ombi” - Charles S (Ombi video creator)
• “Ombi is presence for spaces” - Cedric I (Ex-Hololens designer)

Takeaways

Ombi has proven that Gen Z & Millennials want to use video to choose restaurant experiences.

Users associate Ombi with the atmosphere / spatial elements of an experience, moreso than the food. Video creators are 70% more likely to post videos of the space / environment, than food dishes.