End-to-end & Mobile
Boiler Eats
Boiler Eats is an innovative app dedicated to making a real difference in the lives of those facing food insecurity. Developed in collaboration with Ace Pantry, our mission is to provide practical solutions for individuals in need.
Metrics
Students Facing Food Insecurity
4.4K
Users report improved access
85%
User adoption potential
90%
Project overview
Food insecurity is the lack of reliable access to enough nutritious food to lead an active and healthy life. Boiler Eats is an app created to address this challenge, aiming to make a tangible difference for those facing food insecurity. Developed in partnership with Ace Pantry, our goal is to offer practical solutions and foster a supportive community for individuals in need.
Contributions
01
Contributed to the strategic planning and design direction of a collaborative project with the Ace pantry.
02
Participated in brainstorming sessions and designed low to high fidelity prototypes for Boiler Eats app.
03
Conducted interview and usability testing with 2 participants. Analyzed data to narrow down the scope of the project.
Problem
01
Digital absence
02
Lack of nutrition
03
Food streamlining
Students struggled with the absence of an online platform that would make it easy to explore and access pantry items, which limited their food options and made it harder to get the resources they needed.
Many students faced difficulties with meal planning and reducing food waste. This not only affected their nutrition but also led to inefficient use of resources.
Existing platforms didn’t address the diverse dietary and cultural needs of students, leading to frustration and a sense of exclusion. This ultimately impacted their sense of belonging.
Solution
Streamlining food finding experience
Reducing food wastage
Building a vibrant community
Recognizing the need for digital convenience, we introduced the online pantry feature. This platform acts as a one-stop hub where students can easily explore available resources in real-time and plan their grocery needs ahead of time.
The AI-powered recipe suggestion feature makes meal planning easier and helps reduce food waste by optimizing food usage. If a suggested recipe is missing key ingredients, the system will prompt the user to add them to their list. The AI tailors recipe recommendations based on the user’s grocery list and past purchasing habits.
We added daily updates on free food, new stock, and unused food coupons in the "Community" tab to keep users informed and engaged. These updates not only help users stay in the loop, but also encourage sharing and support within the community.
To address these challenges, we focused on creating a more seamless, personalized, and community-driven experience for students. Our solutions combine digital convenience, AI-powered recommendations, and real-time updates to enhance accessibility, minimize waste, and foster a stronger sense of belonging. Below
make nutritious food accessible to college students by
providing more reliable and personalized pantry service?
How might we
Process
Quantitative
Data Analysis
Initial Research
Field Visist
we began by collecting quantitative data which gave us a broad view of the challenges students were facing with food access. By looking at patterns and numbers, we got a clearer sense of where the biggest pain points were. The data helped us prioritize what to tackle first and set the stage for deeper exploration into the student experience.
of students reported having food insecurity
reported food insecurity affecting academics
Budget
Diet
Food
Accessibility
Nutritions
Pantry
Awareness
Products
Diversity
Coomunity
Struggle to afford balance due to financial constraints
43%
32%
74%
Field Visit
Initial Research
We conducted field visits, took some unstructured interviews and made firsthand observations of students navigating the food access process.
These visits revealed a number of pain points in the food-finding experience, ranging from limited access to inventory information to difficulties in meal planning. This gave us valuable insight into the everyday challenges students face, which we knew we had to address.
To give the quick overview of our findings following is the map of grocery shopping scenario and problems students face.
scenario for people with Food Insecurity
Grocery shopping
Stages of grocery shopping and pain-points that student encounter
Need for nutrition labels
Inreasing need for advance nutrition labels
Food wastage
No centralized system
Lack of a centralized system with multiple locations and inconsistent access
Difficulty in finding food
Students face challenges trying to find available food resources
Fear of wasting food due to lack of planning
Stock availability
The current system lacks the ability to track item availability.
Nutritious food options lack variety and don’t cater to diverse dietary needs
Lack of awareness
Feeling of isolation due to the stigma around food insecurity
Food Diversity
To dig deeper into these 7 issues, we followed up with one-on-one interviews and diary studies. These methods allowed us to hear directly from students about their struggles and frustrations.
We uncovered even more nuanced pain points and discovered patterns that weren't visible from the initial research alone. Students shared how certain features or lack of them impacted their overall experience, and we began to see what could make a real difference.
