Basket Buddy
Helping grocery stores to anticipate how much stock they need with the help of their customers’ input.
Overview
Basket Buddy is an app that partners with grocery stores that lets users tell them what they want to buy ahead of time so that grocery stores can better anticipate how much stock they need, therefore, helping them waste less food.
The Challenge
Canadian grocery stores are responsible for 1.31 million tonnes of food waste each year. A lot of food gets wasted because of inappropriate quality control, product overstocking and inaccurate forecasting. Some tech companies have shown that predictive modelling can help with food waste because they help to predict product demand.
Process
Research
Ideation
Design
My Role
UX/UI designer
Timeline
September-December 2023
Tools
Figma
The Solution
I created an app that allows grocery stores and users to work together to reduce food waste. To do this, Basket Buddy allows grocery stores to have their products listed on the app, and users will be able to go onto their local grocery stores’ pages and select what they intend to buy, the quantity, and the day that they plan to go.
Research
I started off by researching why grocery stores produce so much food waste and what they currently do when they are figuring out how much stock they need. I also looked into what grocery stores do with the food if they cannot sell it, but it is still fine to consume.
Ideation
Journey Map
I made a journey map to explore the user’s experience before, during and after using Buddy Basket to have a better understanding of the flow.
Wireframes
Design
I decided that Buddy Basket would work better as an app because of the convenience it would bring people. Many people already write down lists on their phone’s notes app, so having Buddy Basket as a phone app seemed to make the most sense.
Usability Testing
After user testing, it was suggested that I add an incentive so that users would want to use the app. I decided to add a points system where users can have their user ID scanned at partnered grocers when they shop and collect points, and redeem coupons with those points.
Final Prototype
Learning Outcomes
After completing this app, I felt that it didn’t quite look how I wanted it too. It didn’t look as fun, so it didn’t match with Basket Buddy as well. With this in mind, I decided to redesign some of it so it would look more fun and cohesive with my idea of what Buddy Basket is.
Rewarding behaviour
Having a reward encourages users to change their habits/routines.
Iterate and iterate more
It is important to continue to iterate and think of new ideas even if they don’t all work out in the end.
Canadian grocery stores produce 1.31 million tons of food waste every year
Product overstocking and inaccurate forecasting contribute to food waste
Predictive modelling can help reduce food waste
Low Fidelity Wireframe
Mid Fidelity Wireframe
High Fidelity Wireframe
UI Iterations
Let’s Connect!
Service Blueprint
I created a service blueprint to flesh out the touch points throughout the user journey to better understand the user experience and everything that goes into it.
©
Katie Liu
2025