Supper Saviors
The Problem
Having worked in a chain restaurant, I would notice that pounds of food would be thrown at the end of the night; food that could possibly have been given to soup kitchens to help the needy. Many people don’t realize how much food is actually thrown away. A lot of restaurants make fresh trays of food, usually the sides, like (steamed broccoli, mashed potatoes, etc) every day in the morning for their customers. They make an estimated amount; an amount they believe will last the entire day. Many times, the amount leftover is significant enough that there’s still trays of fresh food, that haven’t been touched. They prefer not to serve leftovers to their customers the next day, so they throw it all away in the night, producing a fresh batch the next morning.
I asked my manager at the time if the restaurant worked with Soup Kitchens or other volunteers to possibly give some of the food away. Unfortunately, he said no. The leftover food is still edible, but there’s no system set to deliver the food to the soup kitchens.
The Solution
This sparked an idea of wanting to create an environment where everyday people could work with large restaurants to donate food to the hungry. From there 'Supper Saviors', a play on 'superhero' was born! Volunteers would pick up the food from the restaurant, donate it to the soup kitchens, and receive points, which they can later use to buy gift cards for restaurants. The lure of points would bring in more volunteers. This relationship would not only benefit the volunteers, but also the soup kitchens and restaurants. Restaurants would get free publicity and by taking part they would drive in more customers. Soup kitchens would receive more food to give to the hungry. Lastly, volunteers would gain a fun environment to get involved and help the community. It was important to gamify the volunteering experience. It provides a further incentive to get involved.
My Role
UI/UX Designer, Visual Designer (Personal Project)
Tools
Sketch (Wireframes and Visual Design), Adobe Photoshop (Visual Design), Adobe Illustrator (Visual Design), Invision (Prototyping)
Persona
This application is geared towards volunteers. Volunteers who want to help the needy but at the same time experience the joys of collaborating with other people to do good for others. They want to make a difference in the world, and give some of their time to helping others. These users come from diverse backgrounds with one common goal of feeding the hungry.
Meet Moonshif. He’s a scriptwriter. When he’s not busy scribbling down some new story, he loves spending his time at the local soup kitchen, meeting new and interesting people, and finding inspiration from them for his stories. Apart from writing and socializing, he’s a real foodie, and loves to try out different food. He adores trying out various restaurants with his wife whenever he gets the chance.
Storyboarding
Keeping Moonshif in mind, I was able to list out the features I felt would create an experience / environment in which Moonshif could enjoy volunteering his time. I created a To-Be Journey Map of his volunteering experience and then was able to pinpoint the main features to include within the app.
Sitemap
After narrowing down the features that I felt Moonshif would enjoy the most, I created a sitemap to organize the navigation of the experience.
Wireframes / Mockups
Wireframes were then created. After a few iterations based on what I though were the user’s needs, I was able to come with these mockups.
