Food Resource Center
Internship Project
Designing a mobile app to simplify and improve food access for the Hamline University Saint Paul community.
Project Details
3 month duration
Role: User Research, UX/UI design
Tools: Figma, Procreate, Miro
Outcome: End-to-end app
Introduction
The Food Resource Center at Hamline University aims to spread awareness of food insecurity on college campuses, increase food access for the Hamline community, and create a center that provides other resources to help students meet their basic needs.
The Problem
Visitors using the Food Resource Center (FRC) are unaware of what foods are in stock until they arrive or ask staff, which makes it hard to plan their visits around busy class schedules. Another issue is that bags are not always available for carrying groceries, since they depend on donations, leaving students struggling to carry food if they didn’t bring their own.
I aim to solve these issues designing a mobile app that will not only help solve these issues for visitors but also allow an easier workload on the staff.
Research
Other food pantry and food justice apps were compared by their UI elements and features. They were analyzed into strengths and weaknesses to gain insight on how they engage their users.
Interviews were conducted in person with 5 participants who work at the Food Resource Center or work the operations there. The questions were made to understand habits, needs, and frustrations relating to the FRC in an in depth way allowing for open ended answers.
Interview Insights
Many participants check the pantry in person for foods or ask staff about specific items often creating challenges with time management. Tracking orders and knowing when items are in stock is another common need for visitors. The need for announcements, event info, and updates about new deliveries or special orders were often expressed as well as inconsistency of bag availability and a long checkout process.
“I wish that while staff was putting away stuff, people would be more mindful of the space and not budge in while people are working.”
“I would change the way the checkout system is because sometimes you have to wait in line for a long time and sometimes I’m in a time crunch to get to my next class.”
Surveys were sent out via email to the Hamline community who visited the FRC. Questions focused on understanding needs and frustrations as well as suggestions for further improvement.
Survey Insights
Many people are unaware of what items are in currently in stock and more communication on food deliveries and events were heavily mentioned. Comments also expressed wanting more information about why the FRC is closed when a delivery arrives and staff close the door to restock to avoid traffic.
“Having the door unlocked would be nice and when the center is closed, I would want a sign saying at least why, like when staff are restocking.”
Foundations
Personas were created based on my research findings of interviews, surveys, and market analysis research. I created two personas to show how differentiating their goals and frustrations are staff and management to better understand visitors.
I created an example task flow in order to help guide the design. I made frames based on the tasks I wanted users to complete in this prototype.
Wireframes
Sketches of the Food Resource Center app were drawn through procreate. I chose to go for a simple yet organized look in order to efficiently put the necessary things onto the homepage. I also went with a minimalistic design to make it easier to navigate.
Design
The UI kit includes a color palette, font types for headers, sub-headers, and body texts. I created button displays and what they would look like as a primary button and a secondary button. I kept the logo that was created for the website the same and used the colors from that logo for the app.
Prototype
Usability Testing
The task for this usability test is to navigate the Food Resource Center app. Participants will explore the app and check to see if mangoes are currently in stock at the FRC. The second task is to check whether or not the FRC is closed due to food delivery days and restocking. They are invited to speak their thoughts out loud through this process. They can mention any obstacles or confusion that arises and will address it through questioning and commentary. The test will be complete once participants have successfully completed both tasks.
Usability Results
Many of the participants liked the simplicity of the design and it was easy for them to find the inventory stock. Some suggested to add more newsletters and updates to the homepage of the app.
Next steps…
Creating a food search bar in the the FRC map page. Implement a newsletter section of events and news at the FRC onto the homepage. Building a separate app for FRC staff to edit inventory stock and sending out notifications.