Fooditech
Pantry Manager
#ux #ui #mobiledesign #studentproject #ios
Fooditech is a pantry management app that allows users to record and share their food inventory with their family members.
![[Mockup] iPhone 14.png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a22d7c_76a77b4387204a58bb7a1fddf4740392~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_527,h_875,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/%5BMockup%5D%20iPhone%2014.png)
Overview.
A solution to Food Waste
Problem Discovery
The research was initiated based on a lifestyle of mine. I clean up the fridge and my pantry about once a month. I wasted a terrifying amount of food every month, and I’ve never thought about finding a solution.
Objective
Understand the problem and ideate a solution to reduce food waste, in addition to saving money and protecting the environment.
Project Learning Focus
This project focuses on the design thinking process and learning different methods of research, ideation and testing, etc.
My role
UI/UX designer
Duration
2 months
Secondary Research.
Food loss along the food chain
USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) defines food loss as the edible amount of food, postharvest, that is available for human consumption but is not consumed for any reason. It includes cooking loss and natural shrinkage (for example, moisture loss), loss from mold, pests, or inadequate climate control.
Why should we care
Each year, more than 66 trillion gallons of water go toward producing food that’s lost or wasted.
About 20% of the products are wasted, which means we’re wasting one-fifth of the land and water used to produce them.
About 45% of all fruits, vegetables, roots, and tubers are wasted.
Existing Solutions.
Storage
“..He limits what he buys at the grocery store. Rather than a bag of oranges, he buys two oranges. If he happens to have something in bulk, he’ll vacuum seal it and put it in the freezer...“
- Tips to reduce food waste in your kitchen - Jennifer McClellan
Pantry Challenge
A pantry challenge is a focused time when you use up what you have before buying more food.
- Take the pantry challenge - Jessica Fisher
Track and Donation
Waste can be avoided by improving product development, storage, shopping/ordering, marketing, labeling, and cooking methods. If excess food is unavoidable, recover it to donate to hunger-relief organizations so that they can feed people in need.
- Food waste FAQ, USDA
Apps
If you have a smartphone, tablet, or computer, you can install one or more of the following apps to help you manage the rotation of food inside your fridge so that you can avoid throwing away unused food.
- 10 Apps to help you organize your fridge & pantry, Jeff Flowers
Key Points
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People are limiting their grocery shopping
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Use up what they have in the fridge
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Needs help with pantry management to avoid food waste
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Better shopping/ordering habits
Competitive Analysis.
There aren’t that many pantry management apps
Screener Survey, User Interview.
Why are they wasting food & how do they keep track?
Google Forms | In-Person | 5 Participants
To identify my potential users for my food inventory app, I conducted several user interviews with participants I found through a screener survey using google forms that I prepared.
Interview Goal
My goal for the user interview is to identify why they are wasting food and how they keep track of their food inventory.
Affinity Map, Pain Points.
Lack of management and control over food inventory
After conducting all the interviews, I used an affinity map to find patterns and similarities between all the participants. It helped me gather some very interesting insights from my targeted users.
Why is this happening?
70%
Buying and forgetting about it
60%
Waste a lot of leftovers, often forgotten in the fridge
40%
Buying too much of a certain item
40%
Buy what they see or what they want in the store.
Persona.
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Pamela who constantly tries to keep her inventory organize but she always has trouble coordinating with her family members, causing it to be unsuccessful.
User Journey.
Be in the user’s shoes during each step of the shopping journey
The journey of Pamela buying grocery for the family
Tasks
Emotions
Opportunities
Before she leaves
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Calling each member of the family to see what they want from the store
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Bring the shopping list
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Double checks her inventory
Troubled
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Family members don’t use the shopping list
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Family members keep buying things
Annoyed
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No one pick up their phone
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Easy to use product for recording inventory for everyone in the household, Pamela won’t have to call everyone before she goes shopping
When she arrives
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Holding the shopping list in hand while shopping
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Skeptical about purchasing because she doesn’t know if someone at home bought it already
Confused
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Not sure what she has at home
Frustrated
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Trying to call family and ask about items
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A shopping list that can be shared
When she gets home
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Unloading her groceries
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Putting items into storage
Annoyed
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Finding expired items at the back of the fridge or pantry
Upset
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Someone bought the same item
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Record with expiration date
Think outside of the box
The fun stuff
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Grocery stores rejects your business unless all food is consume (very unrealistic)
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Fridge will be lock when its full, user must select and item to consume to unlock it
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A trash can that rejects food
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Fridge with compartments inside, needs to deregister(consume) to unlock each compartment
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Restrict grocery shopping on credit card (how much and how often)
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Mail your shopping list to the grocery store
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Barcode Scanner on the fridge to record items
I went with the app solution because it's the most convenient for people with smartphones to access, and it's the most budget-friendly.
How might we...
HMW help with keeping track of their food inventory?
Record food inventory by entering the name, category, expiration date, and storage. Users scan the barcode with their camera to make recording easier.
HMW access the grocery list everywhere?
The list sharing feature also allows users to access the list from their household members, so they don’t have to contact each other when they are grocery shopping,
HMW remind them about expiring food?
Expiring items should always be on top of the inventory lists to get users' attention when they enter the app. Notifications will also be sent when the item is about to expire.
How do we help Pamela with these solution
Pamela can access her shopping list even if she doesn’t bring the piece of paper with her. Also, she can see what everyone else wants in the household because her family can also access the shopping list wherever and whenever.
Information architecture.
Usability test
In-Person | 5 Participants | Direct Tasks
Goal
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Problems and Frustrations
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Task Success and Task Time
Behavioral UX Metrics
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Product Usability
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Appearance
Attitudinal UX Metrics
Metrics
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7/8 participants who used the prototype said they were happy with the experience
8/8 participants like the appearance of the UI.
6/8 participants think that they can reduce food waste by using the app.
6/8 participants think the app is easy to use.
Major improvements
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Unsure how to remove items once consumed
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adding the name of the person who added the item to the inventory list
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Purchase date might not be necessary because it already has the added date
User Interface
Ensure good contrast and readability
Typography
Colors
Pantry
The homepage contains all items in the pantry list. Users can search for items or filter by categories
Shopping List
All members on the pantry list can add items to the shopping list. Replenish the pantry by tapping on the item and entering the expiration date
List Sharing
Sharing pantry/shopping list with household members. Creating a party or catering list with friends and family.
Final Comment
The test results always amaze me. That is why usability testing and understanding the users are crucial to every project. I especially enjoyed creating the user journey map. It gave me a visualization of every touch point of the user's journey and their emotion. It helped me ideate solutions and made the decision on useful features to solve users' pain points.
I am happy that the product that I created could be beneficial to the problem. It was easy for me to find potential users for the product because food waste is such a common problem, many people seem to have the same issue, but the majority of them aren't doing anything about it. I had a lot of fun working on this project. I learned so much valuable information about food waste and the serious environmental problems that lead.
*This project was develope during the Springboard UX design coruse
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