Eco-Saver
Smart Fridge
What's it all about
Duration: 6 Weeks
Role : UX Researcher / UI Designer
Collaborative case study
The Smart Fridge UI project aims to transform the traditional refrigerator experience with advanced technology and user-friendly interfaces. This project focuses on simplifying food management, boosting efficiency, and enhancing the overall user experience. The goal is to make fridge interactions intuitive and responsive, fitting seamlessly into modern lifestyles.
Spoiled Surprises
Food waste is a big problem globally, and a major cause is poor management of perishable items. Traditional refrigerators don't have smart alerts for items nearing expiration, leading to waste. Additionally, users struggle to organize their fridge contents, which often results in food spoilage.
Smart Fridge UI: An ultimate fix
The Smart Fridge UI project is here to make managing your fridge a breeze. We’re creating an easy-to-use interface with real-time updates on what's inside your refrigerator. Key features include
Item Tracking: Keep tabs on what you have at all times.
Expiry Alerts: Get notified before items go bad.
Inventory Management: Organize your fridge like a pro.
Recipe Suggestions: Discover new dishes based on what you’ve got.
Our goal is to make your fridge more convenient and reduce food waste by showing you real-time updates of what's inside.
Exploring what the data tells us
Discover the reality
Interviewed five potential consumers to assess the extent of the food waste problem, and the following questions were asked.
Insights from our deep dive with real consumers.
People frequently overlook buying groceries and using what is already in their refrigerator, resulting in unnecessary food and money waste.
Sometimes users consume expired food, which can result in food poisoning and other health problems.
The Truth in Responses
Conducted a Google Forms survey to identify customer needs, with 25 responses helped in identifying the issue accurately.
Truth in data: What our survey responses uncovered
Starting with a solid blueprint
Shaping smart fridge features with a blend of data and insights.
By combining quantitative data and qualitative insights from surveys, we identified the most essential functionalities users seek in a smart refrigerator. This helped us to explore features which can be incorporated in to the interface to make it intuitive and user-centric.
Understanding Alex
ALEX ANDRWEWS
Alex is a busy professional working in the marketing field. She lives with her husband, Mike, and their two young children in a fast-paced urban environment. Both Sarah and Mike have demanding jobs, and they often find it challenging to manage household tasks efficiently.
Prioritize health and wellness in her lifestyle.
Minimize food wastage and save on grocery expenses.
Streamline meal planning and ensure healthier eating habits for the family.
Limited time for meal planning and grocery shopping.
Occasionally forgets about items in the fridge, leading to food wastage.
Struggles with coordinating family meals amidst differing schedules.
Prioritizes a healthy lifestyle and recognizes the connection between food choices and well-being.
Desire to contribute to a sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyle.
Balancing a hectic work schedule with maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Remembering to check expiration dates and plan meals effectively.
Crafting the vision
Drafting the foundations with our wireframes
Low-fidelity wireframes were made based on results obtained from card sorting.
Testing the experience
Right from the wireframe stage of our UI development, we realized the importance of delivering a user-friendly interface. We conducted usability testing to gather valuable insights into user interactions and preferences. Usability testing was carried out with a group of 5 individuals, all falling within our defined target demographic of aged 20 to 40.
Findings from Quantitative Research
5/5 people completed the task successfully, with an average time of 45 Seconds. Some of the suggestions from users are mentioned below.
● The user would like to see the alert with the time in it so that they can distinguish between old and fresh alerts.
● And an option to clear notifications.
● Users suggested calendar integration with Google and connecting with Spotify would be nice.
● Renaming freezer compartment to capacity.
The Final Act
The final UI was developed based on feedback obtained from user testing conducted on low-fidelity wireframes.
As the next step, we recommend building a mobile app to support the functions of the smart fridge, ideally offering features such as connectivity to smart home devices. Based on quantitative survey results revealing that more than 70% of participants expressed interest in connecting their fridges to smart home devices.
Our subsequent actions will involve digging deeper into this data to know more about the limitations and possibilities of implementing such integration.
