Why your everyday apps are starting to look like a Japanese lunch box

Open most of India’s leading apps, including the likes of Swiggy, PhonePe, Zepto, and you’ll likely encounter a familiar design—neatly arranged tiles of different sizes, subtly guiding you toward your next action. 

Swiggy, for its part, has put food delivery, quick commerce, and dine-out in its biggest boxes, whereas PhonePe, after its latest software update to some users, appears to have prioritised services such as recharge and bill payments.

This isn’t just an aesthetic choice. It’s a carefully crafted evolution of user interface (UI) design inspired by the humble Japanese bento box. Originally designed for children, bento boxes have different compartments for each dish, helping school-going kids prioritise what to eat. The structured layout also adds a sense of delight when the box is opened.

“User interface design has always drawn inspiration from the real world,” explained a Bengaluru-based UI designer. The now-familiar three-line icon commonly used to represent a collapsible menu in apps, for instance, is known as the “hamburger.”