SMIDGE
Smart Grocery Management for Busy Young Adults
Background
As a busy college student, I was inspired to create Smidge, a pantry app that helps users tackle food waste by streamlining grocery management.
Role
Passion Project
Timeline
Sept 2023 - Feb 2024
Scope
Research
Strategy
End-to-end design
Tools
Figma
Procreate
The Challenge
Young adults often struggle with effective grocery management, finding it hard to track what’s in their pantry. This leads to over-purchasing, forgotten items, and ultimately, wasted money and resources due to poor organization and underutilization of groceries.
Jump to the Solution ↗
Preliminary Research
Why does this problem matter?
43% of food waste
comes from home due to inability to plan meals and make grocery store shopping lists.
$400 billions dollars
worth of food is wasted globally, every year.
Which led me to asking…
What challenges do college students face in keeping track of pantry items, and how does this contribute to food waste?
Screener Surveys
77% Participants expressed frustration with their current grocery management system
Participants kept a grocery list, yet frequent lapses in usage highlight an underlying challenge. This gap is an area I’m interested in further exploring through user interviews
89% of my participants are between the age of 19-29
Based on the responses to my demographic questions, I realized that the target audience could extend beyond college students. By broadening the scope, I can capture a more diverse range of experiences and needs.
User Interviews
After conducting 6 interviews, I organized an affinity map of participant responses and identified key themes:
Mental Note Reliance
5/6 participants participants rely on memory to track cooking items, often resulting in food waste due to overbuying.
Ingredient Abandonment
4/6 participants struggle to find ways to use up remaining ingredients, often resulting in food waste.
Point-of-Need Gap
All participants reported that they often recognize the need for a list only once they’re already at the grocery store.
How might we create an intuitive grocery management app for busy young adults to reduce food waste and maximize ingredient use by simplifying planning, tracking, and meal inspiration?
Breaking down my HMW
Product
Target User
Problem/Needs
Condition
Initial Design Decision
Mobile-first Approach
Accessibility
On-the-go Utility
Real-time Updates
Engagement
Ideation
Early Accomplishments
Sketches
Starting this project from ground up, I began ideating with pen and paper to quickly explore different ways to structure my app.
Wireflows
To better visualize the user’s critical path, I created low-fidelity wireflows, establishing a foundation for the prototyping phase.
Site Map
To ensure a smooth, intuitive user flow and confirm all key interactions were covered, I created a site map focused on my top three features.
Usability Testing
Key iterations were made to the critical path screens to streamline user flow. These changes focused on simplifying key interactions and reducing frictions.
Naming Convention
To reduce confusion, I renamed the "PantryView" to "My Pantry," creating a clearer, more intuitive label for users to access their pantry items.
Toast Notification
Display a "Recently Added" section immediately after items are added, allowing users to quickly review and confirm new entries. This streamlines tracking and minimizes errors or missed items.
Preselected Options
Include a preselected pantry staple option (e.g., salt, pepper) so users don’t have to manually add these common ingredients every time they generate a recipe.
Final Designs
Perfect for on-the-go use and those last-minute grocery trips!
High Fidelity Prototype ↗
MyPantry
A personalized inventory tracker to help users stay aware of what they have on hand, reducing duplicate purchases and food waste.
Easily add grocery items through manual input or by simply scanning your receipt!
Cook
A recipe generator that suggests meals based on pantry items, making it easy to use up ingredients and simplify meal planning.
Notes Feature
A space for jotting down grocery needs, reminders, or meal ideas, ensuring nothing is forgotten during shopping trips.
Reflection & Takeaways
Since this was my first-ever project as well as my passion project, I spent a significant amount of time refining it. I hope one day I'll have the opportunity to revise & further develop this project.