MONTY
TIMELINE: 2 weeks (2020)
ROLE: UX/UI Designer
TOOLS: Sketch, Figma, Invision
TEAM:
Izzy Lourdes
Leuween Beattie
Andrea Park
Dan Guerra
Mathias Leung
Richard Szeto
Sueli Coqueiro
ABOUT
Monty is a grocery companion app designed to help you reduce your food waste one day at a time! Monty's mission is to create enjoyable and habit-forming methods for making the most out of what's already in your fridge and/or pantry to prevent household food waste.
Design Challenge
Canadians waste $31 billion of food annually, with almost half of that waste occurring in the household... But why? From a consumer standpoint, many people aren't aware of just how often food waste occurs right in their own home, much less all across the world! They also find themselves struggling to find a way to take matters into their own hands and reduce their own food waste contributions. With this information in mind, we asked ourselves the following question, one that inevitably shaped Monty's overall mission.
How might we...
Make reducing food waste more convenient for everyday consumers, so that they're better educated on the lifespan of different foods?
Research Methods
Online research
User interviews
Contextual observation
Key Research Insights
Through the preliminary research that was conducted, we discovered the following information regarding consumer habits when doing their household shopping:
I.
Most consumers go shopping regularly and tend to buy the same products
II.
Many prefer to make a rough plan or prepare a list prior to their shopping trip
III.
People find promotions and sales very relevant to the purchases they make
IV.
Consumers are, in fact, aware of food waste and often feel guilty about throwing out food
V.
Many people find it challenging to manage the items they have in the fridge
VI.
There is a consumer desire to find a solution for better tracking the expiry dates of their food inventory at home
Opportunity Selection
Goal:
Monty's goal is to make it easier for people to tackle the issue of food waste head-on, and make them feel confident in their ability to take matters into their own hands as a conscious consumer.
Objective:
The main objective with Monty is to build a product that can educate people on food waste prevention through a series of habit-forming methods, all starting with the food they have at home.
User Persona
This is Mia!
- 35 years old
- Single-person household
- Works in finance
- Enjoys trying new recipes
- Uses a smartphone
- Has a busy lifestyle
Key Player Map and Storyboard
With our goals and key insights in mind, a consumer map and accompanying storyboard were created to depict the process of how a potential user would discover Monty and begin using the application.
Brand Keywords
Fresh
Modern
Clean
Minimalist
Happy
Positive
Fun
Upbeat
Encouraging
Motivational
Colour Palette
#93E5AB
#65B891
#84CAE7
Concept Sketches
Task Selection
High-Fidelity Wireframes
User Test Plan Summary
Following the wireframe process, a user test plan featuring a series of interview questions was created to determine how Monty would function in a practical sense, as well as determine what works and what needs improvement. Through these usability tests and questions, we were able to obtain valuable feedback that allowed us to further improve the design and provide users with an optimal user experience throughout the app.
Step 1: Preparatory Questions
I.
Have you ever used any apps, websites, or other resources to help with your food waste or food education? Which ones?
II.
What did you want those resources to do for you? What did you like or dislike about them? Did you purchase or subscribe to them? Why or why not?
Step 2: Prototype Introduction
I.
Let's you come across this app, Monty, in the App Store. How would you decide whether or not you'd like to try it out?
II.
How does this app compare to your current methods for addressing food waste?
III.
What did you like or dislike about this app?
IV.
How would you describe this app to a friend or family member?
V.
If you had three wishes you could use to improve this app, what would they be?
VI.
Lastly, on a scale of 1-10, how likely would you be to use this app in your daily life?
Additional Contextual Questions
I.
What is this app? At first glance, what do you think it's for?
II.
What's your first impression of this product? How does it make you feel?
III.
What do you expect that [app feature] will do?
IV.
What goes through your mind as you explore the app and its features?
V.
What are you looking for as you navigate? What do you want to do next, and why?
User Test Insights and Key Takeaways
• The app was very smooth and easy to understand, as well as navigate - users appreciated that there was a complete, end-to-end experience. The concept of the app made them feel as though tackling food waste issues at home would be easier and more attainable.
• There was a great response from users to the humanization of the app with the character, Monty, throughout the prototype demo. Monty made the app feel more personalized, allowing the user to feel more connected to it.
• The one feature users did not care for was the social media sharing aspect. Many felt that sharing their app accomplishments online was too show-y, and while they liked the encouragement from Monty, the feature was not something that appealed to them.
Task Selection
I. Building a community within the app
Monty will eventually graduate from social sharing, to building a community based around like-minded people working towards a similar goal of reducing food waste. This would be done predominantly through friend lists, leaderboards and analytics.
II. Tracking user habits and reporting back to the user
By tracking user habits, we can give people advice on what food they most frequently waste, and how they can prevent that in the future.