BORA is one of Europe's leading manufacturers of premium cooking systems, known for the unmistakable industrial premium design language of their cooktop extractor systems, steam ovens, and connected appliances. The challenge: bring this premium identity into the digital world through a companion app that does more than display recipes or manage device settings. BORA JOY needed to function as the digital extension of the brand itself, seamlessly connecting the entire product ecosystem into one cohesive cooking experience. My focus within the design team was the conceptual exploration of three central areas: the recipe experience including interactive cooking guidance with device control, the standalone device control within the app, and the inspiration feed. The bar was set high. Every interaction had to feel as considered and premium as the physical products do.

The recipe and interactive cooking feature is the heart of the app and the place where BORA JOY needed to feel truly innovative. So the exploration started with a question: what happens if a recipe stops being a static set of instructions and becomes a living guide that orchestrates the cooking process itself? I worked through several conceptual directions for how a recipe could move through preparation, timing, and device interaction in one continuous flow. The most ambitious part was the integration of BORA devices directly into the recipe steps. One touch starts a cooking program on the BORA X BO or the BORA Pure family, and the recipe guides the user through what happens next. That layer added complexity on three levels at once: visual elegance, cooking usability, and IoT logic. Each conceptual decision had to work for all three. Device status had to be present enough to make the connection tangible, restrained enough to keep the focus on the cooking itself. Several rounds of conceptual exploration shaped the final flow.

Beyond the recipe context, users also needed a way to manage and control their BORA devices on their own. I worked on the conceptual foundation for the device control views: the overview of active functions, the patterns for managing connected appliances, and the surface where ongoing activities and current settings live. A key constraint was visual restraint. The interface had to mirror the puristic industrial design of the physical products, so that the app feels like a natural extension of the appliances rather than a separate layer on top.

BORA JOY is not only a cooking tool. It is the entry point to the BORA world. I designed the concept for the inspiration feed: a curated daily stream of recipes, professional tips, stories around the kitchen, and insights into the BORA product universe. The work focused on the content architecture, the visual hierarchy between editorial and product content, and how the feed could feel both inspirational and personally relevant without crossing into commercial territory.

All of this work happened inside an extensive design system that the team and I extended throughout the project. Variables, complex multi-state components, and a structure that needed to scale across the recipe experience, device control, the feed, and future product areas. The system became a project in itself. Together with the team, I contributed to expanding the component library, refining the variable structure, and aligning new patterns with the existing design language. Every new conceptual decision needed a matching foundation in the system, otherwise the depth of the app would not survive the handover to development. The result was a system that could carry both the premium visual ambition of BORA and the complexity of a connected cooking ecosystem.