Sustainable Food Consumption Design Requirements - adrienerice/The_Chosen_Ones GitHub Wiki

Overview

Through research conducted in the area of food waste in shared houses/apartments, the main problem is that consumers' unconscious behavioral habits often lead to the creation of expired food. The visual presentation of the food data already available, in the form of reminders and reflections, can enable consumers to reduce unnecessary purchases and help them make subsequent food disposal decisions to reduce the rate of food waste in the home. The design aims to help users record and present reminders in the form of a food status list, and to provide one or more follow-up methods/suggestions, with the whole operating model adapted to the food consumption cycle.

Through the use of this application, consumer behavior may be motivated and prompted to change to achieve the final design goal - reducing food waste.

For the consideration of adaptability and universality, mobile applications will be used as the presentation method of prototyping, and the data in the applications will involve the following aspects:

  1. Food code (production date and shelf life)
  2. Camera-scan barcode to record data
  3. Location positioning-location sharing with friends

The information on the food list will include the date of manufacture, the expiration date, and the date when it was added to the food. Different types of food and preservation methods will affect the remainder of the app, such as freezing and cold storage of meat, and whether snacks are sealed or not. Visual data helps users understand better, so in addition to basic numbers, designing an intelligent timeline that reminds users of the food status by changing colors may have a better effect.

The food list can be created manually or by scanning a barcode. The food that has been added will provide storage recommendations based on the type of food and the remaining shelf life. Users can also add storage methods to obtain more accurate data records.

In addition, the app can help users make decisions to help deal with food that may have been over-purchased before and may expire soon. By sliding a specific item on the food list, users can choose to cook or share it with friends in need before it expired. As the latter is not only about privacy and security, but also related to food safety issues, communication and sharing are limited to trusted acquaintances and friends added by the user.

Conceptual Model

Aim

Through questionnaires and interviews I found that the main cause of the problem is not only single overconsumption, but sometimes they don't know what food they have at home, which leads to repeat purchases. In this case it is important to have a simple and straightforward food list, and to think about what to do with the food to avoid waste. The technology used in the design approach aims to increase the awareness of food saving by reminder functions and provide suggestions as well as practical solutions to change people’s negative habits and reduce food waste in shared house.

Problem Statement

Design and develop a mobile application to help people record food information include produced and expired dates by scanning as well as remind them to consume on time or share with others to reduce food waste caused by unawareness.

How it works

The system is focusing on reducing food waste by reminding people about the shelf lives of food they purchased. It will record the expired date by scanning food. It can help remind people to consume food as soon as possible before expired. It will generate the recipe according to the food status. It will act as a platform for food sharing among friends.

Interaction Paradigms

  • Mobile devices - Send instructions on the mobile app

Interaction Modes

  • Tapping:

  • Scrolling:

Interaction Metaphors

  • House in the menu bar - homepage
  • Dialog box - contacts/chatting
  • Magnifier icon - search function
  • Gear icon - represent settings

System Requirements

Feature - Food Logging(List)

Description:

Rationale:

Justifications: From the undertaken research and particularly conducted interviews, multiple participants explained that they did not have access to energy usage data that was meaningful or significant to them, and they did not understand their electricity bill when it provided details of kilowatt usage, nor does their electricity company provide visual data such as graphs to display this data in a way that is understandable. Additionally, research has seen that monetary value is an effective motivator to conserving energy.

Feature - Recipe Recommendations

Description:

Rationale:

Justifications:

Feature - Highlighting the food

Description:

Rationale:

Justifications:

Feature - Contacting with friends for food sharing

Description: When users do not feel like cooking the food on thier own and prefer to share it with their friends, they can chat with them to talk about the details. Besides, users can see their friends' food list if they are pubilc, this not only allow them to remind their friends but also a way to see their highlighted food which is prepared for sharing.

Rationale: By adding friends, users are able to check the each others food status if they are public.

Justifications:

Design Guidelines

Privacy protection

Users make their own decision while using the app, there is no mandatory operation, they can decide whether to add friends or not, whether to make their food list/location public, etc.

Metaphor/Icon

To avoid user confusion, all the metaphors used must match between system and the real world.

Navigation

  • Menu at the bottom of the screen with brief description or clear icons.

Colour

Consistency in system Make sure all food information presented in a consistent format, without misleading.