What’s in My Fridge?

An artificial intelligence-based refrigerator inventory and grocery list mobile app.

Project Context

End-to-end product design
Mobile iOS application
Solo student project
Timeline: December 2021 to March 2022

My Role

UX Research
UI/UX Designer
Interaction Designer

The Problem

Have you ever gone to the grocery store and asked yourself “Do I already have eggs at home? Do I have enough eggs to make breakfast tomorrow?”

If you have, then you are not alone. Grocery shoppers often forget what food they already have and do not always remember or feel like checking their refrigerator before going shopping.

The Solution

Design an app that helps manage your refrigerator inventory.

Market Research

We can use AI-powered sensors or cameras to track food items

I began by researching the benefits of integrating AI with the food industry as well as overall benefits of tracking food inventory.

AI-powered sensors or cameras can be used to track food items, like Amazon Go stores.
AI is constantly learning, when given lots of data, the machine can start to predict patterns
Keeping track of food inventory, planning shopping trips, and proper food storage helps reduce food waste.

Meet Meghan Thomas!

Meghan is a 27-year-old woman who recently bought a condo. She loves learning about sustainability and tries to not overbuy or overspend on items.

Competitor Analysis

Competitors required a manual entry of the users’ food inventory.

Anytime the user wants to add or use a food item they need to manually enter in that item and quantity into the app. I felt this was a hassle, so I wanted to eliminate this by creating an AI product that communicates exactly what food is in the fridge with my app.

User Interviews

My participants would be more inclined to use the app if it was not a manual process.

I conducted interviews with 6 grocery shoppers, ages ranging from 24 to 56. After interviewing my participants I confirmed my theory that users are more likely to use the apps if they do not have to manually log their items. All participants said they would find it helpful to have an app that lists their food inventory because they wouldn’t need to check the fridge before they leave and it will help with last-minute grocery decisions.

Research Insights

The top insights I gathered from my research.

Defining the App

After my user research I began defining the site map and user flow.

Design Challenge

What AI products would be easy for users to work with, weighted shelves, AI camera or sensor, a smart refrigerator?

Not only did I need to design an app that displays the user’s refrigerator inventory, but I also needed to decide what AI product will accompany my app to eliminate the need to manually log in the food items. I also considered what AI products would be easily accessible or easy to install. A smart refrigerator would be nice but definitely seems like the most expensive choice. I decided to go with a small AI camera and sensor that the user could simply place in the refrigerator.

Technical Considerations

There were a few things I had to keep in mind while creating this product and app:

The current state and potential future state of AI and other technology, like LiDAR scanners
Providing “state of the art” technology at a reasonable price
Wi-Fi/network connection for the camera

Usability Testing and Improvements

I had 7 participants perform a usability test. I wanted to observe any areas of hesitation or confusion and determine if the inventory and fridge camera features are useful.

Removing the expiration progress circle

The intention was to provide a visual that relates to the item’s expiration.
Based on mentor and user feedback, the context of the circle was unclear.
I decided to remove the circle and display the expiration date with a color that matches the urgency (ex. red = expired)

My fridge/home screen ideations and improvements

Including expired items was a top priority for my users.
Based on user feedback of the version 2 high-fi wireframes, the grey button in version 2 appeared disabled to some users, so I made it yellow.
In my final design, I added a food waste tracker to provide an environmentally conscious element to the app.
I also removed the preview of the fridge inventory, being that it seemed useless.

The Final Product

Check out my final designs and prototype below! Click here to open the prototype in Figma.

Reflections

It was challenging to design a new product, but I had fun. I was challenged to think of different and new ways for users to be able to keep track of their food without manually scanning/entering the items. This was my biggest obstacle knowing, from my research, that users will be less willing to use the app if they have to manually enter items.
I would like to explore the possibility of adding other features like:
- Having multiple inventory lists and cameras for users who want to also keep track of food items in other places like a pantry.
- Integrating the grocery list with delivery apps like Instacart.
- Accessing your grocery list from your lock screen