A smart way to reduce food waste
The Ask
Design a clean and easy to use IOS mobile application that can help user reduce food waste by providing food storage tips.
Client
Wisely
Design Team
Aimen (Product Designer)
Shree (UX researcher)
Duration
Sep 2019 - Dec 2019
My Role
Defined the goals of UX research
Created wireframes and designed hi-fidelity prototypes
Facilitated usability testing and feedback sessions
Crafted clear and impactful strategy and/or design stories through decks, sketches, and other deliverables.
Ensured an amazing execution of the work, the design went beyond client expectations.
The Process
UX Research
Understanding the problem
North America has the highest number of per capita food losses and waste. Household waste is responsible for the significant portion of all food waste in comparison to other regions. ReFED estimates
US households waste 76 billion pounds of food per year.
In the US, an average person wastes 238 pounds of food per year (21 percent of the food they buy), costing them $1,800 per year.
UX Research
User Interviews
Goals
Discover the main reasons behind food waste
Find out if people understand the significance of this issue and want to solve it
Investigate methods people use to avoid food waste currently
Determine if people are looking for more effective solutions
Participants
5 participants
Face to face interviews
10-15 questions
2 Students, 3 Working Professionals
1 lives with family, 4 live in shared apartments
Insights
About two-thirds of food waste at home is due to improper storage, and thus, food goes bad before it's used.
People buy more food than they need. They refrigerate most of it and then forget about it.
Participants said that they feel bad when they have to throw away food. They are motivated to prevent waste, but their fast-paced lives don't allow them to actually find solutions.
Participants did not know which items to freeze, refrigerate, or store at room temperature to keep fresh for the longest.
Participants showed interest in reducing trash through recycling and compost, but don't seem to realize that compost is just another form of waste.
Features
Storage Tips
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Search tips
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Add new tips
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Save and share tips
Consumption
Tracker
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Add food item in tracker
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Track estimated expiry date
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Add reminders
UX Research
Empathy Map
After learning the problems users are facing, we created an empathy map to understand who we are designing for, and what will drive their behaviors.
UX Research
Market Research
To find out what's currently available, we looked into the most popular food waste solutions. I found four major mobile applications: No Waste, FoodCloud, Olio, and Giki. These applications use innovative ideas to reduce food waste on both consumer and commercial levels, such as at grocery stores and restaurants.
Information Architecture
Iteration 1.0
User Flow 1.0
Iteration 1.0
Wireframes
Iteration 1.0
User Testing
Participants: 3
Age: 20 -30
Session Duration: 30-40 minutes
Number of Tasks: 4
Follow up Question: 10
User Goals
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Search & browse storage tips
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Add new storage tips
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Add items to Consumption Tracker
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Set reminder for food items
Feedback
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The multistep user flow for adding items to CT might discourage users to use the tracker. A simpler and easier to user flow or better input will make CT more useful.
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Applying filters to find storage tips might not be very helpful for users. With currently available data, filters are basically just categories.
Client Feedback
Adding new tips might cause some complications and it will be difficult to verify the tips people are adding.
Iteration 2.0
User Flow 2.0
1.
Made it easy for users to input food items in CT by letting them scan their grocery list or bar code, or just say the items and use speech-to-text.
2.
Removed filters in Storage tips and let people easily browse through categories.
Iteration 3.0
Design Review
When people add their grocery receipt or food items in CT, it will be useful if they can also see storage tips for the groceries just added.
People should be able to input any food items that go to waste. This will help users keep track of their food wastage.
Adding pledges and badges will motivate people.
UI Design Elements
Icons from
Google Material Design
Images from
Pexels
Search for storage tips
Quickly get storage tips for your groceries
Get a reminder before your food item goes bad
Next Steps
I continue to work on the project. I am taking the following steps to further improve the project:
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Usability testing with a diverse set of users
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Improve input methods for consumption tracker
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Make storage tips more interactive & useful for everyone
