Fare: A Community Fridge App
2020 has been one of the most unprecedented years to date. During this time in the midst of a pandemic, we have seen the hearts of those within our communities as they try to find ways to give back. One of these ways was through community fridges. For my senior project, I wanted to try my hand at designing an app that would allow for the process of using community fridges to be easy and widespread for both donors and donees.
Stuffed With Ideas
Plan and Research.
My primary research revolved around my own goals with the app as well as if there were any centralized organization that provided and distributed community fridges. My research showed me to one organization, yet still a majority of the community fridges were provided from the community for the community. This made it a bit harder to track down the root of some of them in certain locations or who stocked them and why.
Personas and Scenarios.
Following my original idea for the app, I wanted to create a persona that would embody the donor and the donee respectively. Once fully created, I decided to write a scenario revolving around how they interact with the app on a regular basis. This allowed me to think of how to wireframe the app better to provide a smooth and seamless use of the app while also highlighting key features that should be considered that would make it easier for all parties involved.
What are our considerations?
#1: Ease
I realize that many users who use this app are not going to have the luxury of time to spend too much on it itself. Because of this, I need to ensure that the app is as quick and seamless as possible so the user can go on about their day after the app is put down.
#2: Privacy
Not everyone wants to have all of their business displayed on the app, and that is ok! Creating a sense of security and privacy by upholding anonymity allows users to feel better about receiving goods from people in their neighborhood.
#3: Reliability
Things can change so quickly, especially during these unprecedented times. By making sure the app is flexible and reliable, people will be able to use it at a moments notice when things take an unexpected turn. Users can always count on us to help them out!
Wireframe it out!
With a grasp of features and potential flow of the app, it is time to begin the design process with wire-framing a skeleton of what the app could be using Adobe XD. This will allow me to see what works and what does not.
It is at this stage that I would prototype a more finalized wireframe to get feedback from people within the community. Unfortunately with the limitations I have, in terms of connections to people who would use this app as well as the ongoing pandemic, I was not able to fully prototype the app to an audience.
Designing Fare
Now that we have the skeleton of Fare, we need to move into designing the app to look good enough to eat. This process was mainly enshrouded in researching color palettes as well as playing with logos and names (as it was at this stage that Fare got its name).
I eventually thought of a motto to accompany the name: Fare is Fair. I wanted this to showcase itself in the logo by highlighting the scales of justice and how some time things aren’t equal, but with the app we would try balancing the scales even if just a little bit.
Explaining Fare
Once I decided upon the design of the app, the rest was just filling in the blanks that were left from my wireframe. Insuring the images matched up and the flow worked well, essentially meant Fare’s first draft was completed. I then created a simple explainer that delved into the features of the app. I decided to play with the line included in the logo to be a common theme and created a motion graphic of the logo that would be used in videos that is showcased at the end of the video.
