Intro
During covid-19 the 'Instant Delivery' services exploded across larger EU cities, with two of the biggest firms in this department coming from Berlin. Flink - meaning quick in German - has gone from strength to strength with massive expansion plans happening now across the EU region.
For this Bootcamp project, the brief given for me to work on for 4 days was the following:
Feature to offer to the user soon expiring food products for free or at a reduced price. This option would open every day at 8:00 pm with the products that are going to be thrown away. Users can buy these free/reduced products from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm.
The Problem
Flink currently does not have an expiry section to sell at reduced prices items that are about to expire, or become not fit for sale. The movement against 'Food waste' is very strong in cities like Berlin, London, and Copenhagen, where the cost of living is growing, and wasting food for all sides is becoming easier to avoid through local services and donations
How may I enable users to have access to soon to be expired products without leaving the app?
There is a few key things to consider with this when coming up with a solution:
· How to present the information clearly on the use by date?
· Which method for presenting the price reduction?
For this task, I also wanted to develop the brief and consider the following:
· How can I make this service more accessible to all customers?
· How can I make Flink more accessible to more people through this new feature?
Research
I began by finding out more about the users of Flink. It was key to find out who the current users are, who are the potential users, the reasons why people don't use the service, and how these users consider food waste and how they use other services in this service field.
· Who is the user?
· When does the user use the service?
· Reasons for using/not using service?
· Which Food waste services are used by current and potential users?
Survey & Guerrilla Interview
25-34
Users Age Group
50%
of users would purchase
discounted items based
on use-by date.
50%
of users would purchase discounted
items based on use-by date.
Users think morning notifications
about these topics are
more frustrating than helpful.
pick-up is an option
to add extra savings.
Price is a major factor
for grocery purchases
Unemployed, part-time students/employees
and retired users do not use Flink.
Peak purchasing times are
mid-afternoon till late evening.
Secondary Research
· TooGoodToGo have bags of products from Flink and other similar services that can be purchased. No option to choose the contents of the bag, but a general theme for the products.
· Wastage is something that other regions are really concerned about.
User Persona
I developed a user persona using the information from the interviews and the survey.
She is like a lot of university students, Tara tries to be as thrifty as possible with her purchases, including on-the-spot decisions or planned purchases. Her lifestyle is particular to her situation, with long hours at university, and lazy nights in.
Tara prioritises her weekly meal plan by what's available. She may need things spontaneously, but will always find the best price for them.
Users think morning notifications
about these topics are more
frustrating than helpful.
Hypothesis
I believe that providing users with a reduced price used-by-date function will achieve less wastage and minimal usage of third-party apps.
We will know we are correct with more users using the service, less wastage, and reduced use of third-party services.
Customers are interested in
purchasing products with
up to 5 days of shelf life.
Solution
After empathising with the user and defining the idea, I did some brainstorming on different ideas on how to present the solution in the app, and how to convey the information for customers to clearly understand the reason for marking it down.
Position at the bottom of the main menu to not degrade/cheapen the brand.
Communicating on the main menu the three different main time frames that the discount for shelf is associated with.
Clearly state the discount, with the old price marked and crossed, and the new price highlighted in red, along with the percentage - This is suited to the local market and can be adjusted.
When the product is selected, the exact usage instructions are labelled in the description.
Brief
Intentions