overview
We were asked to pick an issue we were passionate about and develop a potential solution. We looked at the issues of world hunger and world wide waste and decided if we could create something that could help both of them as they were complete opposites. Rides for bites was created when we decided we could prevent excessive waste from grocery stores and restaurants by donating the food to a nearby homeless shelter or food bank. Our platform would do this by connecting the user to a restaurant with food left over food to a nearby homeless shelter or food bank. Restaurants or grocery stores would be able to enter in requests through the app for food that was left over and needed to be picked up and then drivers or volunteers could sign up to pick up the food and drop it off at a nearby homeless shelter.
my role
Design Lead:
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designed wireframes
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used visual design skills to craft screens on Sketch and then make them interactive.
context
12 week project in which we picked a social issue and used design thinking to develop a solution.
Team size: 5
tools
InVision, Figma, iMovie
the design process
01. understanding the problem
02. research
03. framing the solution
04. ideation
05. iteration
06. final solution
01. the problem
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Food waste is an increasing issue in the United States and research shows that it makes up 30 - 40% of the food supply. (USDA, 2019)
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Supermarkets and restaurants waste a little over 140 million pounds of food every year (Hunger and Homelessness, 2019)
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In Washington alone, around 970,150 people do not receive enough food everyday (Northwest Harvest, 2018)
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An article by NPR states that, “A full 10 percent of the available food supply in the U.S. is wasted every year at the retail level, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and about 20% is wasted at home...And it’s food that could go toward feeling the estimated 1 in 7 American households that can’t find enough to eat”
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According to Recycling Works, students in college, at average, create around 142 pounds of food waste per year (Poon, 2015)
02. research
results
User research focuses on understanding user behavior, needs, and motivation through various methods. In this project, three main methods of user research were performed to understand the problem and audience better: interviews, user surveys, and a competitive analysis of existing surveys. My role focused mainly on the stakeholder interviews and analysis of user surveys.
research insights
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current technologies do not have a large enough audience to be very effective
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need to have flexibility for the user and the stakeholders
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target audience: people over the age of 18 with a driver's license and car that are interested in volunteering or have volunteer requirements to fulfill
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organizations do not know about the good samaritan law that protects them if something wrong were to happen while donating
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can create further incentive for stakeholders by showing them their "impact"
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should have a lyft/uber type of design interface for volunteers
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Only 4 people were willing to spend more than 35 minutes on driving and 20 were willing to spend 15-35 minutes, so this app would be most effective in densely populated areas such as major cities.
interviews
The purpose of stakeholder interviews was to see how to incentivize grocery stores and restaurants to participate in our app. The purpose of user interviews was to gain the unique perspective of a user interested in volunteering. We chose to interview because we wanted a more in depth explanation from both sides.
stakeholders: manager at QFC
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can’t afford to store, pack and drive it to the food banks themselves
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concerned with the liability of food.
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flexible pick-up times and minimal work packing and storing the food.
users: students and adults
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help users communicate better with each other.
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access to a car that is large enough to carry food
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drivers must safely transport the food
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simple and flexibile
surveys
The purpose of this survey was to simply see if there was a market for Rides for Bites and to understand the major strengths and weaknesses of our idea. By integrating multiple styles of questions-like scales, open ended questions, multiple choices, we wanted to ensure that our questions gave us a clear understanding of user opinions.
competitive analysis
In this analysis, I analyzed the pros and cons of platforms that are similarly trying to tackle the issue of food waste and hunger.
Stregnths
Too Good
to Go
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reduces food waste in restaurants and builds awareness about the extent of food waste today.
Food For
All
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encourages users to reduce food waste and is effective as users buy food for discount
Goodr
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shows amount of food being saved for encouragement
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can be a good marketing strategy for the company.
Weaknesses
Why our solution works better
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doesn’t use food to give back to nonprofits
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larger impact if audience extended
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limits time users can pick up food to closing
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only for restaurants
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only in New York
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area
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narrowed specifically to companies and organizations
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audience fairly small
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they both reduce food waste worldwide by addressing food waste from restaurants
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our solution will be focused on using excess food to feed the hungry population
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also connects people to restaurants to reduce food waste.
