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Community Fridge Directory
Growing resource to connect folks to their community fridges
Summary
Developing an app to streamline community fridge information and status updates with community members to notify and update their community fridges. The goal is to have a place to receive live updates on the status and stock levels of the fridge to fill those gaps when the fridge requires some love or when the fridge has been recently stocked up.
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Branding
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Developed this project to include some playful graphics of food with a pastel colour palette that paired with green.
Illustrating a mini fridge was a focal point graphic to showcase the impact one fridge has towards creating a lower barrier for accessing food and building communities.
It was a fun challenge to develop a package of icons that would help communicate cohesive visuals within the app.
The Challenge
Designing a mobile app to grow a community where accessing community fridge information and updates is readily available. The current way of obtaining this information is through Instagram stories for live updates. I wanted to build a resource to share the needs of each community fridge in real time. Whether you live in the neighbourhood or are passing through, the Community Fridge Directory app will allow folks to keep informed on the fridge’s status.
A clustering and affinity mapping was conducted with 4 participants to assess how users currently engage with their community fridges.
Primarily focusing on how folks discovered their local fridges, their overall experience, where they search/find information on their local fridge, what current issues they face and how they envision the growth of this network.
Final Prototype
App Design & User Flow
High-Fidelity Wireframe
Providing a platform that will focus on gathering and communicating live status updates to bridge the current gap for information being accessed in one place by community members. Focusing on four main CTA's such as Find a Fridge, Shop Local, Update Fridge Form, and Check-in History; are intended to encourage more frequent visits from community members.
Micro-interactions
Results & Takeaway
As this was my first project, the key takeaway was continually adjusting design parameters such as the button sizes and text field boxes based on design standards and accessibility guidelines. During the prototype stage, one of the crucial changes from testing the app was trimming down the FAQ button to a smaller button and replacing it with a check-in history feature to remind users when they last updated their community fridges.
For the future development of this project, I would include further research on the persona of those picking up items from the community fridge. Also, looking into whether other platforms are required to communicate this information to community members who do not have access to a mobile device.
This app addressed a means to design a platform to access the community fridge's status and information. The Community Fridge Directory's intent for growth will include more community fridges as they populate the city.
References & Fridge Art Image Sources
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More information on mutual aid initiatives
Context
This project began when a few friends and I divided who would bring which item to our community fridge. I checked the organizer and host Instagram profiles to see which items have been requested to be donated. After visiting some of my local community fridges, I observed periods when they were empty or fully stocked. At this point, I wanted to explore designing an online destination where people could update and receive live notifications on their local community fridges.
Methodology & Research
Based on this analysis, I developed 2 personas, community member dropping off items and the host of the fridge, to provide a clear vision that will help community members access live updates to increase the network of folks visiting their community fridges.
01
Higher engagement with community fridges
Community members expressed a desire to have more involvement with their local community fridges to contribute to their growth.
02
Communicating live updates of fridge stock levels
Bridging the gaps in communicating current stock levels to community members.
03
Expanding the network to grow a stronger community
Community members and hosts see an opportunity to grow the community fridges network further using online resources.
Developed this project to include some playful graphics of food with a pastel colour palette that paired with green.
It was a fun challenge to develop a package of icons that would help communicate cohesive visuals within the app.
Illustrating the mini fridge to showcase the impact one fridge has towards a low barrier to access food and building communities.
Micro-interactions
Methodology & Research
Context
This project began when a few friends and I divided who would bring which item to bring a range of food items. Checking the two main Instagram profiles, the community fridge and the host of the fridge's accounts, the method to receive live updates is through their Instagram stories. After visiting some of my local community fridges, I observed periods when it was empty, especially on weekdays. At this point, I wanted to explore designing an online destination where people could update and receive live notifications on their local community fridges.
High-Fidelity Wireframe
Providing a platform that will focus on gathering and communicating live status updates to bridge the current gap for information being accessed in one place by community members. Focusing on four main CTA's such as Find a Fridge, Shop Local, Update Fridge Form, and Check-in History; are intended to encourage more frequent visits from community members.
The Challenge
Designing a mobile app to grow a community where accessing community fridge information and updates is readily available. The current way of obtaining this information is through Instagram stories for live updates. I wanted to build a resource to share the needs of each community fridge in real time. Whether you live in the neighbourhood or are passing through, the Community Fridge Directory app will allow folks to keep informed on the fridge’s status.
Summary
Developing an app to streamline community fridge information and status updates with community members to notify and update their community fridges. The goal is to have a place to receive live updates on the status and stock levels of the fridge to fill those gaps when the fridge requires some love or when the fridge has been recently stocked up.
Results & Takeaway
As this was my first project, the key takeaway was continually adjusting design parameters such as the button sizes and text field boxes based on design standards and accessibility guidelines. During the prototype stage, one of the crucial changes from testing the app was trimming down the FAQ button to a smaller button and replacing it with a check-in history feature to remind users when they last updated their community fridges.
For the future development of this project, I would include further research on the persona of those picking up items from the community fridge. Also, looking into whether other platforms are required to communicate this information to community members who do not have access to a mobile device.
This app addressed a means to design a platform to access the community fridge's status and information. The Community Fridge Directory's intent for growth will include more community fridges as they populate the city.
References & Fridge Art Image Sources
-
More information on mutual aid initiatives
Low-Fidelity Wireframe
Building the low-fidelity prototypes began with communicating to the users the following CTAs: Find a Fridge, Shop Local, Update Fridge Form, and Check-in History. By the fourth iteration prototype, I found the FAQ button could be reduced to a smaller button; this allowed room to include a check-in history action.
When I was working on the final prototype, there were adjustments made to my low-fidelity wireframes after testing the app. The following are some notes on the redesigns alongside the final prototype.
Prototype
Prototype
Low-Fidelity Wireframe
Building the low-fidelity prototypes began with communicating to the users the following CTAs: Find a Fridge, Shop Local, Update Fridge Form, and Check-in History. By the fourth iteration prototype, I found the FAQ button could be reduced to a smaller button; this allowed room to include a check-in history action.
When I was working on the final prototype, there were adjustments made to my low-fidelity wireframes after testing the app. The following are some notes on the redesigns alongside the final prototype.
Branding
After compiling these findings,
here are a few 🔑 takeaways
A clustering and affinity mapping was conducted with 4 participants to assess how users currently engage with their community fridges.
Primarily focusing on how folks discovered their local fridges, their overall experience, where they search/find information on their local fridge, what current issues they face and how they envision the growth of this network.
Based on this analysis, I developed 2 personas, community member dropping off items and the host of the fridge, to provide a clear vision that will help community members access live updates to increase the network of folks visiting their community fridges.
01
Higher engagement with community fridges
Community members expressed a desire to have more involvement with their local community fridges to contribute to their growth.
02
Communicating live updates of fridge stock levels
Bridging the gaps in communicating current stock levels to community members.
03
Expanding the network to grow a stronger community
Community members and hosts see an opportunity to grow the community fridges network further using online resources.
Based on these findings, I began to build prototypes that will help users receive live update and provide resources for their community fridge network to grow.