Low Fidelity Prototype
After the concept and key features have been decided, we start to create a low fidelity prototype to test and ensure these are meeting the needs and expectation of our potential user group. Before putting our hands to create the prototype, we did further research in existing food waste application which has similar function with our original idea. A prototype planning worksheet has been made to help us to identify the core features of our concept as well.
Since our ultimate goal of the concept is to reduce individual food waste by combining several features into one mobile application system. We priority each function by ranking them in order of numbers from 1 to 5 to show the significance.
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Inventory and grocery lists
This feature provides users to track their inventory simultaneously while they are making their grocery list before they go shopping. With this feature, it helps the user to avoid buying the same item again. -
Sharing food
Provide the user with a food share forum is another feature we are proposing for the user. Letting the users post on the neighbourhood sharing forum inside the app for the item they would not be able to consume by time. So that their neighbours could claim that item for free and pick up at the agreed location. Similarly, users could also request items from their neighbours. -
Reward/incentive system
In order to help the users to form a habit and simulate them keep using the system, the personal page has been created as an account to record all actions and data. We adopt the money loss metric feature here as the reward/incentive system in the prototype. Given the consideration of price for each item might be difficult for the count, we decided to use the amount of used up and disposed of items every month. -
Preservation tips
The preservation tips feature aims to provide handy food storage and fridge manage advice solutions for the user. This function has been included in the Inventory list page. If the users want to check storage tips for a certain item, they can click on the detail disclosure button for further information. -
Recipe suggestion
The recipe feature provides suggestions for food based on the ingredients user currently have in their inventory. This feature is aiming to help the user to reduce or use the food they had without wasting any items from the inventory. The recipes provide suggestions from the item they selected. The user can save any recipes they like for future references and it could be found on the profile page.
We started our design based on the research we studied with the applications from our design proposal research paper domain. From the evaluation of many different styles in the existing apps, we noted down functions and features that stood up and matched our concept. After brainstorming and playing with a few apps, we had some features that we would like to establish for our low-fidelity prototype.
Figure 2 Sketches during the design progress
These were the features and elements that we thought during our design progress:
We started breaking down the categories with the food storage area in our house with Fridge, Freezer, and Dry Pantry. We used this to help the user to track down all the items they have in section. It would be much easier to help them to identify what food they had and when they need to find it. Since there would be lots of information on the screen, we used a card-based metaphor to present multiple information. It easy for the user’s eyes to scan things faster when the relative information group together. The user could slide left or right to make two simple operations on the item. When the user slide to the right side, the “Used up” option colour coded by green will appear, then the user could tap it to record that item as being used up already. Similar, if the user slide to the left-hand side, the orange “Share” option will appear, then the user could choose to share the item on the next page. For the grocery list, we thought about how to help users easily identify items on the screen. Based on our initial user research, the checklist is a common tool users use planning and shopping for groceries. With that idea, we use the metaphor of the checklist for selecting the items. So that user can simply click on the checkboxes to record daily shopping routine. As showing reminders/notifications about food that is going to expire, we use red to show food that is almost expired, and orange to show food that is about to expire. On the profile page, the users would be able to check the visualised data statistics of the proportion of used up items vs discarded items. This could be an opportunity for the user to reflect on the previous behaviour.
Based on these design considerations demonstrated above, the Low Fidelity Prototype has been made by using digital prototype tool.
Link to the Low Fidelity Prototype: https://www.figma.com/file/A51Ub4H54SpoeDZtGCbbAl/FoodWaste_1.0?node-id=0%3A1
Instructions: Before use the prototype from your phone please follow the instruction below.
- Download the Figma Mirror App from Google Play or Apple store.
- Create an account.
- Turn on the Wifi on your phone and select a Frame or Component on the canvas.
Other option:
You can test the prototype directly from the link and use the app from the website.
For the Evaluation protocol we needed to prepare our users by first encouraging them to think about their food waste related habits. We then introduced them to our concept, conducted a testing session. This testing session was followed by an interview to gain a better understanding of their experience.
For the developer: Get consent forms signed before you begin.
Aim: Verify concept in a horizontal prototype.
- What features are most important to the users?
- What data is the user comfortable sharing?
- What is the user comfortable doing with the app?
- What about the interface that the user is happy or not happy about?
- Do you shop for your own groceries? Why? Why not?
- Do you make a grocery list when you go shopping?
- How would you describe your food waste habits?
- What are possible reasons for your food waste?
- What do you think could help you reduce waste?
Describe the concept: The purpose of our application is to assist individuals with managing their food waste.
Inform the user of their task: You will now be given a set of tasks that we want you to complete using this application. We request you to commentate when you are doing these tasks and describe what you think should be done before starting the task:
- Add an item to the grocery list
- Use up an ingredient you have
- Look for a recipe using specific ingredients: Tomato, broccoli, cucumber and Gouda cheese
- View that recipe
- Check the recipes you have saved
- Attempt to share an ingredient
For the developers: Observe the user using the prototype. Make notes of things that they attempt to do with the prototype.
