HUSSAIN
Give 'n Grab
The peer-to-peer food sharing app.
Connecting people to their new food friends
Client
University of Toronto
Sector
Food Waste
Team
Siti Lei
Fahma Mohamed
Yilun Yang
Meera Laafir
Alifiyah Hussain
Skills
User Research
Visual Design
Interaction Design
Surveys & Interviews
Wireframing
Prototyping
Usability Testing
Timeline
9 Weeks
Tools
Figma
Miro
Canva
Illustra
My Role
I conducted primary and secondary research, leading data analysis and ideation sessions. I transformed insights into wireframes and prototypes and crafted narratives for stakeholder presentations
*illustrations by Trendify & myself
The Problem
Food cost is on the rise in Toronto, and, surprisingly, so is the amount of food waste each year.
Imagine this scenario: You're excited about a week of healthy eating, so you buy a bag of avocados. Fast forward four days, they're ripe and ready. But there's a catch: if not eaten in the next two days, they will spoil. They're destined for the compost. It's a familiar and frustrating cycle of purchasing with good intentions, only to see the food - and money - wasted.
The Objective
The goal is to aid individuals in Toronto, particularly those who live alone, in better managing their food resources. This involves promoting mindful consumption, reducing over-purchasing, and ensuring perishable items are used before spoiling, thereby decreasing food waste and making food management more effective and less burdensome.
How might we enable single-person households in Toronto to effectively manage and minimize their food waste?
The Discovery Phase
Secondary Research
To understand and validate the extent of the food waste issue in Canada, I conducted comprehensive secondary research. This research involved analyzing existing data, reports, and studies to gain a deeper insight into the patterns and causes of food waste & cost in this specific context.
QUESTION
Are food costs on the rise?
Is food waste also increasing?
FINDINGS
The cost of food reportedly went up 10.3% in 2022
*according to the Canada Food Price Report
This number was projected to rise another 5-7% in 2023
*according to the Canada Food Price Report
In Canada, 49 billion dollars worth of food is sent to landfills each year
*according to the National Zero Waste Council
63% of the food could have been eaten
*according to the National Zero Waste Council
We also found that:
There is an increase in the number of people living alone in Canada. This number has reached its recorded peak in 2021, with 4.4 million in total
Highest per capital food waste occurs in single-member households
*according to Statistics Canada
People ages 18–34, who lived in an urban community, rented their home, and/or worked full-time were more likely to self-report higher levels of food waste
*according to Science Direct https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2021.101110
Primary Research
The alarming statistics prompted a deeper inquiry: how do these figures translate into the everyday experiences of Toronto residents?
To uncover this, we conducted 11 semi-structured interviews and sent out a survey gathering 26 responses. Focusing on 18 to 30-year-olds living alone — students and young professionals — we aimed to unravel their shopping patterns, food management strategies, and the challenges they face in meal planning and food preservation.
SURVEY RESULTS
14/26 do not plan their grocery shopping
23/26 say food waste somewhat or greatly influences their shopping decisions
18/26 say their fruits & veggies are hard to manage
INTERVIEW INSIGHTS
All interviewees struggled with food wastage...
😒
ðŸ˜
"Unless you're intentional, it's hard to manage food waste"
Interviewee 1
"I choose the smaller more expensive packets, so I don't waste food, but I still end up throwing away some"
Interviewee 2
"I usually end up throwing out fruits because I get too busy with work"
😣
Interviewee 3
Affinity Mapping
After conducting the interviews, we categorized our findings into pain points, motivations, and behaviours. Given the volume of insights, we further distilled the data into themes, creating an affinity map to better understand the predominant pain points.
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There were 6 main themes: portion sizes, meal planning, perishability of fresh foods, high food prices, transportation, and storage challenges.
The Define Phase
Persona
After synthesizing our key findings, we developed a persona that encapsulates the typical pain points, needs, and desires of our target users. This persona serves as a tool to foster empathy and guide decision-making throughout the solution development process, ensuring that the user remains at the heart of our design.
MEET KAI
User Journey
To ideate key functionalities for our solution, we developed a user journey map, detailing the 'As-Is Scenario' of users' experiences from grocery shopping to meal consumption. This journey mapping focused on understanding what users were doing, thinking, and feeling at each stage, providing insights into their current challenges and opportunities for improvement.
To paint a better picture, here's a potential story:
Kai finally has free time and she thinks it's the perfect opportunity to cook a fresh home-made meal!
Kai checks the fridge and finds that all the fruits and veggies she bought last week are rotting.
She remembers mushy bananas make amazing banana bread! Excitedly she checks the fridge and sees she only has 1 egg...
Now adamant about making this banana bread, she rushes to the grocery store. She reaches, and finds the eggs, but only sees cartons of 12 eggs, which are currently $8.
Kai doesn't know what to do, she thinks "I only need 1 egg and I don't want to spend $8 for 11 more. I definitely won't finish them in time".
The Ideation Phase
Needs Statements
Guided by our identified themes and user journey, we crafted needs statements to focus our ideation process. These statements are designed to address the specific challenges faced by our persona, Kai.
