Harvest Hub App

Project Type: Design Sprint, BrainStation, Academic Project
Timeline: 1 week
Roles: UX Researcher, UX/UI Designer, Content Designer, Deck Designer
Tools: Figma, iOS
Team Members: Ali Lang, Beatriz Arevalo, Kate Van Egmond

This case study delves into the design and development of Harvest Hub, a mobile app created to combat food waste. Extensive research revealed that a staggering amount of food is wasted annually, with a significant portion occurring in retail and homes. Recognizing the need for accessible solutions, we focused on empowering users like Bill, a sustainability-conscious young professional, to make informed choices and reduce food waste in their daily lives.

We addressed common barriers to sustainable grocery shopping, such as multiple store visits, uncertainty about purchases, and the desire for convenient solutions, by designing an intuitive app that offers curated selections of "imperfect" produce, inspiring recipes, and hassle-free multiple-store delivery. By prioritizing user experience and emphasizing convenience, HarvestHub aims to make sustainable food choices accessible and appealing to a wider audience.

Take a Look

Creating the APP

Problem Space

Food waste is a critical global issue, with approximately one-third of all food produced for human consumption—around 1.3 billion tons—lost or wasted annually. This waste occurs throughout the supply chain, from production to consumption, resulting in significant economic losses estimated at $940 billion per year globally. In North America, 30% of produce is discarded due to aesthetic imperfections, while 17% of food waste occurs in retail and homes. The environmental impact is substantial, with food waste contributing to 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

30%

30% of produce in North America is wasted,
just because it is not pretty enough

11.2%

11.2% of total food waste comes from single-person households

Secondary Research

Secondary research revealed that if food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the United States. Moreover, the water footprint of food waste is enormous, with 250 km³ of water used annually to produce food that is ultimately wasted.

In the United States, food waste is estimated at between 30-40% of the food supply, corresponding to approximately 133 billion pounds and $161 billion worth of food in 2010. Households are responsible for the largest portion of all food waste by weight in the United States – more than grocery stores and restaurants combined.

Effective strategies to reduce food waste include improving inventory management, standardizing date labels, enhancing cold chain logistics, and promoting consumer education on sustainable practices. For instance, a study found that standardizing food date labels could reduce consumer food waste by 20%. Additionally, implementing technologies like smart packaging and AI-driven inventory management could significantly reduce waste in the supply chain.

Addressing food waste requires coordinated efforts across the supply chain, from producers to consumers, to implement innovative solutions and foster a culture of sustainability. This includes policy interventions, technological innovations, and behavioral changes to create a more efficient and less wasteful food system.

Method

Guided by the principles of the Design Sprint methodology, we undertook a focused, time-boxed process to rapidly solve complex problems through ideation, prototyping, and user testing. This structured approach, divided into five distinct stages, enabled a collaborative and efficient journey from problem definition to validated solution, ensuring a user-centered and innovative outcome.

UX Planet

Mapping

We created a simple user map to identify how best to assist our key player. Through this process, we determined that single-person households would be our primary focus, as they represent a significant portion of food waste. This decision allows us to tailor our solutions to effectively meet their unique needs and challenges.

Talking to People

Methodology

One-on-one decontextualized interviews with 12 target users, where we'll gather qualitative and attitudinal data. Questions were prepared under the interview guide.

Participant Criteria

Age Group: Millennials
Location: North America
Financial Status: Mindful of their spending
Living Situation: Living alone
Goals: Wants to minimize food waste

HMW Question and Prioritization

In this section of the case study, we engaged in a collaborative process to refine our focus by generating "How Might We" (HMW) questions that addressed key challenges and opportunities identified during our research. To prioritize these questions, we conducted a dot-voting exercise. Each team member was given dot stickers to place on the HMW questions they were most interested in exploring further. This exercise, done anonymously, allowed us to collectively highlight the questions with the most potential impact and relevance. The question with the highest number of dots was selected as our primary focus, guiding the direction of our subsequent design efforts.

HMW Question

How might we empower users to make informed purchasing decisions and effectively manage their grocery food consumption, to minimize waste?

User Persona

Extensive research into food waste patterns, consumer behaviors, and environmental impacts highlighted a prevalent user concern: the need for convenient, sustainable solutions that reduce food waste. To address this, we developed a representative user persona to guide our design process, ensuring our solutions align with the needs and challenges of this target audience.

Meet Bill

34 | Single | Vancouver, BC

Bill is a single professional who lives in the city and is passionate about sustainability. He is committed to minimizing his environmental footprint and reducing food waste but finds himself struggling with the demands of modern life.

Frequent Grocery Trips: Bill makes multiple trips to the grocery store each week, often due to uncertainty about what to buy and how to manage his food.
Food Waste: He is concerned about food waste and seeks ways to make better use of the produce he buys.
Time Constraints: Balancing a busy lifestyle makes it difficult for him to plan meals and shop efficiently.

As a single professional living in the city, I find myself juggling multiple grocery trips each week, trying to balance convenience with my commitment to sustainability.

Ideate & Decide

Inspiration

In this section, we delve into the UI inspiration that guided our design process. By examining a range of user interface examples and design patterns, we identified elements that resonate with our target user’s preferences and enhance usability. This exploration of UI trends and best practices helped us craft a visually appealing and intuitive interface that aligns with our user persona’s needs and expectations.

Sketches

In the "Sketches" section, we present the initial stage of our design exploration where we captured key insights and brainstormed potential solutions. This includes a range of rough sketches, from quick exploratory ideas to "Crazy 8" exercises, where we rapidly generated diverse, high-level concepts. These sketches reflect our creative process, highlighting how we transformed insights into tangible design solutions. To decide on the final idea, we employed the same dot voting system used earlier, allowing the team to prioritize the most promising concepts. By visualizing these early-stage ideas and iterating quickly, we were able to explore various approaches before refining our final design.