Food Waste Tracker
UX Design / UI Design
Overview
“Small Action, Big Impact”
I worked from home for a while due to the pandemic. During that time, I realized I produced a lot of food waste. It was a lot. 1/3 was food waste. Then, one day, one of my classmates shared her interest in composting to reduce food waste. She wanted to sell a compost kit to her neighbour. Her interest grabbed my attention. I researched the composting industry and thought of what if each of us compost at home to avoid food waste? How might we help people compost? How might we reduce our food waste at home? What about myself?
My Role & Responsibility
Sole UI/UX Designer
• User Research
• Prototyping
• Usability Test
• Visual Design
Tools
Adobe XD, Photoshop, Illustrator, Lucidchart, Paper & Pencil.
Design Process
With a focus on UI for this project, the steps I covered in my design process included
With a focus on UI for this project, the steps I covered in my design process included user stories, proto personas, user flows, sketching, wireframing, style guides, and prototyping.
user stories, proto personas, user flows, sketching, wireframing, style guides, and prototyping.
Research
The Problem
As per the Food Waste Index Report 2021, a staggering 50 kg of food is thrown away per person every year in Indian homes. This is the problem because the food waste goes to the landfill and it produces methane and it destroys our planet. My solution should enable people to raise awareness for food waste and help them to reduce food waste and save money and energy. The bill they get is 100% genuine without involving any kind of fraud.
Accomplishment
• User testing / Usability testing
• PRD (short/long term goals)
• End-to-end interaction design from onboarding to daily usage
• Visual design
68% Positive impression – willingness to reduce food waste individually
72 System Usability Scale average – The product design acceptable to launch
72 System Usability Scale average – The product design acceptable to launch
Synthesized Research
Food waste is the second largest category sent to the landfills in the United States.
Findings from research
• Thousands of pounds of leftovers end up in the trash because they were moldy.
• People recognize that their food waste issue they generate. However, they don’t do anything to manage their food waste at home.
• If they have a motivation which saves their money, they would try to avoid food waste.
• Food is left too long in the fridge/freezer
• Some family members don’t always finish their meals.
• Vegetable is wasted most often.
• Composting is complicated.
• No experience of composting : Bad Smell, no time to compost and store.
User Persona
User persona is needed to study and understand the behavioural pattern of complex user group in an easier way.
After user interview user persona guided my ideation process and helped me to achieve the goal of creating good user experience
Target Users
User Needs
Ages : 25-49
Within the India and Home
Who are groceries shopping and cooking
Ages : 25-49
Within the India and Home
Who are groceries shopping and cooking
User Needs
Tracker
Users keep forgetting what they have. Once they notice the food, it becomes moldy or expired.
Reminder
Users need to get notification before the food expires or perishes..
Manager
Users need to manage the food waste to avoid going to the trash bin.
Hypotheses
• If we auto list all groceries users purchased, then users see all their foods in one place.
• If we remind users of food status before it expires or perishes, then they don’t forget what they have.
• If we show the data of the users habits of food waste, then they are aware of their food waste issue they generate.
Information Architecture
After card sorting, I started sketching the core features and designing mid-fidelity wireframes.
The wireframes will be tested by users to identify pain points and optimise the design.
User Flow
I developed the app flows to facilitate user tasks and defined how the user interacted with site functionality.
Here are some examples of the user flows.
Idea Sketch
I sketched and laid out the idea in my mind.
Onboarding : The first-time onboarding experience is a way to introduce users to a new product. I created this onboarding experience as simple as possible. Also, I wanted to understand users behaviors during this step to personalize the app.
Home : I wanted to create a very simple and very straightforward way of home screen for new users to start interacting with this app. I was thinking about the actions on the home which action was primary and how I dominated the primary action.
Add item : I tried to provide not only simple ways, but also several ways for my target users (35-44) to upload their purchased food items. Assumptions : Users are not tech people. Users don’t like typing. Users don’t like to make a lot of efforts.
Delete item : I think this is the way to manage and track the amount of food waste. I wanted to track the amount of food waste by deleting items from the list. I sketched out the idea of how to handle food waste by deletion.
Hi-Fi Wireframe Prototype & Usability Testing
I received valuable feedback from usability testing.
I iterated design and tested it and iterated and tested.
Usability Testing with hi-fi prototypes :
Response : 10
System Usability Scale Score : 73
Key suggestions for Improvement from Usability Testing
[Features] I thought it would be nice to have a statistics dashboard to see the time series flow. In simple terms, it is possible to compare the amount of food purchased and used by month.I thought it would be nice to have a statistics dashboard to see the time series flow. In simple terms, it is possible to compare the amount of food purchased and used by month.
[UI] It would be nice if there was a tutorial.
[Business model] Well made app, though you’d better think about the business model again. People won’t want the feature either considering the stock or not. Who has the idea in mind, usually knows – what they have. Others, often don’t bother about what’s in the stock. Some house-managers make a list for it, but mostly don’t. Because all these jobs are just for a house, not feeding quite a flock. Think about – If you should update EVERY SINGLE INGREDIENT that you had for EVERY SINGLE MEAL, yet it’s a nice idea?
People go grab a grocery item, when they know it’s short. There’s a better traditional solution. Just LOOK OVER THE SHELVES before you go shopping. Some take notes for it. that’s all. Can you make it simpler than this?
[Features] It would be nice to introduce the simple recipe with the leftover foods to avoid food waste.
[Business model] I won’t use it without any rewards or incentives
Embody Solutions (Final Designs)
What I learned
• Defining the right problem
Is the most important factor in finding a suitable solution.
• Collaboration vs. Individual work
Two or more people are better than an individual for solving problems, finishing off difficult tasks and increasing creativity.
• Ideas/features prioritization
Through users feedback and interviews, I learned what they needed and practiced how to prioritize the features.
• Users – Don’t make them work
They would always like to minimize the total mental efforts.
• Designer mindset
Trying new things is the best way to keep up with design and technique trends as a designer.
• Defining the right problem
Is the most important factor in finding a suitable solution.
• Collaboration vs. Individual work
Two or more people are better than an individual for solving problems, finishing off difficult tasks and increasing creativity.
• Ideas/features prioritization
Through users feedback and interviews, I learned what they needed and practiced how to prioritize the features.
• Users – Don’t make them work
They would always like to minimize the total mental efforts.
• Designer mindset
Trying new things is the best way to keep up with design and technique trends as a designer.