Research Method - Diary Studies
Qualitative
Data Analysis
I’m too embarrassed to use the pantry. I don't want people to think I can't take care of myself or that I'm ‘poor.’
Low income family
Part time jobs
Freshman
Allergies
Shelby Belle, 18 years
Goals
Challenges
Access a wider range of nutritious, culturally diverse food options with clear labels and expiration dates.
Use food resources without feeling embarrassed or judged.
Struggles to find food options due to inconsistent hours and unclear locations.
Hesitant to take food for fear of wasting it.
Concerned about food safety because of missing labels and expiration info.
Frustrated by the lack of options that cater to dietary preferences and cultural needs.
Research Method - Interviews
Hierarchical analysis
Based on the surveys, interviews and on-site observations, we narrowed down our problem scope to focus on these two processes with the most issues revealed:
Getting access to the food pantry/onboarding
Using the food pantry onsite
We found that, for getting access to ACE pantry, where we could optimize the process is to combine the sub-tasks of seeking help, contacting the organizer and getting access to the pantry into one integrated onboarding process on our app. So that users could complete them through a couple of taps within five minutes instead of looking for various sources of information, emailing the organizer back and forth, and experiencing the frustration of waiting for a week or so.
....Which help us hone on the problem spaces we wanted to focus
Through synthesis of all the data gathered, we realized that that the absence of an online presence for the pantry presents a significant challenge. This deficiency makes it difficult for students to access food options, leading to anxiety, social awkwardness, and disorganized meal preparation, ultimately undermining their trust in the pantry as a reliable food source.
At this point, we were brimming with ideas but we knew we couldn't do everything that came to mind. Identifying these key problem spaces from data synthesis helped us select ideas to move forward with. With each idea, we asked ourselves;
- Does it address one of these key problem spaces?
- How does this problem space align with the core mission and values of the project?
-What are the scalability and sustainability factors associated with addressing this problem space?-
Design opportunities
Detailed
Conceptualization
Usability
Testing
We conducted user testing of the proposed design solution with 3 users and 2 product designers so that our focus is concentrated on the features the users will actually use the most and getting heuristic evaluation from designers to make sure there are no usability issues. Lets see what worked…
To understand how users approach selecting food on the app and the user journey.
Users liked the filtering and labeling options, especially those with dietary restrictions such as gluten-free or vegan preferences. They found these filters very useful in narrowing down their choices.
1. Selecting compatible food -
To understand how users go about searching and adding products and the journey associated with it.
2. Food finding experience -
Users appreciated the clear step-by-step process of adding items to the grocery list and flexibility associated with the pickup. It was intuitive and easy to follow.
Users found the recipe guide valuable for meal planning as it helped them select grocery items based on desired recipes, streamlining their shopping decisions.
To understand how they approach the AI recipe guide feature
3. AI recipe guide feature -
After all our design iterations, we conducted a survey to see how our app performed based on five key factors we identified during our formative research. The results showed that the app did really well in improving the food-finding experience as most participants were able to navigate it easily without needing any external help.
Scope
Defining
Recognizing the students' desire to give back to the community and the gratitude for access to free campus food, we implemented a unique model. In this model, students can volunteer at the pantry to prepare orders scheduled for pickup online.
This approach not only fosters a sense of community engagement but also streamlines the order fulfillment process, ensuring a seamless and efficient experience for both volunteers and users.
By actively involving the community in the operational aspects, the initiative promotes a collaborative and supportive environment while addressing the logistical needs of the online pantryplatform.
Ace Pantry
Volunteer drive
High-Fidelity prototypes
Inventory, Filtering options and Labels
Grocery list - Update quantity
Recipes
Community Engagement
Reflection
This journey into designing a solution for food insecurity has been an eye-opening and fulfilling experience. It has allowed me to delve deep into the intricate challenges that students grapple with daily.
As I look back on this project, I recognize that our initial perception of food insecurity was somewhat limited. It wasn't solely about food availability; it revealed itself as a complex issue encompassing concerns like the fear of food wastage, the demand for diverse food choices, and a lack of awareness about available resources. These intricate facets came to light through user interviews and ethnographic studies, uncovering the multi-dimensional nature of the problem.
