1. Problem and Solution Validation

Problem Description

College students have a hard time quickly identifying the dining option that best fits their available time, budget, location, and dietary preferences. Information about restaurants, prices, hours, menus, availability, and wait times is scattered or difficult to access.

This causes students to waste time during their breaks, arrive at places with long lines or sold-out items, and end up always choosing the same familiar options, preventing them from discovering new places.

Proposed Solution Description

Uniandes Food is a mobile app for students that centralizes dining options on and near campus. The app displays restaurants on a map, allows users to filter them by price, location relative to a building, and preferences, and provides relevant information to help users make an informed decision. It also fosters a sense of community by allowing users to leave reviews using a QR code and share restaurant details on social media.

2. analytic persona

3. PAS

Catalina

Problem	Alternative	Solution
Students with limited time between classes struggle to quickly identify an available dining option with a reasonable waiting time.	They usually choose the closest/familiar restaurant, ask friends, or walk around checking alternatives.	Provide a mobile app that compares nearby options using distance, waiting time, opening hours and availability
Students have difficulty finding food that fits their budget and dietary preferences because dining information is fragmented.	They check restaurants individually, ask friends, search social media, or repeatedly eat at familiar places.	Centralize menus, prices and restaurant information in an app with filters for budget, dietary preferences, location and food type.

Samuel

Problem	Alternative	Solution
Students are afraid to explore distant or hidden food options around campus because they perceive those areas as insecure and do not want to risk walking there without certainty.	They avoid unknown areas entirely, sacrificing food variety, and stick strictly to the safe, immediately adjacent buildings (like the RGD building).	Provide an app that not only shows the location of the restaurants but also includes student peer-reviews verifying the safety of the route and exact prices, so they don't wander aimlessly in insecure areas.
Students don't trust traditional advertising from unknown restaurants and only want to spend their limited budget on places that have been socially validated by their peers.	They passively wait for friends to recommend places via WhatsApp or rely on sporadic Instagram stories to find trustworthy food spots.	Create a community-driven feature where students can scan QR codes at restaurants to leave verified, honest peer reviews and ratings, effectively digitizing the "word-of-mouth" experience in one centralized platform.

Karin

Problem	Alternative	Solution
Students don't want to try new places because they don't know the menu, the prices, or the portion sizes. So they go back to restaurants they already know.	They ask a friend who already ate there, they look for the restaurant's Instagram, or they just walk in and decide in the moment, taking a risk with their limited budget.	Each restaurant profile in the app can show a photo menu with the price of each dish (added by the restaurant or by other students). This way, users can see exactly what they will get before walking there.
When a group of friends wants to eat together, it's hard to find one place that fits everyone's budget, diet, and time. So they usually pick the easiest restaurant to agree on, even if it's not a good option for anyone.	One person chooses a place based on their own preference, the group votes informally on WhatsApp, or they just split up and eat in different places, losing the chance to eat together.	Add a "suggest for a group" button where one student picks how many friends are joining and their diet, budget and time range. The app then shows a short list of nearby restaurants that fit with that range so the group has easier options to choose.

jj

Problem	Alternative	Solution
Students often do not know whether a restaurant accepts their preferred payment method, so they may arrive without enough cash or be unable to pay conveniently.	They carry extra cash, ask at the restaurant when they arrive, or choose the same places they already know accept their payment method.	Show accepted payment methods for every restaurant, including cash, cards, and digital wallets, so students can choose confidently before walking there.
Students with allergies or strict dietary needs struggle to know whether meals contain ingredients they must avoid.	They ask restaurant staff directly, avoid unfamiliar meals, or bring food from home to reduce the risk.	Include detailed ingredient and allergen information, plus filters for dietary restrictions such as vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and lactose-free options.

Felipe

Problem	Alternative	Solution
Students have only a few minutes between classes, so if the map takes too long to load the nearby options they abandon the app and go back to deciding on their own.	They close the app and walk to the place they already know, or ask a friend over WhatsApp while the screen is still loading.	Measure loading times and abandonment inside the app, and cache the options closest to the student's current building so results appear immediately when the map opens.
Students arrive at the same restaurants during the same peak hours, so they find long lines or sold-out items and lose their break waiting or walking to another place.	They go anyway and wait, leave and try somewhere else on foot, or skip the meal and go back to class hungry.	The app tracks occupancy and reported waiting times per hour and suggests less crowded alternatives nearby at peak moments, so the student reaches a place

4. Context Canvas for the proposed solution

5. business question

Type 1 Questions

• **Felipe:**At which times of the day should the app suggest alternative restaurants to students, so that demand is spread out and fewer students arrive at places with long lines or sold-out items?

Type 2 Questions

• Catalina: Which information do students use the most when comparing dining options: price, distance, estimated waiting time, menu availability, or dietary preferences?
• Karin: What percentage of students check a restaurant's photo menu before deciding to go, compared to those who go without checking it first?
• Samuel: What is the completion rate of users scanning a QR code at a physical location to leave a review versus users searching manually to leave a review?
• Samuel: How much time on average does a student spend setting up filters (price, distance, dietary) before finally selecting a restaurant profile?

Type 3 Questions

• Catalina: Which functionalities of the app are used least frequently when students are deciding where to eat?
• Karin: How often is the suggest for a group feature used compared to individual searches when students are deciding where to eat?

Type 4 Questions

• Felipe: At which times of the day should the app suggest alternative restaurants to students, so that demand is spread out and fewer students arrive at places with long lines or sold-out items?

6. VD Map