Planeat
Designing Sustainable Solutions to Minimize Food Waste
OVERVIEW
Creating a sustainable lifestyle through smarter meal planning
Planeat is a mobile app addressing food waste through personalized meal planning and gamification elements that naturally guide users toward eco-friendly habits. Built as my capstone project at the Cyber University of Korea, the app leverages AI technology to deliver an intuitive user experience.
MY ROLE
I independently drove the end-to-end design process from research to prototyping, creating user-centered solutions based on research insights.
TOOLS
Figma, Google Form, Chat GPT
TIMELINE
Sep 2023 - Dec 2023
(4 Months)
SOLUTION
Customized meal suggestions based on dietary preferences and available ingredients
Smart inventory tracking to prevent food waste
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One of the most critical environmental challenges today is the climate crisis. Food waste is the third-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, emitting about 2.5 billion tons of waste annually. While emissions from energy and transportation sectors are often emphasized, the impact of food waste is equally significant.
Korea's Food Waste Crisis:
Small Changes, Massive Impact
In Korea, 70% of food waste comes from our homes and restaurants : mostly from leftovers and expired ingredients. Cutting this waste by just 20% would have the same impact as planting 360 million pine trees.
INSIGHT
Poor Planning and
Purchasing Habits
Drive Food Waste
Research reveals that poor meal planning and impulsive buying are key drivers of food waste. Many people struggle to develop sustainable eating habits simply because they're unfamiliar with effective food management strategies.
HMW
USER RESEARCH
In-depth User Survey
for Food Waste Reduction
A survey was conducted to understand users' awareness and the current situation regarding food waste issues. The purpose of the survey is to find practical solutions for reducing food waste and to analyze users' attitudes and behaviors to achieve this goal.
Demography
85% Female and 15% Male
Primarily aged 25-29 (63.3%)
Participants
30
Timeline
Sep. 21 - Oct. 01 2023
The majority of respondents indicated that leftovers from meals and expired food products are the main causes of food waste. Additionally, it was found that the types of food frequently wasted and the causes of waste mostly originated from improper meal and purchase planning.
EATING HABITS
It was observed that most participants mainly dine at home, while also frequently ordering takeout or delivery food.
ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS
About 36% of participants responded that they 'don't know much' about the impact of greenhouse gas emissions from food waste, while around 46% said they are 'well aware'. The majority of participants have tried to consciously reduce food waste.
PERSONAS
JOURNEY MAP
Design Process
Human-AI
Co-Creation Approach
This project utilized a Human-AI co-creation approach, inspired by the Wu, Z. (2021) model, to effectively integrate AI tools throughout the design process. This iterative model ensured a seamless collaboration between human intuition and AI capabilities.
Iteration
The main page design evolved from basic wireframes to an intuitive interface, highlighting meal suggestions and planning tools for easy access.
Main Page Iteration
The challenge section transformed into an interactive story of cleaning up the Earth. Users earn brooms through sustainable food missions to sweep away pollution, creating a visual connection between daily actions and environmental impact.
Challenge Page Iteration
Hi-fi Wireframe
Final Design
Onboarding
The onboarding flow guides users through Planeat's core features, seamlessly introducing personalized meal planning and food waste reduction.
Setting
A personalized survey captures essential user preferences including household size, meal times, and dietary restrictions to create tailored meal plans that fit individual lifestyles.
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Main Home
The home screen visualizes users' sustainable impact through zero-waste meal streaks and real-time CO2e savings, making environmental contributions tangible and engaging.
Meal Plan Suggestions
Meal Adjustment
Recipes
Fridge Ingredient Display
The smart inventory system differentiates available ingredients from needed items, streamlining the shopping list creation process.
Add to Meal Plan
The calendar integration enables strategic meal scheduling, supporting organized meal preparation through date and time selection.
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Challenge
The gamification system transforms eco-friendly actions into engaging missions, rewarding users with broom icons for donations, sharing, and meal planning. Users clean the virtual Earth by using collected brooms, creating a tangible connection to environmental impact.
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Share
A community platform enables users to share and donate surplus ingredients, fostering local connections while reducing food waste through direct action.
Write a Free Sharing Post
Chat for Sharing
Donation
The platform connects users with local food banks, displaying real-time needs and locations to facilitate efficient food redistribution within communities.
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Key Takeaways
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Agility in Design
Developing Planeat taught me the importance of adaptability. Quick iterations and early prototyping allowed me to refine the app based on user feedback and shifting needs, reinforcing the value of flexible design processes.
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A Tool for Sustainability
Planeat was not just an app but a step toward using technology to address larger environmental challenges. This experience strengthened my belief in the power of design to inspire meaningful behavior change.
3
Balancing Vision with Reality
User feedback and practical constraints reshaped the project, steering it from leftover sharing to meal planning. This taught me that effective design is a balance between creative vision and addressing real-world needs.
