Budget Bites

Helping students find affordable meals that are convenient enough to grab in between classes.

Project Overview

Type of Project: A Master's level course where we were tasked to design a digital solution for students surrounding 'healthy food'.

My team members: Alle Ann Sobrejuanite, Neha Choughule, Hong Phuoc Ho.

Timeline: 12~ Weeks (2024)

Phase 1

Secondary Research

Before settling on a problem space we conducted some background research on what students are having difficulty with when it comes to food.

Phase 2

User Interviews

We conducted 8 user interviews, pulled insights and findings and revised our problem statement.

Phase 3

Solution Ideation

After establishing the issues we wanted to solve, we began thinking and prioritizing the features we wanted to include in our final app and imagining how it might function.

Phase 4

User Testing

After creating wireframes, we tested them on our peers and iterated on our design.

Phase 5

Visual Identity

Together we decided on the mood and feel of the app, its colours, shapes and specific UI choices.

My Role

• Defined stakeholders, personas, journey map, and solution vision.

• Created user flow, wireframes, and UI mock ups.

• Co-presented in playbacks and final pitch.

• Conducted research, wrote plans, and led user interviews.

• Revised problem statement and built prioritization chart.

• Shaped final creative strategy.

• Led meetings, deadlines, and deliverables.

My Team's Role

• Synthesized research and feedback to refine scope and strategy.

• Collaborated on final pitch and solution delivery.

• Co-developed personas, journeys, and UI designs.

My Role

• Defined stakeholders, personas, journey map, and solution vision.

• Created user flow, wireframes, and UI mock ups.

• Co-presented in playbacks and final pitch.

• Conducted research, wrote plans, and led user interviews.

• Revised problem statement and built prioritization chart.

• Shaped final creative strategy.

• Led meetings, deadlines, and deliverables.

My Team's Role

• Synthesized research and feedback to refine scope and strategy.

• Collaborated on final pitch and solution delivery.

• Co developed personas, journeys, and UI designs.

Problem

University students have a difficult time budgeting their meals and finding convenient and nutrient balanced sources of food.

Solution

An app that allows students to locate nutritious meals near them, within their inputted budget and diet, that shows them the nutritional breakdown for each meal. Students can then log what they spend on their healthy meals and gather insights on how they spend.

Problem

University students have a difficult time budgeting their meals and finding convenient and nutrient balanced sources of food.

What students have to say.

Our team conducted interviews to not only see what they say but uncover what they really mean. Through our conversations we were able to pinpoint a lot of themes of which we were able to extract insights from.

What the heart wants is different from what the lips say!

Often when researching uncovering one piece of information can shift the whole problem space. This was one such moment when we asked participants to rank their priorities when it came to food. They kept saying it was health but questions about their habits exposed that they had to constantly put health last.

Often when researching uncovering one piece of information can shift the whole problem space. This was one such moment when we asked participants to rank their priorities when it came to food. They kept saying it was health but questions about their habits exposed that they had to constantly put health last.

More than that, we were able to pinpoint exactly where in their user journey was the most disappointing part of acquiring a meal. When presented with the options at odds with their time constraints and budget they would often settle for something they weren't satisfied with.

Priorities, priorities…

Above all one of our biggest pivots at this stage was discontinuing the idea of providing students with cheap groceries. This was because most students indicated they didn't have time to cook or meal prep regardless. With our priorities in check we narrowed down the design to a few key features:

Prototype Growing Pains

It was time to put our ideas in action through usability testing with our peers, here is what we were able to uncover.

We wanted it to feel fresh.

Before our final iteration we were tasked to envision the feel or vibe of the app and considering that it's all about food and red tends to stimulate hunger we thought red and green for freshness would be a good choice.

An accessibility consideration we later realized was the existence of red-green colour blindess.*

But isn't your solution just a glorified UberEats tho??

Throughout our design process we intentionally thought of not only what could set us apart, but how it could be matched to our research and what students wanted:

Meals Not Menus

Specially curated for nutrition and cost - have the freedom to explore what other places have to offer.

Hidden Gems

Explore lesser known spots and special deals to save even more.

Community Partnerships

To get students the best deals we had the idea to partner with local businesses and eats for special deals only available to students.

Meals Not Menus

Specially curated for nutrition and cost - have the freedom to explore what other places have to offer.

Hidden Gems

Explore lesser known spots and special deals to save even more.

Community Partnerships

To get students the best deals we had the idea to partner with local businesses and eats for special deals only available to students.

How might our solution be worthwhile for both product owners, students and partners?

This is something brought up by our stakeholders during our final pitch and my answer has developed over time.

Student Friendly Subscription

Perhaps for a low fee of $5 a month students all across campus can get access to meal deals from various vendours.

Partners Benefit

From the traffic brought by students' demand for their discounted meals, vendours could see increased profit by selling more at a slightly lower price via Budget Bites' advertisement.

We Get a Cut From Partners

Because of the revenue lift brought on by partners being a part of the vendour ecosystem, Budget Bites could take a certain percentage of total sales. Partners would also more than likely gain new customers overall as well.

Student Friendly Subscription

Perhaps for a low fee of $5 a month students all across campus can get access to meal deals from various vendours.

Partners Benefit

From the traffic brought by students' demand for their discounted meals, vendours could see increased profit by selling more at a slightly lower price via Budget Bites' advertisement.

We Get a Cut From Partners

Solution

My Preliminary Research Revealed ↑

That consuming healthy food is correlated to academic success, meal services can be a hit or miss and expensive over time for students and that students struggle to find spots on campus that have tasty, affordable, healthy food.

The Team's Preliminary Research Revealed 🍽

That many students do not know what ‘healthy eating’ means and might be easily influenced by social media and that time management plays a large role in what students eat.