Overview

Sustain Feed is a food donation mobile app, designed to bridge the gap between food surplus sources and communities in need. It connects restaurants, cafes, and food businesses with NGOs and volunteers, making the donation and redistribution of leftover food easy, safe, and trackable.

• Role: UX Designer & Researcher
• Duration: 3 months
• Tools: Figma, Miro, Adobe Illustrator

Problem Statement

Numerous public schools in under developed village areas of Bavaria (Germany) have statistics of children who come to school without having breakfast and do not prefer to have lunch/breakfast in schools because of the expenses.

Thereafter, many volunteers who collect food donations often face inconsistent support-some stores donate ethically, while others treat them like waste handlers.

Cultural and religious sensitivities, like ensuring pork-free items for Muslim recipients, add to distribution challenges. Additionally, while some beneficiaries, like one elderly woman who cooks and shares meals, foster a sense of community, such positive actions are not yet systematized.

Despite efforts like a van donation from Mercedes, there's a clear need for a more coordinated, respectful, and inclusive platform that connects donors, volunteers, and recipients more effectively.

Objective

Design an easy-to-use mobile app that:

• Enables food businesses to post surplus food listings.
• Allows NGOs to claim donations and track deliveries.
• Encourages safe, hygienic, and transparent food redistribution.

Research

I conducted interviews with:

• 5 restaurant owners (to understand surplus generation and barriers to donation).
• 4 NGO staff (to learn about operational challenges in food collection).
• 8 potential volunteers (to discover motivations and needs).

Key Insights:

• Businesses want a hassle-free process with minimal effort.
• NGOs care about food safety and timely pickups.
• Volunteers need a reliable system with clear routes and coordination.

Solution

3 User Types:

1. Donors: Restaurants and cafes posting surplus food listings.
2. NGOs: Organizations claiming food and arranging pickups.
3. Volunteers: Helpers who deliver food to communities.

Design Highlights

1. Claim & Track Donations

Donors can quickly list surplus food by uploading photos, quantity, and pickup time. Designed for businesses and individuals, this flow makes it easy to list surplus food, choose pickup windows, and generate tax-deductible donation receipts. Clear prompts ensure food safety checks are followed, and donors can see the impact of their contributions in real time.

2. Volunteer Coordination

A streamlined experience for volunteers to register, receive pickup tasks, and track deliveries. The flow ensures clarity on allergy considerations (e.g., pork restrictions), allows location-based matching with food donors, and provides rewards tracking for each successful contribution.

3. Rewards and Incentives for Donations

To motivate consistent participation, Sustain Feed offers incentives for both donors and volunteers. Stores receive certified donation receipts that can be used for tax refunds, while volunteers can earn recognition badges, certificates, and community perks based on their contributions. This fosters a stronger sense of responsibility and appreciation within the food-sharing ecosystem.

4. Food Safety and Nutrition Check

To ensure that redistributed food is both safe and healthy, the app includes dedicated screens where volunteers can quickly log expiry dates, packaging conditions, and allergen information. These checks help maintain food quality standards while also considering dietary needs, such as vegetarian or pork-free options-crucial for supporting diverse communities.

Impact

• Streamlined the donation process from 1 hour (calls, manual coordination) to under 5 minutes.
• Reduced food wastage and improved delivery efficiency.
• Encouraged community participation through a gamified volunteer system.

Learnings

• Designing for multiple user groups requires balancing conflicting needs.
• Simplicity and speed are key when dealing with perishable food.
• Gamification can boost engagement in social impact apps.

Next Steps

• Integrate food safety checklists.
• Expand to include grocery stores and event caterers.
• Add analytics for NGOs to report impact.

Final Prototype Sneak Peak

View Figma Prototype: These designs are the result of deep research, iterative thinking, and countless hours of work, to maintain the integrity of my work and protect it from unauthorized use, full prototypes are not publicly accessible.

If you’d like to view them, please reach out - I’d be happy to walk you through them! (karuna.solanki@outlook.com)