Waste Not

The question: Could a web app help people improve their shopping habits and reduce food waste?

Globally, we waste a lot of food and food waste translates to wasted water and wasted money.

To start this project I spoke with various people about their shopping habits and how food waste impacts their daily lives. I asked questions such as:

* How many people are you cooking for?
* Do you plan your meals in advance?
* Do you check to see what you have before you go shopping?
* Are you on a budget?

These questions allowed me the opportunity to learn more about how my interviewees shopped and how aware they were of the food that they waste. Using this feedback I was able to create several unique personas, including:

A common theme emerged that indicated my interviewees felt strongly about the food that they waste and generally want to do better. They want to learn how to buy ingredients that can be used across multiple meals, how to properly store food, and how to save money. Through this discovery, I noted opportunities for functionality that would help accomplish these goals.

After the initial interviews, I surveyed the competitive landscape to see what other food and grocery related apps existed and if any of them had a focus on food waste.

I added features that not only notified the user of their success in reducing food waste and provided educational opportunities throughout the experience in the form of helpful resources, including:

* Notifications that highlight the number of shared ingredients across your shopping list as well as reminders to check before you buy
* Favorites recommendations that share common ingredients with other items on your shopping list
* Article and video resources that educate users on food waste and how to prevent it