Household Food Waste App
UX/UI, Product Design
Canadians are throwing out more food than they realize – most of which could have been consumed. In order to better understand the problem space, background research was conducted on the topics of food loss and food waste, looking at the various contributors and factors in the chain. This was helpful to determine which groups could be targeted and understand the points at which the greatest food waste occurs. Further research into organizations, charities, and current apps that are attempting to address this issue helped me to identify what was working, what could be improved on, and what hasn’t been thought of or done before.
Through analysis of the competitor landscape it was discovered that a lot of businesses are trying to reduce food waste on a larger scale, such as tackling restaurant and grocery store waste by donating food surplus to charities and feeding those in need. I noticed that there was less of a focus on the individual and household consumer food waste that occurs on a smaller scale, yet still has a great impact. We often waste perfectly good food because we buy too much, cook too much, or don’t store it correctly. Because of this I decided to focus on changing habits at home and concentrate on individual food waste prevention. Through mapping the problem, I was able to distinguish 3 main areas in which the greatest food waste occurs on an individual consumer level: at the grocery store, in restaurants, and at home. The home had the most potential for food waste reduction.
To help thoroughly understand my users’ behaviours, I conducted insight research through a series of user interviews. This process helped me identify the pain points and goals of my target users which was useful in determining which features would be most desirable and valuable. Some of the questions asked included how often they throw out expired food products, what factors led to discarding items (or failing to consume them before they expire), how they know when to throw items out, and if they are interested in saving money by reducing food waste. Their responses outlined two common reasons individuals discard food: they forget which food items they have already purchased, or they have an excess amount of food to consume. Responses also suggested that individuals typically make decisions about discarding products based on the ‘best before’ dates printed on food packaging, even if it has not actually gone bad. Observation and feedback collection was necessary in order to understand the problem and begin to work through ideas towards potential solutions.
A user journey for the persona I was focusing on was mapped out in order to highlight user goals, problem areas, and opportunities. The main user goals include: wasting less food, saving money, and being more innovative with cooking. Some of the problems I identified are: users being unaware of their current food inventory, not understanding when or why food items are spoiling, and not knowing if food is still safe to consume (typically making decisions based on ‘expiry’ date).
To start ideating features, I created a ‘how might we’ list based on the user journey and jobs to be done. This ultimately looked at tracking the consumer’s food purchases, educating them on proper food storage and safety, notifying them when items are close to expiry, making use of expiring food, and tracking food waste habits and trends to save money.
The main features of my app include a current inventory of the user’s food (this will help people avoid overstocking, and allow them to see what ingredients they have available for recipes). I used the mental model of a fridge, pantry, and freezer with the items listed on shelves. Items with the closest expiry date are automatically moved to the top of the list, so that attention is given to those items first. This encourages a positive habit of moving items to the front of your fridge and placing newer items at the back. Users can add new items to their My Food inventory by scanning receipts, individual item barcodes, or inputting items manually.
In My Food users can view their items by storage location – fridge, freezer, and pantry (distinguished by colour) – and move them into different locations using a dropdown menu. Using progressive disclosure to avoid cognitive overload, My Food only shows the item name and where it is currently being stored. Users must navigate to a secondary food item page to find information on purchase date, best before date, quantity of the item (with a slider to update the amount as it is consumed), and proper storage. When users click the ‘information’ icon next to the best before date, a modal provides an explanation of what this date actually means (i.e. peak quality vs. gone bad), and how to extend the item’s life (i.e. move to freezer). I used the terminology ‘Best Before’ to prevent users from assuming an item has gone bad due to the negative connotation of the word ‘expired’. Consumer habits are tracked by giving the user the ability to disclose when they have ‘tossed’ or ‘consumed’ an item in their inventory. Users have the option to enable push notifications, allowing the app to notify them when an item is nearing its best before date.
The second feature, assists users in using up multiple items that are close to their best before date. Using a checklist, they can select certain items from their inventory to include in a recipe, and then find options that use all of these ingredients within the Recipes feature. The app also suggests recipes that include other ingredients from the user’s inventory, which may include items further away from expiry. The app will only suggest recipes that the user has the ingredients for, so no additional purchases are necessary. Additionally, users can see if food items are already cooked or still in their raw form, so they know how the item can be consumed.
In the Expenses feature of the app, users can see their total monthly spending on groceries, and how much money they ‘tossed’ due to food waste. This is tracked when users select ‘tossed’ or ‘consumed’ on items within the My Food’ section of the app. Additionally, the app is able to track trends of frequently tossed food items. When clicked, an item-specific modal provides information on these items so users can learn more about proper storage and other tips to increase their shelf-life.
