With two weeks to find a solution, we were met with a few constraints, such as time and resources. And even though the broad and varied problem space of food waste called for a revolutionary solution, we knew our efforts would be more effective if they were focused on a single facet of the wider issue.

So, we began conducting some research, identifying a few major issues faced by those within the problem space, and an intervention that could emerge as the solution to those very concerns. To start, we analyzed our own experiences, hoping to identify some existing presumptions and predictions.

While trying to understand the root cause of the issue, we came across a number of assumptions that we had. But, before allowing them to guide our solutions, we had to address them, determining whether they were grounded in reality or were merely conjecture.

Our initial assumption, an idea shared by all four of us, was that the majority of our food waste was caused by a lack of knowledge regarding storage methods. Most of the time, we simply didn't know any better, and before we knew it, it was too late. Three of the four of us thought the lack of cooking was to blame. Even though we bought a ton of groceries to later incorporate into home-cooked meals, we fell into the takeout trap—neglecting our groceries and leaving them to rot.

To see if we were correct in some of our assumptions, we conducted five interviews with individuals with first-hand experience with the problem space. Targeting single households living in America, we used platforms like Facebook and Slack to find a few candidates.

Opening up these discussions, we came across a number of discoveries and insights pertaining to the underlying causes of food waste. For some, the problem was found in storage, while for others, it was pure laziness. Whatever the reason, inefficiency emerged as the common trend.

With these new-found insights, we now have a better idea of where we can go. And some of these concepts mirror a few of our initial assumptions.

Much like ourselves, our participants struggled to avoid food waste due to issues of storage practices, meal preparation, and simply, forgetfulness. They were unsure how to purchase or store their groceries to extend their shelf life, keep track of expiration dates, and incorporate them in recipes that didn't take a lot of time or effort.

To address some of our users' concerns, we can direct our efforts toward developing a supportive resource that can assist them in reducing food waste through better consumption patterns and improved meal preparation and storage techniques.

In order to do that, however, we must first revisit our initial how might we statement. Initially, we were given a broad problem space, one that needed to be narrowed down. Now, having done our research, we have that opportunity.

Choosing to focus our design efforts on the household level, we have excluded the organization—highlighting the food waste caused by the individual consumer. Additionally, we included words such as "empower," and "educate" as we felt that those sentiments were strong contributors to food waste.

Having a better understanding of our users' needs and pain points, we can now synthesize our insights into a fictional representation of our user, also known as our persona. This character, representative of the very real traits of our users, will help us in breaking down the design task at hand. Capturing only the most important and valuable information, it will also serve as our guide as we move into ideation.

So, please welcome Eli Williams, an editor at a Los Angeles-based fashion magazine who is looking to reduce his food waste by cooking more, and ordering out less.

Now, with a better idea of where Eli's concerns lie, we can begin defining the functionality of our products. Here, we can shift our focus to more concrete, tangible tasks, exploring Eli's goals and figuring out ways to address them.

To begin, we can put ourselves in Eli's shoes, considering some of his experiences and challenges. More than anything, we can see that Eli is concerned with:
• Reducing his food waste by ordering less, and cooking more.
• Optimizing his time with quick recipes and meal preparation.
• Lowering his costs by avoiding expensive delivery fees and wasted groceries.

Though it's exciting to jump right into ideation, we first need to discuss some of the features we want to emphasize, as a group.

Most importantly, we know that we want to create a resource that could support users, like Eli, in documenting their purchases, notifying them of approaching expiration dates, and even suggesting a few simple recipes based on their pantry. So, as we sketch, it's important to keep these ideas in mind.

With the help of our sketches, we can now begin building the framework for our digital screens in order to create a tangible, interactive product that caters to Eli's needs and interests.

Given our primary functions of education, motivation, and documentation, we created all-in-one mobile app that supports users in reducing their individual food waste through features such as expiration alerts, pantry updates, and recipe recommendations.

Taking our sketches and low-fidelity elements to the next level, we created a high-fidelity version of product. Alongside Keyvan Shafiei, I was responsible for this stage of the project.

Introducing... WasteCut. An iOS native App, WasteCut emphasizes the importance of support and education, empowering users, like Eli, to reduce their individual food waste through better food storage and meal optimization techniques.
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Wanna see the finished product? Head on over to the prototype below.

I want to start by saying that this was the very first design project I ever undertook. Prior to enrolling in my course at BrainStation, I never gave design much thought. As a writer, I usually delegated design work to others, whether it was a header for an article or an illustration to accompany an interview quote.

In fact, the most I had ever designed before this was a Canva graphic or a few wireframes for my internship as a Communications Analyst at RBC. And, I wasn't the only one. Talking to my team, I came to learn that my entire team of four had started this project, pretty much from scratch.

So you can only assume that we learned A LOT. But, here are some of our favourite lessons.

1. Just start. Trust me.
It can be hard to jump into a project. Especially when you have a ton of questions on how to approach the challenge. For us, we were guilty of falling into that trap. For three days, we discussed the problem space extensively, going back and forth.

But eventually, time caught up with us. Wasting about 3 days in just the brainstorming process, we needed to learn how to be more efficient with our time. And this lesson will always be one that's remembered by us.

2. Remind yourself of the goal.
During a design sprint, it's only natural to get stuck. And in our group, this happened quite a bit, especially in the early stages of brainstorming. At times, it felt like we were going in circles. But, having a specific plan of action and a few outlined goals helped us get through this.

Whenever we felt stuck, we were able to refer back to our objectives and ask how our current process could help us in achieving our long-term goals. Early on, we added this seemingly unimportant step, but it turned out to be a great tool for keeping us on task and saved us on numerous occasions.

In the future, we hope to conduct a few rounds of usability tests to determine where WasteCut can improve. As important as it is to create a beautiful product that meets the needs of our users, we also need to know if it works as intended.

Once we reach a stage of intuitiveness and simplicity, we can expand the app's features and functionalities—incorporating a learning centre where users like Eli can ask questions and receive support.