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We will allow users to pick up excess food at anytime and we will donate this food to homeless people and food banks.
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our solution can cater to all audiences who are interested in addressing this problem. We will donate food from all organizations that are allowed to and that are able to.
03. framing the solution
design principles
flexible
users should be able to comfortably integrate this program into their lives and volunteer at a variety of times that can fit their schedules.
intuitive/simple
should not be too complicated as it could discourage stakeholders and users from participating
encouraging/motivational
since this is more about social good, we have to provide something that encourages users to participate more and stakeholders to donate more.
design challenge
How might we create a program or platform that allows restaurants and/or grocery stores to donate their excess food easily to address the issues of food waste and hunger in a community.
04. ideation
stakeholders
users
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restaurants/grocery stores
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adult volunteers
organizations that have left over packaged food that is ready to be donated
people signing up to drop off and pick up food on their own time
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foodbanks
organizations that are to receive the donated food to feed the hungry population
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students 18+ or others with volunteer requirements
people signing up to drop off and pick up food on their own time
user personas
primary features
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route generator
Allows the driver to generate various routes after choosing the amount of time/ distance they are willing to spend/travel; from here, drivers can choose the best route for them and process.
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restaurant/grocery story inventory update
Allows restaurants/grocery stores to update the amount of extra food they have on hand before and after pick-ups occur.
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food filters
This filter allows homeless shelters/ food banks to update the type of inventory they accept so that this information can be used to filter the type of routes that can be taken based on the available inventory from restaurants/grocery stores at that point in time.
secondary features
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time/distance/location preference
allows the volunteer to choose whether they would like to generate a route based on the time they are willing to spend, the distance they are willing to travel, or based on the final destination they are trying to reach.
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"my impact"
Allows user to track their “impact” and see how much food they saved from going to waste. It also allows user to access information regarding all of their past trips.
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map layout
Allows the user to, upon entering the application, have an overhead view of the streets around him and where the restaurants, businesses and food banks are in relation to him.
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"leave at" option
Allows the user to either make an appointment in advance or book an appointment at the moment.
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real time chat feature
Allows the drivers, food banks/homeless shelters, and restaurants/grocery stores to communicate with each other; this provides an accessible way for each party to report any sudden events or changes
low fidelity wireframes: brainstorming
05. iteration
information architecture
wireframes
volunteer drivers interface
restaurant interface
food bank/ homeless shelter interface
visual language decisions
Roboto Regular
Roboto Light
We used different widths of Roboto in our design for a clean, minimalistic look. We used varying widths to create information hierarchy in our app so it is easier for the user to process information. Roboto is also very commonly used in mobile and even web interfaces as it is clear and easy to read.
My team settled with the bright yellow-orange and a lighter baby orange as the accent our main colors. We decided to use black and an accent grey as the color of the text. We used color specifically in the app at points where the user is suppose to complete an action and we used the accent orange to notify the user of something. We kept the text simple in grey and black so it would be easy to read on the eyes. As one of the brighter colors, orange-yellow captures the energy and motivation of our drivers towards bringing about a positive change in their community. These colors are also correlated with community, service, and volunteering which are key aspects of our application.
06. final solution
reflection
This process helped me learn a lot about leadership in product design. As the design lead on my team, I led everyone in the group through each step of the design process and worked collectively to meet each deadline.
Through this experience, I learned the most important part of working in a team is communication and being able to have everyone felt heard. My team was able to get along very well and we each shared our perspectives very openly. When disagreements would arise, we learned how to effectively collaborate to come up with the best solution so everyone was satisfied with where our project was heading. I also learned that the main reason disputes arise is due to miscommunication and having organized meetings can significantly reduce the number of such disagreements.
I also learned the importance of referring back to user-centered design whenever disagreements arise because it is important that the product is effectively designed to meet the needs of the user specifically rather than the people on the design team. Empathizing with and understanding the users needs is one of, if not the most, important aspect of design thinking as in order to make truly impactful solutions it is imperative to make sure you are meeting the needs of the user specifically.