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WPI Dining Hall Delivery App
OVERVIEW
Providing WPI students with the option to get food delivered from their dining halls.
I was contracted to create a food delivery service app by a research team at the WPI Business School. In 6 weeks, I designed, developed and tested an app to help the research team explore a potential delivery option for their research project with Chartwells Dining.
The delivery app works with WPI dining hall's current online ordering system flow to provide a meal delivery service to WPI students.
Role
UX Researcher
UX Designer
Full Stack Developer
Tools and Languages
Adobe XD
Android Studio
Visual Studio Code
Firebase
React Native JS
CSS
Java
JavaScript
Links
Timeline
Jan 2022 - Apr 2022
3 months
BACKGROUND
Current dining experience for WPI students
WPI is partnered with Chartwells Catering in its three main dining locations. Along with in-person dining at these locations, Chartwells offers online ordering and pick-up service through a third-party app called GET. Students can pay for their meals online through meal swipes, WPI Goat Bucks, WPI Bonus Points and regular electronic transactions.
PROBLEM
WPI students don't have the option to get their food delivered from dining halls on-campus.
Despite offering online ordering through GET, there is currently no food delivery service available for students from dining halls to dorms. Chartwells identified food delivery service as the next opportunity to further modernize their business and boost business growth.
IMPORTANCE
Increase on-campus food access and business growth for Chartwells and WPI dining halls.
Implementing a food delivery service would not only increase business growth for Chartwells and WPI dining halls, but also increase food access and availability for WPI students.
INITIAL MARKET RESEARCH
80% of students would use a delivery service if WPI offered it.
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80% of students would use a delivery service if WPI offered it
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50% of WPI students currently use a food delivery service 1-2 times a week at restaurants
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56% of students said they would pay a fee of $2-$3 for delivery
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80% of WPI students would tip if their peers were delivering
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50% of WPI students said they'd want to pay through meal swipes or on-campus currency (Goat Bucks, Bonus Points)
The research team evaluated student demand and needs for a delivery service at dining halls on-campus. The team surveyed 435 WPI students and found a few key insights to inform design:
IDEATION
Feature Ideation
We ideated features to reflect the needs of our users.
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Student-to-Student Delivery
Students can deliver food to other students. Students are constantly circulating through campus. Gives students the ability to earn some extra money by delivering food.
On-campus Currency Payment Option
Option to pay for delivery fees through regular payment modes or on-campus currency (Goat Bucks).
Order Bundling
Order bundling for students ordering delivery from the same dining hall and to the same building. Helpful for student study groups, friends, and more.
USER PATH SCENARIOS
Ordering and Delivery User Paths Scenarios
I identified two main path scenarios for the app. One where a user is ordering delivery for a GET food order, and another where the user is delivering a food order. Identifying path scenarios helped with clarifying how the delivery app was going to work in conjunction with the current food ordering system in the GET app.
Student orders food on the GET app.
Student launches the delivery app.
ORDERING DELIVERY
Student logs in as an orderer.
Student enters GET app order details and an on-campus delivery location.
Student receives a confirmation message when the order is delivered.
Student launches the delivery app.
Student logs in as a deliverer.
DELIVERING ORDER
Student accepts a delivery order.
Student picks up order from detailed pick-up location and logs it in app.
Student delivers order to detailed delivery location and logs it in app.
USER FLOWS
Order and Delivery User Flows
I created user flows to help clarify to my stakeholders and research team how the app would work.
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Click on image to enlarge user flows.
WIREFRAMES
Wireframes
I created wireframes for all flows and screens for the app. Click through phone prototypes to interact.
Users can log in as an orderer to order delivery for their meals and see the status of their delivery order. Users can bundle multiple orders and choose to pay with credit/debit card or Goat Bucks.
Ordering Delivery
Users can log in as a deliverer to deliver meals. Users can choose what order they would like to deliver and log the status of the delivery.
Delivering Orders
DEVELOPMENT
Entity-Relationship Diagram
I created an entity-relationship diagram to organize the back-end of the ordering system.
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Click image to enlarge ERD diagram.
Back-end Development
We used Firestore Database to store order data and maintain the back-end of the ordering system. Firebase Authentication was used to maintain accounts on the app.
Front-end Development
We used React Native JS to develop the front-end of the application. The framework allowed compatibility on IOS and Android.
USABILITY TESTING
Goat's Head Usability Test
After developing the app, we conducted a usability test with real students at the WPI Goat's Head dining hall. We waived the delivery fee, and invited students to download and order delivery service for their food. We had members of the research team accept orders and deliver them to students' dorms and apartments. We received some design feedback to implement in the app regarding password masking and UX writing and wording.
TAKEAWAYS
Project Reflection
This was my first time developing a mobile app. I self-taught myself React Native, JavaScript, and CSS for this project in the span of a few weeks. It felt rewarding to see my ideas and wireframes come to life and be functional enough to be used by real students at the university.
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