FoodSmart: MINIMIZING FOOD WASTE
Reducing Food Waste Through Smart Tracking
ROLE
UX/UI Designer
EXPERTISE
YEAR
2023
FoodSmart is a user-friendly app designed to tackle food waste. With features like product tracking, expiration alerts, and recipe suggestions, the app empowers users, especially students, to make smarter decisions about their food.
The goal was to create a clean, engaging, and highly functional interface that supports sustainable living while being simple to navigate.
Timeline
An 8-week journey from research and ideation to high-fidelity prototyping and final presentations, while working with multiple projects at the same time.
Background
Food waste is a global issue. People often lose track of their groceries, leading to unnecessary waste.
Key challenges:
Lack of awareness of expiration dates.
Difficulty in keeping track of multiple food items.
Limited knowledge of how to use available ingredients effectively.
This category details the step-by-step approach taken during the project, including the following phases. Continuous feedback rounds were integral to every stage, ensuring the app's features and design were closely aligned with user needs and expectations:
Research
Conducted user interviews and surveys to understand the challenges faced by students and individuals in managing food waste. Gathered insights on their food storage habits, expiration tracking needs, and preferences for recipe suggestions.
Planning
Defined project goals and core functionalities of the app, such as manual input, barcode scanning, expiration notifications, and recipe recommendations. Mapped out user journeys and wireframes to ensure a seamless experience.
Design
Developed low-fidelity sketches followed by high-fidelity prototypes to visualize the app's interface. Focused on creating an intuitive and visually engaging design that emphasized clarity and ease of navigation.
Testing & Optimization
Conducted usability testing with peers to gather feedback on the app's interface and functionality. Iteratively refined the design to address pain points and improve overall user satisfaction.
The FoodSmart app addresses these challenges with an innovative and intuitive UX/UI design.
User-Friendly Interface
A streamlined design makes adding, tracking, and managing food items easy and enjoyable.
Expiration Tracking
Users can scan or manually add items to their virtual fridge. The app provides notifications when food is nearing expiration.
Calendar Integration
A built-in calendar feature allows users to plan meals ahead based on their available ingredients and expiration dates, helping them optimize food usage.
Recipe Suggestions
Based on available ingredients, the app suggests recipes to make the most of what users already have.
Smart Alerts
Text notifications remind users of food close to spoiling, promoting timely usage.
Here, the outcomes and achievements of the project are highlighted, including reduced food waste, sustainability awareness and positive feedback.
Reduced Food Waste
Helped users better manage their groceries, preventing waste and saving money.
Sustainability Awareness
Encouraged users to adopt a more mindful approach to food consumption.
Positive Feedback
Users praised the app's simplicity and practicality, especially the recipe suggestion feature.