Wasty: A Tangile Device to Reduce Food Waste

Wasty is a tangible device designed to improve awareness of expiration dates of food they keep in the fridge, and helps users to reduce food waste. Wasty is magnetic on the backside and can be attracted to the fridge. The Wasty aims to work as functional as a reminder helping user keeping track of food expiration, while also be decorative and appealing to the user in aesthetic.

Role: Interaction design, Arduino programming

Timeframe: Oct 2019 - Dec 2019

Team: Anna Dyrhage, Arjun Menon, Judith Sirera, Tisha Hupkes

Design Process.

Discovery.

To better understand how to decrease food waste, we conducted a secondary research/literature review and collected insights into this topic founded by other researchers.

Secondary Research

To better understand how to decrease food waste, we conducted a secondary research/literature review and collected insights into this topic founded by other researchers.

An important factor affecting food waste in households is household planning habits, according to Visschers, Wickli & Siegrist (click to see the paper).

Consumption practices referring to expired/suboptimal food can be best targeted by enhanced reminders on food expiration dates, based on Schmidt & Matthies's argument.

Leftovers concern the category of food waste that consumers are the least aware of: people are generally not good at saving and eating leftovers, pointed by Hebrok, M., & Boks, C.

Observation & Interview

The data collection started with observations and semi-structured interviews. When doing interviews, we asked open-ended questions to promote the exploration of ideas rather than yes/no responses.

The first two questions were to understand the behaviour in the kitchen since it is the behaviour that we want to change, so we asked how and why the respondents behave like they do in the kitchen.

Insights

Survey

To better understand how to decrease food waste, we conducted a secondary research/literature review and collected insights into this topic founded by other researchers.

SURVEY 1: What kind of food you throw away most?

SURVEY 2: Why do you throw away food?

SURVEY 3: What can help you to reduce your food waste?

Brainstorming.

The observation and interviews point out that planning, knowledge as well as clear instructions/reminders are possible ways to change behaviour. The survey results indicate that food planning and reminders are the main aspects that participants feel could support them to change, this is also in line with the literature suggesting reminders on expiration dates.

Based on the above researches, we decided to focus on behavioural change in the kitchen. We did ideation and brainstorming, trying to generate some good ideas.

Lof1-prototype

& Testing.

To better understand how to decrease food waste, we conducted a secondary research/literature review and collected insights into this topic founded by other researchers.

Prototype.

Inspired by clocks, the reminders and the whole system, uses rotational motion to indicate the quality of the food. The prototype of the device consists of a set of reminders, food labeled magnets, and a board that allows the connectivity of the system.

Put food labeled magnets in the reminder

Each reminder is associated with a food that the user has decided to keep track of the expiration date. This link is made in the form of sticking a magnet to the reminder. As part of the product, the user will be provided with different magnets that will have different foods drawn at it.

In addition, each magnet has written down an estimation of the time for being expired. For non-common food that does not have predefined magnets, a whiteboard magnet will be provided so the user can write down what it is.

Put food labeled magnets in the reminder

Insert the reminder into the board

The mainboard functions as the controller, running the logic of the whole system, and containing all the connections that make everything work.

The holes have a different time frame (e.g. 2 days, 5 days, 7days, 10 days, 15 days), the user needs to place it in one of the holes of the main board that matches the expiration date of that food. Once users insert the reminder into the board, the reminder gets activate and starts working.

Insert the reminder into the board

The mainboard functions as the controller, running the logic of the whole system, and containing all the connections that make everything work.

Insert the reminder into the board

The mainboard functions as the controller, running the logic of the whole system, and containing all the connections that make everything work.

The reminder is activated and starts rotating

The quality is then represented in colours, from green to yellow, orange, and red. Green means the food is in perfect condition and red means that it’s expired. Every day the reminder rotates a bit, from the moment it’s activated, slowly changing from colour to colour.

The reminder lights up by approaching the sensor

In addition, Wasty integrates a light system that makes the reminders light up every time the user opens the fridge as the ultrasonic sensor is placed on the side of the board, to further remind the user about the status of food. The user can also activate the lights by approaching the hand to the sensor.

The reminder lights up by approaching the sensor

Reflection

For future developments, the social features, a connection to digital opportunities, and the presence of feedback towards the user are perhaps the most important of the potential factors of what should be implemented. This is something that can give Wasty a new scope and influence the behaviors regarding decreasing food waste in a more efficient way.