“I always have trouble fitting my groceries in the fridge because there is so much clutter.”
“I wished people would keep track of their rotting food.”
As a student at the University of Michigan, I wanted to help improve living habits on campus. I discovered that there was something happening in students’ shared spaces, especially in the pantry and fridges— fresh groceries are forgotten and lost, creating clutter and mold. Students found themselves throwing away groceries because of not knowing how to use them properly to cook healthy and delicious meals.
This is the vision of fresh started, an accessible mobile application that students can use to keep track of their groceries and discover new recipes based on what they have in their pantry and fridges.
I interviewed five students at the University of Michigan and here are how some felt...
keeping it easy and fresh.
I also created some personas to help understand my users' needs, experiences, behaviors and goals.
Primary Persona
Secondary Persona
Students want to learn quick and new recipes to manage their food in their fridges by using and keeping track of what they buy to reduce food waste.
Users were confused on how to click and edit items in their Pantry
Include the full recipe before going through the steps so users are aware of what’s coming up next
Need a more thorough item page such as including expiration dates
Options to share recipes
Food fuels the body.
fresh is designed to create a convenient and safe social environment for those interested in finding new recipes to cook from the fresh groceries bought.
By introducing a social community on the platform, students can share their delicious meals and spread food positivity throughout campus. The grocery tracker will allow students to also keep track of what they already have in their fridges and pantry, therefore reducing food waste and clutter.
Easy to follow step by step recipe walkthroughs
This guides users through their cooking session with options to proceed to the next step or go back to the previous one. Users can also choose to view the entire recipe instead.
Users can quickly add or edit items in the grocery recorder, all in one place
Users see see all of their recorded items, separated by sections with filtering options.
When I first designed my lo-fi prototype, I thought I implemented all of the features I wanted to have on the product but after just conducting a few user testings, I discovered that there were a lot of usability and accessibility issues. You need another perspective on your product. It is important to make sure your user can navigate through the product on their own. The more testing, the better the product!
In order to problem solve effectively, designers must flesh out their ideas and focus on the first parts of the design process such as conducting research, designing wireframes, and determining the informational hierarchy. But through it all, remember to trust the process.
