Role
Founder
Design Team Lead
UX Designer
UX Researcher
The problem
Project Context
7 months —
Lean UX Approach
Team: 1 PM, 1 Tech Lead, 3 Designers, 6 Developers
App available in 2024
There is excessive food waste on college campuses
As a college student, I’ve seen many people throw away leftover food from events. Getting rid of the food was challenging and information about free food was untrustworthy. The information relied on fleeting Instagram stories, group chat messages, or word of mouth. This sparked the question: how can we reduce food waste on college campuses?
The solution
A centralized app that alerts people of free food opportunities on their campus
3. Share
Alert community about free food opportunity
Detailed descriptions and filtering to facilitate trust and transparency
Share posts with friends and peers via text message
Our approach + design process
Competitor Analysis + The Gap
1. Discover
Ensure all students have equal access to information
Enable quick access to real-time information
Filtering method with dietary restrictions for a more personalized and inclusive experience
2. Connect + Chat
Chat feature that allows users to seek additional information
Customized profiles to foster trust within the community
Empowers users by facilitating collaboration and trust
Lean UX mindset + Designing with assumptions
Initially, I wanted to learn the basics of design and have the final product in 3 months. Therefore, I adapted elements of the Lean UX approach to minimize waste, quickly pass through each design phase, and easily collaborate with the developer team. This is a brief overview of the Lean UX design flow that we followed:
Source: Lean UX by Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden
Our hypothesis
I believed that there will be less food waste if college students are aware of free food on their campus
I held weekly meetings with the designers and the developers (2 at the time) to openly discuss the vision we had for this app. We brainstormed and made initial assumption about our users, user outcomes, features, and business outcomes to come up with our hypothesis shown in the Lean UX Canvas:
Primary Research
College students want this app
We sent out an anonymous survey to college students in the Boston area. The data showed that 44.8% of students look for free food opportunities on campus daily or weekly and 93.1% are interested in utilizing an app designed to discover these foods. When asked to describe their experience, many students revealed similar stories and problems:
The competition is NOT for college students
While considering the above statistics and experiences, we analyzed the 4 most similar apps and for spreading free food opportunities. I learned that NONE of these platforms adequately addressed the specific needs for college students. This realization became my opportunity for the solution.
Preparing user tests
Getting ready for first user tests
To obtain feedback as quickly as possible, we designed an MVP from our wireframes. We created a script and presented the MVP during the user tests along with a set of tasks for them to complete. Most tasks were centered around the app’s main features: discover and post free food.
Post a free food opportunity
Filter posts based on dietary preferences
Bookmark a post for later
Explore post content
Navigate to and explore profile
Usability Tasks
Testing
Validation of our MVP with user testing
In the first round, we conducted 7 user test sessions via Zoom with people who matched our ideal user persona: college students.
Shifted assumptions
Wider target audience + Different features
As the design team lead, I made sure we debriefed after each user test: what did we learn from our users? Which assumption do we need to change and further test? Additionally, I reached out and scheduled calls with experienced mentors to gain further insights. Using this new data, we shifted our assumptions:
1. College students are not the only users of the app; College faculty members will also be discovering and posting foods on FreeBites.
Further validation
More validation of our prototype with user testing
We iterated our MVP design and created the high-fidelity prototype with the new target users and features. As the team leader, I believed it was important to conduct another usability test to make sure our product was intuitive and usable. So, in the second round, we conducted and analyzed 3 user tests via Zoom and in-person.
Insights + Improvements
3 major improvements in the design
Based on various feedback from the user tests and peers, we continually iterated our design over the span of a few weeks with 3 major improvements:
FreeBites’ Design System
This is the link to the design system Figma file with styles and components that were used to design the app. It includes FreeBites’ unique typography, color palette, buttons, bottom sheets, and more.
2. Improved posting flow
During user tests, users were overwhelmed by the information they needed on a single screen.
Based on peer feedback, I divided posting flow into steps to guide users, addressing cognitive load issues and aligning with Hick’s Law.
I iterated multiple prompt descriptions for better UX Copywriting.
Current Screens
Insights + Improvements
2. Many users suggested the need for additional safety and trust features like flagging, user identification, and detailed profiles.
1. Home screen simplification
Originally, the main information centered around food items and had excessive use of colors.
During user tests, users experienced difficulty prioritizing information due to the lack of a clear hierarchy.
Therefore, we refocused user attention by centering posts around photo, location, and eliminating unnecessary colors.
3. More transparency
During user interviews, many users expressed a lack of trust or security regarding the food items and community.
Therefore, I redesigned the commenting section to create a friendlier interface. Now, users can easily share real-time information, making the experience more engaging and enjoyable.
Essentials
The Working Prototype
I am currently in the process of implementing the new design system with my design team! We are set to finish implementation in mid-February 2024.
Learnings + What I’d do differently next time
Regarding FreeBites as a whole, I’m immensely grateful for this journey and prideful of the people I get to learn from and work with. FreeBites has grown from a solo venture to a 10-person team with 100% funding and support from our school senate. Currently, the project is ongoing as the developers are bringing the design to life using React Native and MongoDB.
Regarding the design, this was my first-ever UX project (Yippee!) ㄟ(≧◇≦)ㄏ. Going through the entire UX process with the design team was a challenging and exciting process. On that note, here are a few things I’ve learned:
Balancing business objectives: As the founder, I was constantly learning from and reaching out to developers, mentors, potential funders, and UX designer peers in its initial stages to push FreeBites into becoming a real product. Therefore, I was aware of the requirements and limits of what was possible. So, while designing, I learned that it’s important to always consider user and business needs.
More Collaboration: Despite juggling multiple timelines, schedules, and teams, I learned to prioritize keeping team members up to date. I found our stand-ups, team meetings, and weekly check-ins to be extremely valuable. In the future, I plan to foster more collaboration between teams from the very start.
Iterate as much as possible: I learned that continuous iteration and refinement are the keys to good design. With each iteration, we were able to adjust the design to create a product that aligned more closely with user needs and expectations.
Importance of research and user feedback: Conducting design iterations, user tests, and analyzing feedback allowed us to better understand user preferences and difficulties in finding an effective solution. Also, following the feedback and research allowed me to appreciate simplicity in design and be more attentive to detail. In the future, I plan to conduct and analyze more efficient user research.
Embracing change: I learned that I love solving problems with UX design and leading those I work with. Before this project, I was a film major who no longer wanted to work in the film industry. However, while working on FreeBites, I discovered that UX design is an exciting career path I wanted to pursue.
