Foodwise is a community where users can share the excess food and compost the food if it expires.
Project Overview
Challenge
As part of the BrainStation diploma program I took part in a two week Design Sprint. We were asked to combat the food waste problem. The goal was to reduce the amount of food being wasted. We had the option to choose from
Solution
Create a sense of community where users can share or compost their extra food.
ROLE. UX Designer
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PROJECT LENGTH. Design Sprint 2 weeks
TOOLS. Figma and Invision
TEAM. 5 Designers (UX and UI)
Back Story
If wasted food were a country it would be the third largest producer of carbon dioxide in the world.
52 %
of U.S. adults throw away excess food
1.3 Tons
of food get wasted every year
$680B - $310B
is the cost of food waste in industrialized and developed nations.
The Ask
How might we help individuals and organizations reduce their food waste using digital technology?
Secondary Research
Selected Important Facts
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30% of produce in North America is discarded because it’s not pretty enough.
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1/2 of all food produced worldwide is wasted.
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Consumption and organization habits were the most common reasons cited among U.S. adults for wasting food.
Food contains huge amounts of resources which are rich in energy, nutrients and minerals. Instead of decomposing or wasting food, an option would be to recycle and compost the waste. Food that was wasted can become valuable to plants as a fertilizer through the process of composting.
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Sources: WFP, UN, CNN, Togoodtogo
Interviews
Understanding our users needs and motivations.
We reached out to 32 people to ask about their food behavior and what they know about Food Waste.
We found out that most people throw away the food that is about to be expired. However, when given the option to exchange food they were open to the possibility as long as they knew they could trust users in the app.
Main question from where insight was gathered
How do you feel about buying or exchanging food from other people?
“I am open to it.”
“I have never done it,
but wouldn’t mind!”
“If the service is monitored for cleanliness and quality, I would do it.”
“Depends what types of food, but could be a good idea to manage food waste.”
Persona
Product design based on target user base.
Alex Smith
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30 yr old Male
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Account Manager in Tech
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Lives in San Francisco
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Environmentally friendly
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PAIN POINT:
Dislikes throwing away food but he doesn’t know what to do with the extra items he has.
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GOAL:
Minimize household food waste to have a positive impact on his community.
User Journey
Taking a look at the user's journey and understanding when they throw out food will help identify a moment of opportunity.
Inspiration
A moment of opportunity presented itself when food is in the fridge, right when the food is about to go bad. So we thought of different ways we can inject a solution during this time. We noticed that during quarantine, we use to see “ads” in our neighborhoods of people selling homemade banana bread.
What if there was a way to bring this idea into a digital solution that helps reduce excess food?
So we decided to browse other community related apps to see how those digital solutions function.
This helped us in developing an app that users will feel connected and safe. We were inspired by the apps Nextdoor and Air bnb who showcase a sense of community. Users can exchange their opinions and write reviews about each other within their community on these apps.
Solution
Foodwise is a community where users can share the excess food and compost the food if it has become expired.
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We believe having Profile Verification would be an extra value for people to feel safe while looking for food. We also added reviews to help users feel confident while interacting with other users.
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Choosing a community based app, was the best alternative as when exchanging food, people can only do that within a certain radius. Once users interact, the sense of family and friendship will increase and users will not be afraid of exchanging food with people they don’t know.
Next Steps
For the future of foodwise, we would like to partner with restaurants, food banks, and other business who dispose of food. This will combat the food waste problem even more by having other players as users.
We will also add additional features such as repurposing methods, recipes, and influencer content. These different methods can give users more chances of deciding what to do with their excess food instead of the two options currently available to them.