Cargill

ReSkued

Role
UX Designer

Tools & Skills
UX Research & Design, Figma, Prototyping

Timeline
Sept 2022 - May 2023

Team
Kalyn & Miranda

The ReSkued startup is a startup backed by Cargill and Google that focuses on mitigating distributor-level food waste via an online marketplace that allows customers to purchase food surplus at a discounted rate.

My role was to conduct UX research and map out the ideal customer experience for the test pilot in Austin, TX of February 2023. I was later joined by Miranda in January to design a dashboard as a part of this ideal experience.

Overview

10.6 million tons ($34.8 billion) of food are wasted per year by distributors and manufacturers.

Problem

Target distributor-level food waste via and an online marketplace for distributors’ food surplus and an analytics dashboard.

Solution

I was tasked with researching the ReSkuer audience segment, mapping out the customer experience, and conducting customer (we call them ReSkuers) acquisition for the Austin, TX test pilot in February 2023. I was then partnered to design a customer dashboard that helps ReSkuers view their cost-savings, climate impact, and purchasing insights.

Our Role

ReSkuer web dashboard

Mobile friendly dashboard

Preliminary Research. Initial Design Stages. Final Design Stages.

I first dove into the food-waste problem space and discovered that there are many reasons for manufacturer level food-waste: surplus, close to expiration, cosmetic imperfections, etc. I began looking at various potential customer segments in the ATX area ranging from meal-kit subscriptions to food trucks to private chefs that would leverage these discounted foods for their business. To organize this extensive list, I developed a matrix that categorized these businesses based on type and their values.

DISCOVERY

To uncover potential friction points, I developed a journey map that details 5 stages:

  1. Awareness and interest

  2. Expressing intent to participate

  3. Onboarding

  4. During test-pilot

  5. Post-pilot

The most friction occurred in the “During test-pilot” phase due to the unpredictable nature of the marketplace. ReSkuers might be left wondering: What foods are going to end up on the ReSkued marketplace this week? How much will I be able to save? How is this marketplace benefitting my business?

USER JOURNEY

These businesses mainly fell into one of three categories: sustainability-focused, cost-conscious, and donation-driven.

To address this uncertainty, I proposed to provide ReSkuers with a weekly newsletter or dynamic dashboard that visualizes data to help keep them engaged. These pieces of data include cost-savings, climate impact, and insights about their purchasing trends.

USER PERSONAS

Influencer Izzy

Pain Points

  • No time for herself between taking care of her family and running her business​

  • Finds it tedious to physically shop in grocery stores​

  • ​​Harder to plan content and weekly menus when she doesn’t know what’s available

Izzy is a 29-year-old content creator and mother. She is a fresh face to the culinary scene. She juggles her daily responsibilities as a parent and entrepreneur.​

Wants & Needs

  • Has a small business and wants to be able to be a part of a larger sustainability initiative​

  • Wants something that is quickly accessible and convenient so that she can maximize her time spent on business endeavors​

Multi-faceted Mary

Mary is a 56-year-old entrepreneur. She has been working in the industry for over 20 years. Now, she's a private chef and owner of a catering business. Mary is overall very outgoing and wears many "hats".​

Pain Points

  • Profit margins getting smaller due to rising meat prices​

  • Mary is an extremely busy woman juggling many different roles​

  • Doesn’t want businesses to be skeptical or overwhelmed by the uniqueness of an initiative

Wants & Needs

  • Wants to emphasize that sustainable initiatives can be incorporated into any business​

  • Needs a program that is intuitive and easy to navigate​

Community-driven Cam

Cam has been working at his local food non-profit for 8 years. He's passionate about making food more accessible for everyone. Cam loves what he does but wishes his outreach could be wider.​

Pain Points

  • Non-profit currently doesn’t have access to bulk food, making food sourcing harder

  • With the rising food prices, he is struggling with finding affordable food

  • Wants to have a bigger impact, but non-profit doesn’t have the funds to engage with bigger players

Wants & Needs

  • Needs a platform that centralizes bulk and affordable food

  • Would like more transparency on what foods are available

Utilizing the matrix, journey map, and personas, I was able to source over a 100 contacts and 15 of them became ReSkuers!

Preliminary Research. Initial Design Stages. Final Design Stages.

IDEATING AND MAPPING

After acquiring ReSkuers, I was joined by Miranda to design the dashboard they’d be engaging with. Initially, we used a mid-fidelity approach to map out the content and visualize data.

However, this approach was ineffective because the content wasn’t fully fleshed out. Instead, we pivoted back to low-fidelities and used a content-based strategy to map content to different sections of the page.

Back to the whiteboard!

We focused on zoning to block out areas of where the “cost-savings” zone, “climate impact” zone, and “purchasing trends” zone would live. We also specified exactly what visualization we would use to show the data within these blocks. This exercise ultimately helped us prioritize content that will help empower and inform ReSkuers.

Preliminary Research. Initial Design Stages. Final Design Stages.

COST SAVINGS

Visualizing individual impact helps ReSkuers feel empowered

Community insights boost urgency and friendly competition amongst ReSkuers

INVENTORY

MOBILE VIEWS

Key performance indicators help ReSkuers understand their biggest cost-savings and purchasing trends

More detailed snapshot of products and categories that ReSkuers saved the most in

CLIMATE IMPACT

Inventory tracking helps ReSkuers monitor upcoming expirations for foods purchased from the marketplace

For the mobile screens, we decided to condense the web dashboard by taking the most key components and incorporating them in a mobile-friendly way.

Key performance indicators, individual goal setting, and inventory management were all critical in maintaining ReSkuer engagement.

TAKEAWAYS

Throughout this internship experience, I learned a lot about research and iteration. Spearheading research and customer acquisition strategies as the sole designer was definitely a huge challenge. I often felt lost and overwhelmed, but being optimistic and confident in the work I’ve done helped me stay persistent!

I also gained a lot of experience in data visualization and storytelling. What story do we want to tell to the user? What will keep them engaged and excited? These were questions that helped guide our approach to dashboard design.

Overall, this experience from start to end was an incredible challenge but extremely fruitful (no pun intended :D). I am so grateful for my mentor, Jen Quinlan, and Miranda for such an amazing and collaborative experience.