- How do you understand this application?/What do you think this application does?
- How was this app to navigate? good/bad - why?
- Is there anything that is unclear about the application?
- What about this is confusing? -- Follow up questions on specific things that were hard to understand
- Why, how would you improve it?
- Have you used another application
- Do you have any suggestions on how this application could improve?
- Which function do you think might help you to prevent/temper the food waste occurs?
- Would you be comfortable with sharing your food data on the app like this?
- How about the sharing function, how do you feel about this?
- What would motivate you to use this application regularly?
- What do you think of the icons?
- Any comments on the visuals of this app?
- Any other comments?
We recruited 6 users to participate in our user tests. The insights from the testing session are summarised below accompanied by specific quotes from users.
Sharing Food using the app
How about the sharing function, how do you feel about this?
"Sort of like a marketplace? Hm. I guess it depends on how its implemented, like if you see in the app that someone has left a cucumber somewhere, I might be a bit sceptical about just picking that up. But I guess that's also just getting used to it, its at most the transformative aspect of the app. If you’re doing really well with the app you wouldn't have any leftovers to share. "
"The idea of sharing is actually really great. As a student it's easier to share with someone. I think its great to reduce waste with the sharing option."
"Think it would make more sense if I could make a group with the people who live with me to share ingredients Because it’s a lot of effort to go and find someone to give food to. Sharing doesn’t make sense, you share it and someone wants it, how do you manage that. Donation makes more sense. It’s fridge food, it will go bad. Sharing recipes makes sense."
" I would be happy to give my ingredient away knowing that it's usable, but not if it’s one day the expiry date and I didn’t really know if it still was usable. I would feel bad giving away something like that. I would be comfortable with giving away if all the info was out there, so through this app, I would to it, but not in real life."
The sharing food function received mixed reviews. Most of the feedback indicated that users were apprehensive about giving away food that was about to go bad and even the logistics in organising the sharing in person. This feature will need to be reviewed.
Reward System
What would motivate you to use this application regularly? What about a reward system?
"In itself reducing food would be the main goal but if there was some sort of way of motivating that it would probably be handy, not necessarily be a reward itself, but just a tracker would be enough I’d say. Beating myself. Maybe every week like a notification summarising the week. That would be fine for me. I’d use the app with the intention of reducing food waste, I wouldn't need any other gamification aspect of it I think."
"[The app] might encourage [trying] new recipes. [If it] Scans through barcode and gives you calories as well [that would be motivating]"
"They can be connected on all my devices, switch quickly between laptop, iPad and phone. Some people I know who are famous for being healthy if they recommend an app and demonstrate how to use it. That motivates me more after seeing someone use it. If I am able to share my food with my housemate and everyone else is using it, I will use."
"Potentially. Or just the good feeling of giving away food. Like this isn’t an app I would use every day, but if it told me when a thing was expired that would be very useful."
As seen in these quotes, some users were happy to know that they were reducing their food waste and that was enough motivation. Others wanted things like calorific content and new recipe recommendations. One user was happy with a weekly summary from the app.
Inventory and Grocery Lists
"Inventory screen or the idea of it is cool, that you have a list of everything you have and it tells you how much. Grocery list as well, quite simple."
"I think the [feature] I would use the most is the inventory just to make sure nothing goes bad."
"I like that the expiry date is there and that you can choose fridge/freezer and separate the ingredients that way."
"It's clear that it keeps track of inventory of the things that I have at home. And then it shows me the expiry date."
Across the board, users responded well to the inventory function. They were also able to identify that this was a key feature of the app as compared to the share function that confused a few users (with them assuming they were sharing recipes and/or pictures of their dishes)
Recipes
"The recipies function, if you can access online recipes, that you can search say pinterest as well, and then save that to the saved recipes. That would be useful for me because inspiration would be a good way to deal with. Access a world of recipes with this app would add a whole lot to the application."
"If it could suggest many recipes for the same set of ingredients."
" I can find recipes so that I can make use of that stuff. And I can add things that I need to buy based on what I need."
"[The app is] sufficient in finding recipes based on the food combination I select and a better way for the active function for me would be that it finds recipes on its own that can be made by the current ingredients I already have in my stock that I don't have to choose specific ingredients by myself ."
Users brought our attention issues we were able to address and some that we were not able to. For example, the issue with colloquial names of ingredients would be tackled by machine learning and technology we are not planning to implement in our current work plan. Many, if not all, users indicated that the recipe and inventory functions were the most motivating features of the app and that these features would help them in tempering their food waste.
We received more feedback on the design of the app but since this session was mainly to test the concept, we decided to focus on their feedback on the features. The remaining insights are recorded in the padlet linked above. The design was revisited based on user input and with every member of the team participating.