Design Process
Food waste is a global issue that occurs at all stages of the food supply chain. Team PowerPuff Girls decided to target consumer food waste, specifically that of individuals. Through initial interviews with people - individuals - we established that food waste occurred in their lives due to very specific reasons. These reasons are:
- People lose track of the things they have and they go bad before they are used (this can be attributed to forgetfulness)
- Food goes bad unexpectedly, people are not actively tracking the expiration date of items
- Junk food distracts from food in the fridge that eventually goes bad
- People make too much food and the leftovers go to waste
- People would choose to share or donate their food if they had the right platform We used these insights as guidelines and attempted to address each cause with features in our application.
We have created a mobile application that allows users to track what they buy and store in order to help them manage their food waste habits better. Our app, Food Saver, enables users to create a grocery list. Once they have purchased the items, they are able to transfer these items to their inventory. Once in the inventory, the application tracks the expiry dates of the items and notifies the user of the same. The user is then able to choose whether to use or throw the item. Each of these decisions made by the user are tracked on their profile and they are able to see their habits visually represented. This visual representation is meant to be a persuasive system that motivates the user into managing their food better. The persuasion can take many forms that are still in consideration, some of the forms we are considering are:
- A money loss metric that calculates the money a user is saving by not throwing something away. Here they are motivated by wanting to save money.
- A graph that shows environmental impact to drive the environmentally conscious
- Nutritional content of meals consumed could motivate those who are health conscious The application also offers users a platform to view and share tips about storage for groceries and even recipes.
To begin our process we reviewed existing applications in this domain. From this evaluation of existing apps, we considered functions, features and boundaries for our own project. These apps were critically analysed to establish what we would benefit from implementing and what was not on the table for implementation.
After we outlined our concept we proceeded to test the concept using a low fidelity prototype. This testing session was to understand user expectations and look at how usable our application was and how to locate our features on the interface in order to ensure clarity. We also wished to understand whether the concept was understood clearly by users from simply using the app. More detail on the prototype, testing session and evaluation can be found at: (Link:https://github.com/deco3500-2019/Power-Puff-Girls/wiki/Low-Fidelity-Prototype)
Following the Low Fidelity Prototype, the team started creating a Medium Fidelity prototype and High Fidelity Prototype simultaneously. The medium fidelity prototype was created to address the insights from the first testing session and further define the aesthetics and features of the app. This prototype was tested as a natural successor of our first prototype. We explicitly evaluated the aesthetics of this prototype as well as how well our concept was communicated to the user and whether it served a purpose to them. More detail on the prototype, testing session and evaluation can be found at: (Link:https://github.com/deco3500-2019/Power-Puff-Girls/wiki/Medium-Fidelity-Prototype)
As a parallel to the process of creating the medium fidelity prototype, a high fidelity prototype was made to illustrate the concept in a working application. The main functionality was agreed upon before starting both the medium and the high fidelity prototype, and this was implemented in the high fidelity solution. The focus on this application was
- Inventory list with functionality to remove (use or throw) or add items, increase or decrease the quantity
- Tips page to read and leave comments about the items
- Grocery list page when you can add items to the list and add the list to your inventory
- Profile page with some minimal statistics
- Login page to ensure content is shared amongst users The high fidelity prototype can be found at (Link:https://s4540545-ppg.uqcloud.net/), and more information about its development can be found at (Link:https://github.com/deco3500-2019/Power-Puff-Girls/wiki/High-Fidelity-Prototype)
- Delegated tasks and organised due dates
- Created Initial Inquiry for preliminary user research
- Collaborated on the creation of the Medium Fidelity Prototype
- Contributed to all Testing protocols
- Tested Prototypes 1 and 2
- Contributed to app design
- Contributed to all Testing Protocols
- Collaborated on the creation of the High Fidelity Prototype
- Main Functionality
- Server Communication
- Tested Prototypes 1 and 3
- Created colour scheme for project
- Contributed to all Testing Protocols
- Collaborated on the creation of the High Fidelity Prototype (Front End and some Back End)
- Designed the Team Poster
- Tested Prototypes 1 and 2
For a more detailed overview of the collaboration on the high fidelity prototype, task breakdowns can be seen at https://trello.com/b/pQG3MPpw/functionality
- Collaborated on the creation and design of the Low Fidelity Prototype
- Contributed to Low Fidelity and Medium Fidelity Testing Protocol
- Collaborated on the creation of the Medium Fidelity Prototype
- Tested Prototype 2
- Contributed to app design
- Collaborated on the creation and design of the Low Fidelity Prototype
- Contributed to Low Fidelity and Medium Fidelity Testing Protocol
- Collaborated on the creation of the Medium Fidelity Prototype
- Tested Prototype 2
- Contributed to app design