Project Duration

Feb - Mar 2025

Industry

Food & Beverage
Productivity
Sustainability / Eco Friendly

Responsibilities

User Interview, Usability Testing, Data Analysis, Design System, UI Design

Designing a Smarter Way to Organize Your Fridge

Too Much Food Goes to Waste

I often throw away food because I forget about it or underestimate its expiry date. I wanted a simple way to track my fridge and avoid waste. From the research, I also found out that many people face the same issue, leading to unnecessary food waste and grocery shopping mistakes.

Project Goal

Design a simple and reliable mobile app that helps people keep track of what's in their fridge, reduce food waste, and make grocery shopping easier in their everyday lives.

Project Scope

End-to-end product design including user research, feature planning, prototyping, and UI design for a daily-use food management app.

USER RESEARCH

What About Others?

What About Others?

What About Others?

User Interview

A total of nine in-person interviews were conducted with participants ranging from their early 20s to 50s. They included individuals living alone, with family, with roommates, and some with children, ensuring a diverse range of perspectives.

The interview explored participants’ daily habits around grocery shopping, food storage, and fridge organization. Questions focused on how they decide what to buy, how they track what they already have at home, and the challenges they face with managing food waste or forgotten items.  

Interview findings were documented on sticky notes, with one key point per note, then grouped to create an affinity map. From this analysis, I identified key insights and developed personas for the project.

Affinity Map

Personas

PAIN POINTS

Identifying Key Challenges

Identifying Key Challenges

Identifying Key Challenges

Forgotten Food Leads to Waste

People often forget about the food they have in the refrigerator, leading to unnecessary waste. Sometimes it's hidden behind other items or stored in containers, making it hard to know what's inside.

No Easy Way to Track Expiry Dates

Condiments and less frequently used ingredients are more difficult to track the expiry dates.

Grocery Mistakes

People frequently forget if they already have certain items at home, leading to duplicate purchases or missing ingredients.

DESIGN PROGRESS

Iterate, Test, Improve

Iterate, Test, Improve

Iterate, Test, Improve

Ideation & Sketches

Prototyping & Testing

First Prototype
1. Some users felt unclear why "My Food" and "Shopping List" were separate.
2. The "Add Item" shortcut was unclear—some thought it added a new item group instead of a single item.
3. Some users clicked "X" every time before moving to the next field, adding extra steps.
4. Some hesitated to click "X", unsure if their input would be saved, as they expected a "Save" button.
5. Some users struggled to change an item's location.
Second Prototype
– Removed the bottom navigation bar and combined everything into a single screen.
– Changed the form fields to collapsible sections instead of overlay screens.

1. Users found the shortcuts at the top uncomfortable to reach because it required too much finger movement.
2. The colour were too vibrant and made eyes tired.
3. Users had to scroll all the way down, even when skipping optional fields.
Third Prototype
1. Updated the primary colour to a calmer tone
2. Brought the navigation bar back with an improved information architecture.
3. Added a save button at the top, allowing users to easily save after completing required fields.
– Primary colour still didn’t work well for a food app — people felt blue wasn’t an appetizing colour.
– #000000 text on #FFFFFF background made eyes tired.

First Prototype
1. Some users felt unclear why "My Food" and "Shopping List" were separate.
2. The "Add Item" shortcut was unclear—some thought it added a new item group instead of a single item.
3. Some users clicked "X" every time before moving to the next field, adding extra steps.
4. Some hesitated to click "X", unsure if their input would be saved, as they expected a "Save" button.
5. Some users struggled to change an item's location.
Second Prototype
– Removed the bottom navigation bar and combined everything into a single screen.
– Changed the form fields to collapsible sections instead of overlay screens.

1. Users found the shortcuts at the top uncomfortable to reach because it required too much finger movement.
2. The colour were too vibrant and made eyes tired.
3. Users had to scroll all the way down, even when skipping optional fields.
Third Prototype
1. Updated the primary colour to a calmer tone
2. Brought the navigation bar back with an improved information architecture.
3. Added a save button at the top, allowing users to easily save after completing required fields.
– Primary colour still didn’t work well for a food app — people felt blue wasn’t an appetizing colour.
– #000000 text on #FFFFFF background made eyes tired.

First Prototype
1. Some users felt unclear why "My Food" and "Shopping List" were separate.
2. The "Add Item" shortcut was unclear—some thought it added a new item group instead of a single item.
3. Some users clicked "X" every time before moving to the next field, adding extra steps.
4. Some hesitated to click "X", unsure if their input would be saved, as they expected a "Save" button.
5. Some users struggled to change an item's location.
Second Prototype
– Removed the bottom navigation bar and combined everything into a single screen.
– Changed the form fields to collapsible sections instead of overlay screens.

1. Users found the shortcuts at the top uncomfortable to reach because it required too much finger movement.
2. The colour were too vibrant and made eyes tired.
3. Users had to scroll all the way down, even when skipping optional fields.
Third Prototype
1. Updated the primary colour to a calmer tone
2. Brought the navigation bar back with an improved information architecture.
3. Added a save button at the top, allowing users to easily save after completing required fields.
– Primary colour still didn’t work well for a food app — people felt blue wasn’t an appetizing colour.
– #000000 text on #FFFFFF background made eyes tired.

Expiry Notification

Expiry Notification

Get alerts when the food is about to expire or has expired

Family Sharing

Family Sharing

Sync your fridge with family members in real time and get notified when they make updates.

Smart Barcode Scan

Smart Barcode Scan

Quickly add items by scanning barcodes

Home Dashboard

Home Dashboard

Home Dashboard

Customize your dashboard widgets for quick insights and shortcuts.

Customize your dashboard widgets for quick insights and shortcuts.

Sidebar Menu

Sidebar Menu

Organize your fridge with just one tab.

TAKEAWAYS

What I Have Learned

What I Have Learned

What I Have Learned

I realized how valuable user testing is after finding some unexpected pain points from the users' behaviours. For example, in form fields within overlay screens, I expected users to simply tap the next field after completing the current one. Instead, some looked for a “Save” button, while others kept hitting “Close” before moving forward. This highlighted the gap between design intentions and how users actually think and interact — and how crucial it is to bridge that gap.

NEXT STEPS

Building Defridge for iOS

Building Defridge for iOS

Building Defridge for iOS

As a next step, I’m currently developing Defridge on Xcode with Swift to launch the app on iOS platform. Feel free to check back later for updates on my progress in app development!