A Tale of Two Challenges
Reducing food waste and learning to work in a group
A two-week Agile Design Sprint
The Challenge
For our third project at RED Academy Toronto UX Professional program, our challenge was: How could we solve the problem of food waste in Toronto using technology by developing a native mobile app? This would be our first time working in groups and our first Agile Design Sprint. I would like to share our journey and lessons learned.
We needed to discover what was the core problem of food waste in Toronto, who the users were, and how they impacted the problem and any other factors which were involved.
My Contribution
During the project, I was a member of three teams: Research (Consumers), Planning, and Design (Branding). During the Research phase, I did domain research, helped create surveys and analyzed data, interviewed two users, and helped create affinity diagrams. Together with my Planning team members, we developed personas, user scenarios, use cases, and user flows.
As part of the Design (Branding) team I contributed to the Feedback logo design: using Illustrator, I developed the final concept. I copy edited and used InDesign to produce our client proposal; teammates provided graphics and the original text.
Ready, set, go
For the first phase of the project, we divided into three Research teams: Consumers, Producers, and Organizations. James McNab was our UX Team Lead, and Liz Kucharska was our Scrum Master.
Research
We were determined to uncover answers from the consumer’s perspective: Who wastes food?, Why is food wasted?, How is food wasted?, Type of food wasted? What if anything can be done to reduce food waste?
Our domain research included: more than 40 online surveys, two user interviews as well an extensive online research provided information and data which eventually helped drive the solution. Food waste is a massive problem and consumers were responsible for 47% of all food waste. Our surveys showed that consumers were full of regret. They hated wasting food. The most common reasons consumers listed for feeling wasteful were: they had too much, and other households had too little, monetary waste, followed by environmental waste. It was clear that consumers needed to play a significant role in reducing food waste.
The group researching organizations identified Second Harvest as the major player in Toronto’s food waste story. They have been rescuing and redistributing surplus food, reducing both food waste and hunger for more than 30 years. Two key findings identified: Second Harvest’s resources and infrastructure were stretched thin and sometimes they were unable to manage all the donations, in particular, those under 100 kgs.
How could we connect small-scale donors directly to agencies in need? Would our solution reduce food waste and allow Second Harvest to do more with their resources?
In the second week of the project, we learned that Second Harvest recently received funding from the Walmart Foundation to develop a platform to facilitate small-scale donations. It was a fortuitous piece of information, the timing of our proposal seemed perfect.
As the Research phase came to a close, we divided into new groups. I was part of both the Planning and Design (Branding) groups.
Planning
We needed to find a way to connect people with excess food with people in need while keeping in mind the role of Second Harvest. Using the data and insights from our research, we developed personas, user stories, scenarios, user tasks and user flows.
User Flows
Using the information from our Personas and features identified from the research and user goals, we developed the donor and diner (recipient) user flows. Second Harvest was the platform owner and would oversee the donors, drivers, and nonprofit agencies.
Donors wanted to be able to donate smaller quantities of food and know when the donations would be picked up. Our donor flow: Donors log in and would have options to check their previous donations or add donations, and a notification would be sent directly to the driver.
Diners wanted to able to access available food through their local nonprofit agencies and know when, where and what kind of food would be available. Our diner flow: Diner would log in, create food preference and then see the feed of available food.
Branding
Our teammate Juni Bimm created the name Feedback. She connected the idea that an output of surplus food could be rerouted as an input for addressing hunger, creating an ongoing feedback loop.
The branding group’s challenge was creating a logo to reflect our Feedback solution. We had done several brainstorming sessions and numerous versions before we created the final one which reflected our vision: whether you’re donating or receiving food, the experience should be easy, rewarding and make all those involved happy.
Design and Prototype
The design team created a simple, attractive, easy-to-use solution for both donors and diners. They streamlined the donation process and simplified the donation management for the non-profit agencies. An elegant solution to a complex problem.
Feedback’s features that solved Donor and Diner Goals
Donors would be able to donate less than 100 kg of food at a time.
Donors would be able to donate their surplus food conveniently and know when it would be picked up.
Diners would be able to locate and view food available at a nearby agency through the app.
For more about Feedback check out our client proposal.
Perfect Timing
A few days before we were to present to Second Harvest, RED Academy facilitated a meeting which included our Feedback team, MetaLab, and Second Harvest. MetaLab, the creators of Slack, a popular communication platform, just happened to be looking to work on a project with a social conscience, and Second Harvest just happened to have received funding from the Walmart Foundation.
A satisfying end to our first group project and agile design sprint. Together as a team, we helped create a concept that might help reduce food waste and help feed people in need. We look forward to the evolution and success of Feedback as Second Harvest and MetaLab turn our proposal into a reality.
Lessons Learned
Teamwork
In the beginning, teams were wasting time and efforts due to duplication. We were having difficulties switching from solo UX designers to a studio approach. Guidance and direction from Project Manager, James McNab and Scrum Master, Liz Kucharska, helped steer us back on course. As the project progressed, we started working as a team sharing resources, information and offering support where needed.
Communication
We had been using both Slack and Trello since the beginning our UX program; their real value of became apparent as we transitioned from working as individuals to collaborative studio designers.
It took me awhile to get the hang of these tools. I wasn’t sure when to use which. As the project progressed, I could see the value of both and can’t imagine doing a group project without them.
Our Feedback team used the online Trello card system to track progress, post links to files, create “to do” lists and have a central location for all files/Google drive links. As we worked on the project, we transferred the Trello cards from not started, in progress to completed. Anyone could take a quick look at our Trello board to see our progress.
Slack, an online communication tool, helped with group transparency, all members could follow team conversations even if they’re not part of the particular conversation. Unlike an email chain, it was easy to follow, and there was no need to send or reply all. When we were frantically working towards our deadline, Slack made it easy for us to share files, ask or receive help, discuss roadblocks or problems, and stay aware of our progress by receiving notifications and reviewing conversations.
Agile Design Sprint
Agile? Scrum? What? I didn’t really know what they meant when we started this project. Sometimes I felt confused and unsure. The project was constantly changing. Morning and evening scrums helped us stay focused and accountable. Problems were identified early. Ideas and solutions were tested often. Scrums helped keep our project on track.
This design sprint was both invigorating and challenging. Time restraints forced a laser-like focus; decisions needed to be made with the information available. The pace and complexity of the project made it challenging to keep up. I needed to follow the process and trust my team members.
