ROOTS2PLATES - APP DESIGN (UNI PROJECT)
YEAR: 2023
Roots2Plates is a food delivery app in Melbourne with the desire to create a sustainable and equitable food system in Greater Dandenong by decreasing food wastes by 20%.
UX/UI Design
Branding
01. The Problem
"How can we make nutritious food accessible to low-income people, especially homeless people in the Greater Dandenong, while reducing food waste and food surplus?"
02. The Solution
"Food Delivery App - Roots2Plates"
Roots2Plates aims to combat food waste by purchasing surplus produce directly from farmers and local businesses, supporting local agriculture and economic, and mitigating environmental impact. Through an additional option for generous food or money donations and an app offering employment opportunities, it addresses food insecurity and homelessness by providing both sustenance and a path to rebuilding lives. The holistic approach tackles interconnected challenges in a meaningful way.
03. Qualitative Research:
"Personal Experience Witnessing Food Waste"
Working in a bakery has given me firsthand exposure to the significant amount of leftover food that is discarded due to our policies. Witnessing similar practices in other restaurants, cafes and markets, where nutritious ingredients such as bread, vegetables, fruits, eggs, oil, and milk are needlessly wasted each day, has raised concerns within me.
"We need to prevent food waste before it happens."
Agriculture is heavily affected by climate change and poor infrastructure, which can affect food availability and lead to food waste. One major challenge of food surplus which is the excess produce that do not meet the requirements or consumer's consumption. It will either end up being discarded as waste or lost, contributing to environmental and economic impacts.
"Homelessness is a pressing issue, with over 2 million households running out of food."
From my research, more than 122,000 people experiencing homelessness on any given night. Greater Dandenong has seen a 22% increase in homelessness over five years, and Australian households contribute to the majority of food waste, with 2.46 million tonnes wasted.
"Homelessness, Food and Employment Insecurity Is Interconnected"
Through interviews with individuals experiencing homelessness in Springvale, part of Greater Dandenong, I discovered a key connection between homelessness, food, and job security as their primary needs are shelter, financial stability for rent and expenses such as food and job opportunities. They rely on the generosity of local residents or resort to scavenging bins, typically having access to only 1-2 meals per day. They face challenges in finding consistent and long-term assistance from government and community services to address all their needs.
04. Competitor Analysis
Our competitors like OZHarvest and Foodbank Australia heavily rely on donations and fundings, surplus food available is time-sensitive and their app UI is unfriendly.
05. Personas
Targeting the vulnerable population and those that need help the most.
06. User Flow Journey
The User Flows Of A Volunteer and A Buyer
There were actually 3 targetted stakeholders: the homeless, low-incomer people and donators. (respectively rVolunteers, Buyer and Donator). For this project, I focused soley on Volunteer and Buyer. The Volunteer consists of 2 Modes: Chef and Driver. Below is the user flow journey of the Volunteer and Buyer.
07. User Testings
Methods: User interviews + User observational
I tested my prototype with a user belonging to one of the stakeholder group: low incomers.
08. Improvements
Taking in the feedback from the user testing, there were a lot of improvements needed to be made. Below are the major improvements.
09, UI & Visuals
The 'Imperfect' Food
To highlight the issue food surplus and food waste, I illustrated what was viewed as the 'imperfect' vegetables, hence why they are discarded and unwanted.
10. Explore Prototype
11. Takeaways
What I Have Learned,
I learned that I need to ensure that I go through the whole journey of UX design such as creating a customer persona to really understand their behaviours, motivations, triggers and more, as well as user flow diagrams and empathy maps. Most important, do as many user testings as I can which I the short time frame of the project did not allowed me to do user testing.
I realised that I had to make decisions which was biased as part of the research and motive of the project was from my personal experience with food waste, and limited opportunity to do user testing.
I needed to time manage and prioritise my main users that I focused on which were the buyers and volunteers, while there were other stakeholders like donators. As I found that I focused mostly on the UI of the app and if I could improve I would like to focus on one user flow of one user and delegate more time on research and user testings. Though, I am pleased that I took up the time post-project to do user tests and improved my app.
If I Had More Time,
I would like to do more interviews and user testings on my target audience to understand what they think and act, not just homeless people, but also low income families and donators. I would like to create user flows and interface for donators to donate their clothes, food, etc to help with the homeless situation and food waste through a seamless process of clicking into Roots2Plates app.
