EcoEats Design

Project Overview

A mobile app designed to reduce household food waste through smart pantry tracking, gamified rewards, and social interaction. This was project formed as part of my Honours project in UX Design.

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Role

  • UX & UI Designer

  • User Researcher

  • Prototyping

  • Concept Evaluation

The Problem

Its clear household food waste is a huge issue, yet it still happens anyway.

Good intentions alone aren’t enough. People forget what they’ve bought, lose track of expiry dates, or lack inspiration to cook with what they already have. Without the right tools, food gets wasted, money is lost, and the environment suffers.

Aims & Goals

The goal was to design an engaging and accessible mobile app that helps users reduce waste and form better habits.

This project investigated user behaviour around food waste through three research questions:

  1. How does social interaction within the app influence user motivation and engagement?

  2. To what extent do real-life rewards (e.g. discounts and food vouchers) influence intentions to use a food waste app?

  3. Which app features most influence users’ intentions to adopt sustainable food practices?

Methodology

The project followed a user-centred approach. However, usability testing was not done in this phase as it was important to make sure the concept was well recieved by users.

The project followed a user-centred approach. However, usability testing was not done in this phase as it was important to make sure the concept was well recieved by users.

This project investigated user behaviour around food waste through three research questions:

  1. How does social interaction within the app influence user motivation and engagement?

  2. To what extent do real-life rewards (e.g. discounts and food vouchers) influence intentions to use a food waste app?

  3. Which app features most influence users’ intentions to adopt sustainable food practices?

This project investigated user behaviour around food waste through three research questions:

  1. How does social interaction within the app influence user motivation and engagement?

  2. To what extent do real-life rewards (e.g. discounts and food vouchers) influence intentions to use a food waste app?

  3. Which app features most influence users’ intentions to adopt sustainable food practices?

01. Literature review

02. Competitor Analysis

03. initial data collection

04. User Preference Questionnaire

05. concept evaluation

Competitor Analysis + The Gap

The competitors solutions offered no reward or mainly focused on one core feature

The competitors solutions offered no reward or mainly focused on one core feature

I analysed five existing apps in this niche. I found that almost none of them provided users any reward or incentives for using the app. The competitors mainly focused on one tool suggesting the need for one well rounded solution that incentivises mundane tasks.

Concept Evaluation

Real world rewards valued as they provide value

Social Interactivity was well received but with limitations

Users stressed they liked the feature but suggested some barriers to using it. Most suggested they would only use it if their friends did, and one was worried about fear of judgement due to eating habits.

Overall, the reward system was well received by the users.

Initial Survey

Surveys were used to gain insights into current sustainable practices, causes of food waste, feature and gamified element preferences

Surveys were used to gain insights into current sustainable practices, causes of food waste, feature and gamified element preferences

From existing research, I saw the importance of offering incentives for positive actions, so surveys were done to further reinforce this. I conducted surveys with 24 people who often waste food. I asked them various questions about their current habits regarding food waste, along with what they believe is the root cause of their food waste and finally about which features and gamified elements they would most value.

Key Themes

  • Users admitted to buying without a plan, often forgetting what they had at home

  • Users felt more motivated by tangible rewards like real world vouchers and discounts than abstract rewards like leaderboards and points

  • Many users lacked confidence in knowing what to cook or how to use their leftovers effectively

  • Users admitted to buying without a plan, often forgetting what they had at home

  • Users felt more motivated by tangible rewards like real world vouchers and discounts than abstract rewards like leaderboards and points

  • Many users lacked confidence in knowing what to cook or how to use their leftovers effectively

Personas, Empathy maps and more. To see the user flows let me know.

The Solution

The EcoEats Concept

The EcoEats Concept

Concept Evaluation

Real world rewards valued as they provide value

Overall, the reward system was well received by the users.

Social Interactivity was well received but with limitations

Users stressed they liked the feature but suggested some barriers to using it. Most suggested they would only use it if their friends did, and one was worried about fear of judgement due to eating habits.

The Pantry feature showed the most promise in assisting with sustainable behaviour

Users rated this feature highly due to its ease of use, and quick and efficient ways like the barcode scanner to input ingredients, showing that users love quick solutions that don't hinder them

Design Changes

Due to it not being a usability test at this stage, there was not many changes, however users suggested adding nutritional information

Future Development

Usability testing next steps

Now that the concept has been validated, the next step is to usability test, in order to complete the project and fix any issues and inconsistencies.

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