Pocket Fridge
AI Smart Fridge & App Design (IoT Product Design)
Project Overview
Pocket Fridge is an academic project aimed at resolving the social phenomenon of global food waste for individual households. The integration of the application and the smart refrigerator maximizes convenience for human beings.
Role
Product Designer
Tools
Photoshop
Figma
Duration
2 Weeks
Methods
Survey
Secondary Research
User Journey
Key Research Insight
Secondary Research
of all fruit & vegetables produced globally are wasted each year.
of food wasted in Toronto single-family households is avoidable (incl. leftovers and untouched food)
per year could be saved from avoidable food waste costs for Canadian household
Source: United Nation Website & City of Toronto Website
Primary Research
I conducted 34 surveys and 5 interviews to individuals in North America about their knowledge and insights about the food waste.
Goal
Based on the research of the global food waste topic, I decided to focus to help individuals to reduce their food waste through better planning and consumption of the items that they purchase.
Problem Statement
When defining the problem statement, I refined the statement once, because the initial proposal was too broad to ideate the solution for specific group of people. After this, I also brainstormed some possible design interventions from the research insights.
Initial Proposal
How might we help individuals to reduce their food waste?
refined statement
Ideation
I created user persona, storyboard and user journey, then came up with possible design interventions to empathize with people who feel bad about wasting food.
Persona
Britany is a mom of 8. She loves cooking and especially enjoys preping her daughter a lunch early in the morning.
Britany Mcleod
33
Married
Financial Advisor
Victoria, Canada
$76,200/yr
Goal
Wants to reduce the waste in the household
Start meal planning so that the waste could be minimized
Frustration
Her daughter often cannot finish the lunch
The family is wasteful in foods
Storyboard
User Journey
Wireframe
The following mid-fi wireframe shows what can be done from the grocery planning to the grocery purchase.
Prototype
Here is the high fidelity prototype for individuals to reduce the food waste!
UI Decision
Color Pallete
I chose green and yellow as the primary tone. Green will provide users a sense of healthy and organic. Yellow is one of the most frequent color used in food marketing. The crash of these two colors would provide users organic and lighthearted vibe.
Typography
Font Family - “Lato” is used throughout the entire design since the sans-serif style is easy to read on digital screens compared to serif fonts. The style also conveys a modern and clean mood of the app.
design elements
Icons
Button
Segmented Controls
Bottom Navigation
AI Smart Fridge
While making the app, I kept thinking about how to integrate app into our life, so I thought of combining the app with the refrigerator. It is common to see AI refrigerators on the market, but most designs are designed to bring us entertainment and convenience. Thus, I decided to make my product design connected to an actual refrigerator, allowing users to conveniently manage their items in the fridge and reduce food waste.
Reflection
Throughout the process, I worked hard on research and product design and conceived combining products and home appliances. Since this is my first time designing an intelligent refrigerator, I hope to explore more different interactive media in future projects, which I find very interesting and meaningful.
