Spoilert- Optimizing food management to minimize waste

Context
Problem, research and timeline
Prototype
Logo Designs
Main UI feature
Usability testing

Context

Food waste continues to be a growing issue in households, often caused by forgotten expiry dates, over-purchasing, and poor shared organization. Spoilert was designed to help users track food freshness, reduce waste, and simplify grocery management in shared households.
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7 min read

Project
‍Conceptual Digital App
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Project type and duration
4 Month school project
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Collborators
1 UX/UI Designer
2 Graphic Designer
1 Web Designer
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Skillsets
‍Branding (Illustrator)
Wireframe and Prototypes (Figma)
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My Role
‍Led user research and pain point validation
Designed user flows and wireframes
Created low- to high-fidelity prototypes (Figma)
Conducted usability testing and implemented iterations
Collaborated with branding and web designers
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Problem

85.4% of surveyed users reported struggling to track expiry dates, often discovering spoiled food too late. In shared households, there is no centralized system to manage groceries, leading to over-purchasing and unnecessary waste.

Solution

Create an mobile App that:
• Logs purchase dates and calculates dynamic expiry timeline.
• Alerts users when items are close to spoiling.
• Displays items in order of urgency on the home screen.
• Suggests grocery stores based on frequently purchased items.
• Provides produce storage tips to extend food lifespan.
• Automatically rewrites weekly grocery lists.



To validate our problem,
We surveyed 55 Individuals from different age group and our main pain points includes:

The most requested feature was seeing expiry dates listed in order of urgency. The least important feature was managing multiple fridges
65.4% said they would actively use an app to manage groceries
85.4% struggle with tracking produce expiry dates

Research

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Ideations

• Users want to see expiry information immediately.
• Users forget how to store produce properly.
• Users rewrite grocery lists weekly.
• Logs purchase dates and calculates dynamic expiry timeline
• Integrated storage tips tied to specific grocery items.
• Auto-generated grocery lists based on consumption history.

Prototype Overview

Desicion Process

Instead of designing every possible feature, I prioritized the core flow:
Enter app
Log item
Immediately see expiry urgency
Access grocery list
Because 85.4% of users struggle with tracking freshness, I made expiry visibility the first thing users see. Other features were intentionally placed secondary to avoid overwhelming first-time users.

The wireframes were annotated to clearly communicate interaction logic, edge cases, and accessibility considerations. This reduced ambiguity before development and ensured the team stayed aligned on what problem we were solving and why.
The goal was not just to design screens, but to make sure the primary user task could be completed quickly and without confusion

How might we prevent food spoilage, save our users time and money at the same time?

The automated expiry system showcases expiry dates based off of user input and alerts users with widgets whenever a product is about to spoil.

We made this our primary feature placing it on the homescreen, giving big labels to how many days a product is untill expiring and placed them in order because according to the survey conducted, this is what most users want to see when they open spoilert
A grocery discount function follows below suggesting the best grocery store based on user's most used items.  

In addition, it also showcases daily discounts which saves users additional effort and time on researching the best grocery stores and writing down a grocery list which leaves users more time to focus on other major tasks.  
Many users are confused on how to store fruits and vegetables, this tips and trick feature solves the root of food wastes by informing users how to prolonging product longevity, which gives constent updates based on updated grocery trips.

Usability Testing and User Feedbacks

We conducted moderated usability testing with 5 participants.

Results: 4/5 users completed tasks without guidance
Average task completion time improved by 10 minutes after iteration
Confusion around labeling significantly decreased after navigation updates

Key Iteration:
Early users struggled with item input labeling. We simplified terminology and clarified call-to-action buttons, resulting in smoother navigation.

Key Takaways

What have I learned? 🤩

What should we do next?  ⏭

1. How to make intentional design decisions that lead to results based on fact and research instead of simply designing for visuals. An example for this is the expiry tracking and shared groceries to address everyday and most votes user pain points.
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2. How to  stayed organized throughout the process and kept the scope realistic. By creating a realistic gant chart, everyone was able to complete each sections within a realistic timeline

1.  Improve the interactions and flows to make the user experience feel smoother by reducing clicks and adding screen readers to facilitate accessibility.
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2. Refine the UI further to ensure clarity, consistency, I would love to work with a developer for the higher-fidelity prototype to better demonstrate the full user journey.

Let's Connect

Thank you for viewing until the end of this project. Please feel free to contact for any opportunities  or continue to view more projects. Looking forward to collaborating together to create impactful projects through creativity~

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