1
Meal Planning & Budget
Kai needs a detailed method for grocery shopping to minimize waste and stick to a budget.
2
Food Waste Reduction:
Food Waste Reduction: Kai seeks a solution to use all her food before it expires, reducing fridge waste.
3
Storage & Preservation
Kai requires guidance on food storage techniques to prolong the shelf life of her groceries.
4
Inventory Awareness:
Kai needs an effective way to track her groceries, ensuring she uses them before expiration.
5
Efficient Shopping:
Kai is looking for local shopping options to prepare meals more efficiently.
Idea Synthesis
In the idea synthesis phase, leveraging the Crazy 8's technique led to the generation of 12 distinct idea categories. Following a strategic voting process on a prioritization grid, which evaluated feasibility and impact, the team narrowed these ideas down to six.
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Further refinement led to the selection of two primary ideas and one complementary idea:
Food Sharing & Trading
A platform to facilitate the giving and receiving of excess food within the community, promoting food utilization and waste reduction.
Iventory Checker
A tool for monitoring the user's fridge or pantry inventory, providing updates on food status and reminders about approaching best-before dates.
Consumption & Sharing Prompts
A separate feature that actively suggests actions for items, such as prompts to consume them or share with others in the community, thereby aiding in reducing food waste
The Develop Phase
We honed in on three key tasks for our app's functionality.
These tasks were:
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1) Creating a post to offer food to others,
2) Requesting food from fellow users, and
3) Scanning a receipt to update the user's food inventory
Low Fidelity Mock-ups
Task 1: Offer food to others
Kai, the user, can share excess food to reduce waste
Task 2: Request food from someone
Kai, the user, can recieve smaller portions of food so that she doesn't have excess food
Task 3: Scan your receipt to update inventory
Kai, the user, can keep a detailed inventory of her groceries so that she can track expiry dates
Testing & Insights
I conducted a lean evaluation of our low-fidelity mockups with target users. They were asked to interact with the app, performing specific tasks while expressing their thoughts and actions aloud. After that, I conducted a follow-up interview to gain more insight into their experience. This process helped identify user experience issues and areas for improvement, guiding the next iteration of the design.
MAIN FINDINGS
Problem
Vague/Improper Labels: Confusion arose from vague or inappropriate labels such as “Your Items” on the “Fridge” screen and “Capture” on the “Scanning” screen, along with the labels "Offer" and "Request."
Ambiguous Post Button: The current post button does not clearly distinguish between the actions of "Offering" and "Requesting" food, leading to user confusion.
Post Creation Clarity: Users faced difficulties in detailing their food offerings due to a lack of guidance.
Screen Title Relevance: The current "Message" title on the "Message Screen" lacks context.
Tab Bar Optimization: Users felt the tab bar on screens like message pages and post creation is unnecessary.
Pick-Up Confirmation Options: Users asked how they would modify or cancel a pick-up after confirmation.
Post-Task Review Screen Addition: Lacks a dedicated screen for users to leave reviews after task completion.
Missing Return Buttons: Absence of back buttons on the “Messages,” “Pick-up Confirmation,” and “Scanning”.
Proposed Solution
Rename these to “Your Inventory” and “Scan” respectively, and changing "Offer" and "Request" to "Food" and "Requests," supplemented with clarifying notes for better user comprehension and interaction.
Introduce a slide-up screen after the post button is clicked, offering clear and distinct choices for creating"Offer" and "Request" posts.
Include a guided template for item descriptions. Also add a dedicated section for delivery instructions
Use more descriptive titles, like the user's name and icon or the item title being discussed, to provide clearer context
Remove the tab bar from these specific interfaces to simplify and declutter the screen, focusing the user's attention on the primary tasks of messaging and posting.
Add capabilities to cancel or alter pick-up arrangements post-confirmation, this will provide greater control
Integrate a review screen as it is critical for allowing users to rate and share feedback about their experiences.
Incorporate return buttons on these screens to allow users to easily backtrack, review, and adjust their choices.
Mid-Fidelity Prototype
The insights from the lean evaluation on the low-fidelity mockups highlighted several gaps and areas for improvement. In response, I created the next iteration of mid-fidelity mockups in Figma. These mockups were designed to incorporate the feedback and address the identified issues, ensuring a more cohesive and simple experience.
Try out the interactive prototypes!
TASK #1
Post to offer excess food to your community
TASK #3
Scan your receipt to update your food inventory
TASK #2
Request someone for flour
Next Steps
Currently, Give'n Grab is in its mid-fidelity stage. We've completed another round of usability testing to assess task completion efficiency, and this feedback will inform our move to a high-fidelity prototype. Exploring branding aspects will also be a key focus in this next phase.
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Additionally, our team has identified potential features to enhance user engagement and safety. We're considering gamification elements to increase user interaction and retention, and implementing robust security measures, particularly crucial for a food-sharing platform, to ensure user trust and safety. These aspects will be pivotal in our continued development and testing.