Research / Strategy
Helping Second Harvest connect small-scale food donors to agencies in need

PROJECT OVERVIEW
Multi-platform prototype to help reduce both food waste and hunger / Agile Design Sprint
Team: 11 / Time: 2 weeks
My Role: Research / Strategy / Branding
Team: 11 / Time: 2 weeks
My Role: Research / Strategy / Branding
Methods and Deliverables: domain research / interviews / surveys / affinity diagrams / personas / user scenarios / use cases / user flows / logo design / client proposal
CHALLENGE
How could our team help Second Harvest solve the food waste problem in Toronto using technology?
Second Harvest connects donated surplus food with agencies in need. The team want to find ways to make the food donation process easier for donors and more efficient for Second Harvest. Could we help Second Harvest achieve its goals of reducing food waste and hunger?
RESULTS
Feedback would allow Second Harvest to receive donations that it currently couldn’t.
Lori Nikkel, Director of Programs and Partnerships, was thrilled when we presented the Feedback prototype.
Feedback achieved Second Harvest’s goals in ways she hadn’t imagined, particularly the development of a mobile app that would make donating and accessing food easier.

Problems we solved
• Second Harvest could now receive and distribute smaller donations, feed more people, and reduce greenhouse gasses.
• Diners could locate and view food at a nearby agency through the app.
• Donors could conveniently donate their surplus food and know when it would be picked up.
• Donors could donate less than 100 kg of food at a time.
What I did
Research
Our research included more than 40 online surveys, two user interviews, and extensive online research that provided information and data that eventually helped drive the solution. Food waste is a massive problem.
Top research findings:
• Food waste is a massive problem.
• Second Harvest’s resources and infrastructure were stretched thin.
• Second Harvest could not manage all the donations, particularly those under 100 kg.

We created this research wall to capture and share what we learned.
Personas, Scenarios, and Use Cases
Using the data and insights from our research, we developed personas, user stories, and use cases.

User flows
We needed to find a way to connect people with excess food and people in need while keeping in mind the role of Second Harvest. Using the information from our personas and features identified from the research and user goals, we developed the donor and diner (recipient) user flows.
Donors wanted to be able to donate smaller quantities of food and know when the donations would be picked up.
Diners wanted to be able to access food through their local nonprofit agencies and know when, where, and what kind of food would be available.
Second Harvest would be the platform owner overseeing the donors, drivers, and non-profit agencies.

Branding
Our challenge was creating a logo to reflect the Feedback solution: an output of surplus food could be rerouted as input for addressing hunger, creating an ongoing feedback loop. We did several brainstorming sessions and numerous versions. The logo reflected our vision: whether you’re donating or receiving food, the experience should be easy and rewarding and make everyone involved happy.
The branding group had a brainstorming session for the Feedback logo. My teammate Kim Vradenburg and I developed the initial logo concepts in Sketch, and I created the final logo using Illustrator.

Screens design by the design team
The design team created a simple, attractive, easy-to-use solution for donors and diners. They streamlined the donation process and simplified the donation management for the non-profit agencies. The design was an elegant solution to a complex problem.
Donor screens

Donors can see all the steps in the donation process, including when it will be picked up.
Diner screens

Diners would be able to see the available food and where and when they could pick it up.
Non-profit agency dashboard

This dashboard would allow Second Harvest to monitor both drivers and inventory.