sustainability victoria
Australians reportedly have a decline in understanding how food is grown and produced. Due to the effects of transportation of produce, 7.6 million tonnes of food is wasted each year - costing the Australian economy approximately $37 billion each year. As a result, it is imperative to incentivise Australians to understand and appreciate how environmentally friendly it is to grow and cook produce for oneself - this is where Sustainability Victoria’s app concept comes in.
Duration: May 2023 - July 2023
Tasks:
user research
ux/ui design on adobe xd
prototyping
usability testing
Client Background
Sustainability Victoria is a statutory authority board that was established under the Sustainability Victoria Act 2005. Their mission and strategy is to create a sustainable and thriving Victoria, with the aim of transitioning the state to a circular and climate-resilient economy - through the means of research, campaigns, reports and prototypes.
Design research
For planting and cooking applications, the emphasis will move towards examining the most recent functionalities, limitations, and distinctive attributes of the leading three platforms in this sector.
Tasty
Tasty is a recipe app by Buzzfeed that provides a wide range of cooking resources. Users can discover recipes with videos, easy instructions, and GIF tutorials. The community feature allows sharing experiences, and a heart icon lets users save favorite recipes. It's a useful tool for cooks of all levels.
Plantla
Planta helps identify plants with detailed guides based on location and plant details. Planta offers photo diagnosis for struggling plants to revive them easily. Both features allow photo identification for plant info without knowing the plant's name.
Feel Better
Deliciously Ella's Feel Better app focuses on mental wellness and healthy habits through food. The app has a simple design and limited features, providing recipes and articles to promote understanding of health and well-being.
User research
Young Australians (18-25) in cities or suburbs, students, professionals, or families, care about the environment and health. Value affordability and keen on sustainable practices like local food.
Interviews conducted on people that fit the target audience found consistent observations that were mapped into specific user affinities.
User goals identified:
saving as much money as possible
activities should be short and simple
information is found visually through google
Support, not guilt trip for eco-friendliness.
design research
Concept #1 - Context
The initial idea centered on upholding Sustainability Victoria's aesthetic principles by converting them into a mobile application that aims to achieve this objective.
Concept #2 - Aesthetic Variation
This idea involved using Acorn, a design system for Firefox. As user experience designers, it was crucial for our experiments, as some projects might need certain design systems. Similar to concept 1, it delved deeper into icon design to visually convey messages to users alongside text.
Concept #3 - Accessibility Variation
This summary focuses on improving the app's accessibility for a wider audience. Key strategies include using alt text descriptions for images, relying on icons instead of color for communication, and maintaining high contrast throughout the app's design. These elements will ensure a user-friendly experience for people with visual impairments or those who prefer simpler interfaces.
key takeaway
Gardening and cooking is an enjoyable activity, but is often seen as daunting or time consuming for many Australians. By designing an app that allows Young Australians to be informed but enjoy the process of gardening and cooking is a step forward to creating a better world for all.