2023
NUFF App
As per the data provided by the EPA, approximately one-third of all food in the United States goes uneaten. Furthermore, 96 percent of this wasted food ends up in landfills, combustion facilities, or down the drain to the sewer system, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and depleting natural resources. The main aim of Relish's NUFF mobile app is to provide a solution to reduce food waste and its impact on the environment.
Client: Relish *Concept Brand*
Project: Visual Design | UX | Research
Role: Solo Designer
Tools:
Figma -
Photoshop -
Illustrator -
Google Forms - Notion
The Problem
There is an exceptionally high amount of food waste generated in the United States, where approximately one-third of all food goes uneaten. This waste contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and the depletion of natural resources. Furthermore, people are unaware of how much food they waste, from uneaten leftovers to spoiled produce, leading to a lack of concern about the impact of food waste on the environment.
How Might We?
1. Help users remember what food they have in their pantry and fridge, so they can use it before it goes bad?
2. Make it easier for users to plan meals and use up leftovers?
3. Educate users on how to properly store food and reduce waste?
3. Incentivize users to reduce their food waste and make sustainable choices?
Discovery
Research Summary
Relish's NUFF app aims to help users reduce food waste and save money by providing features such as tracking pantry and fridge items, setting expiration dates, suggesting recipes based on ingredients, offering tips for storing food, and overall identifying areas to reduce waste and save money. To develop an effective solution, my process included empathizing with users, defining the problem statement, ideating solutions, prototyping, and testing.
User Research
After conducting surveys with 7 users, it was found that a vast majority of them (87.5%) waste food at home for various reasons, such as forgetfulness, lack of meal planning, and not knowing how to properly store or use up leftovers. Although 75% of the users expressed a desire to reduce food waste, many of them felt overwhelmed by the task or unsure of the best ways to do so. Forgetfulness was identified as one of the main reasons for food waste at home, with 87.5% of users admitting to forgetting what they have in their pantry or refrigerator. Additionally, a significant portion of users (62.5%) often buy more food than they need, leading to leftovers that often go uneaten. Furthermore, 75% of users were unaware of how to properly store or use up leftovers, and expressed a need for education on how to reduce waste. Lastly, a vast majority of users (87.5%) required a simple and user-friendly solution to help them track their food inventory, receive reminders, and make use of leftovers in creative ways.
Some of the questions asked during these interviews were:
How often do you find yourself throwing away food at home?
What are some reasons why you might waste food at home?
How do you keep track of the food you have in your pantry and fridge?
User Personas
After conducting user interviews I identified 3 significant user personas to consider while designing the NUFF mobile app.
Competitive Analysis
For the competitive analysis, I analyzed food waste management apps that are currently available in the market. These apps offer various features such as tracking food inventory, providing recipes for leftovers, sharing excess food with neighbors or local charities, and enabling restaurants and businesses to donate excess food to local charities.
Too Good To Go and OLIO focus on reducing food waste by allowing users to purchase or share excess food at discounted prices or with neighbors or local charities.
NoWaste and FoodKeeper focus on enabling users to track food inventory, set expiration dates, and receive notifications before expiration.
Goodr enables restaurants and businesses to track food waste and donate excess food to local charities, providing analytics on food waste reduction.
Journey Map
To help me better understand and empathise with the user, I created a customer journey map to illustrate the various steps that users take from the moment they consider purchasing groceries to when they have to throw away expired produce. The journey map helps highlight key opportunities and provides insights into the user's needs and challenges.
Too Good To Go and OLIO focus on reducing food waste by allowing users to purchase or share excess food at discounted prices or with neighbors or local charities.
NoWaste and FoodKeeper focus on enabling users to track food inventory, set expiration dates, and receive notifications before expiration.
Goodr enables restaurants and businesses to track food waste and donate excess food to local charities, providing analytics on food waste reduction.
UX Design
User Flows
After brainstorm on the IA for this app I was able to identify 8 potential user flows to solve for the various pain points identified through research.
For my initial pass at designing this app, I decided to focus on 3 user flows.
Design Considerations
Wireframes
I first began this phase by creating wireframe sketches to allow for rapid creation of iterations, Once I felt comfortable with the direction of the sketches I created lo-fidelity wireframes for the 3 user flows.
* examples coming soon *
UI Design Solution
Visual Direction
For the primary colors I decided on colors that were reminiscent of food various foods. Although the UI of the app is vary minimal the intentional use of the bolder colors really speaks to the Relish brand.
Logo Design
The logo was created to be bold and fun, while also being a subtle hint to the term " enough " . The Food waste problem in the U.S. is nothing to be quiet about, so I wanted to make sure the logo felt strong and powerful. While also retaining some of the roundness of the brand, Relish's, logo.
Tone of Voice
We want the NUFF app to have a friendly and informative tone. We hope to empower users to take action toward reducing food waste and saving money. Additionally, we want to provide educational resources and tips. Our tone should be approachable and non-judgmental, avoiding a preachy or confrontational style. Our aim is to inspire users to make positive changes in their daily lives and feel good about their progress.
Hi-Fidelity Mockups
