Shop to Table
Skills: UX Design, Service Design, Sustainable Design
For independent project complimented by UX Design and Environmental Sustainability courses at Northwestern University
A human-centered design solution that implements meal planning to assist users in making financial decisions that appeal to a healthy and environmentally sustainable lifestyle.
This app consists of two main sections that come together to assist in maximizing deals (searching for discounts), organizing users’ shopping lists according to a store layout, and planning meals around food they have available to them.
Once a user opens the app, they can choose ‘Shop’ or ‘Table.’ The ‘Shop’ section includes grocery shopping lists, price comparisons, grocery store suggestions, and available discounts. The ‘Table’ section includes their current pantry/inventory, recipes to make, and specific health information on all meal suggestions.
How it works
Opportunity
My team sought to identify an opportunity space to define a problem that solved an unmet and widespread need that arose in households due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
I wanted to be sure that this project’s solution would meet the requirement of being useful to users affected by the pandemic, but also remain relevant after the pandemic’s complications passed. Along with this, I wanted to orient the project around environmental sustainability.
Discovery
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, roughly
30-40% of the U.S. food supply is wasted,
which is approximately 133 billion pounds of food
The pandemic only further complicated the process of grocery shopping, as people wanted to reduce the amount of time and frequency of being in public spaces.
Through brainstorming sessions and interviews, we defined a project with the mission of designing a mobile app that would streamline the functions of meal planning and meal preparation with a focus on sustainability, finance, and health.
Overbuying is a common mistake, which is why meal planning is central in the app, to encourage practices that will help people reduce environmentally unsustainable patterns of production and consumption. Additionally, integrated personalization factors consider shoppers’ preferences, such as traditional versus organic food, and suggest recipes that are aligned with the user’s financial, diet, and lifestyle preferences in order to provide the most convenient user experience possible.
