Reducing Restaurant Food Wastage

Let's talk about food waste; it's a massive problem in the restaurant industry. In the US alone, restaurants generate about 22-33 billion pounds of food waste each year. That's perfectly good food being tossed out while people go hungry just blocks away.

I was given this challenge during an interview process: What if Uber Eats created a feature where restaurants could donate excess food instead of throwing it away? I didn't end up getting the job, but I fell in love with the concept and developed it into a full case study.

The core problem was finding a way to connect:

• Restaurants with excess food at the end of the day.
• People who could benefit from free food.
• Drivers who might be willing to deliver it.

All while fitting seamlessly into Uber's existing ecosystem and design language.

Designing a donation feature for Uber Eats that would:

• Integrate naturally into the existing platform.
• Create value for all stakeholders (restaurants, customers, drivers).
• Follow Uber's design language without access to their design system.
• Be realistic enough to potentially implement.

I started by looking at existing food donation platforms like Too Good To Go, Olio, and Food Rescue US to understand different approaches to the problem. In my research I found these key factors:

• Restaurants need a super simple process or they won't use it.
• Customers need clear communication about food quality and availability.
• Drivers need incentives beyond monetary compensation.
• Successful donation systems need to create a win-win-win scenario.

I looked at user behavior data that showed:

• Most restaurants have predictable patterns of excess food.
• People are more likely to participate in "free" programs when there's a perceived element of fairness (not just first-come, first-served).
• Donation-based services see higher engagement when participation is publicly recognized.

After analyzing the research, I focused on three key areas which are seamless restaurant integration, discoverable customer experience, and finally driver incentive system.

I designed a new "Donations" section for the restaurant dashboard that:

• Appears with a "New" indicator to draw attention.
• Integrates with their existing menu items.
• Allows quick selection of excess items and quantities.
• Sets availability timeframes and freshness windows.
• Shows donation history and impact metrics.

The key insight was making it work with their existing catalog. Instead of creating a whole new system, restaurants could simply select items they already had in their menu and indicate quantities available for donation.

For customers, I designed:

• A feature notification introducing the new feature.
• A dedicated "Donations" tab in the main navigation.
• A map view showing nearby donation opportunities.
• Clear indicators of what's available to claim.
• A streamlined claim process that requires minimal steps.

I made donations highly visible but not pushy. The section appears at the top of the app for maximum visibility but doesn't interfere with regular ordering.

For the drivers app, the design emphasized the connection between donation deliveries and increased ratings, creating a clear benefit for drivers who participate.Additionally these feature were included:

• An opt-in toggle for participation in the donation program.
• A special rating category for "Community Contribution".
• Visual indicators differentiating donation deliveries.
• A tracker showing their donation impact.

Working without Uber's official design system, I reverse-engineered their visual language by studying existing Uber Eats interfaces across platforms and creating an improvised style guide from observed patterns. I supplemented this with community Figma resources to source UI components while meticulously replicating key interaction patterns. This process demanded precise attention to Uber's distinctive typography (primarily Uber Move Text), characteristic black and white contrast color application, unique interaction patterns, and signature animation and transition styles.

I streamlined the restaurant flow by eliminating separate donation item forms, replacing them with a direct selection system from existing menu items with quantity adjustments. This significantly reduced restaurant effort, boosting participation likelihood.

• The claim process evolved from a basic "first-come, first-served" button to a transparent system displaying quantities and expected availability windows, setting appropriate expectations and minimizing frustration.
• For driver incentives, I replaced a complicated points-based system with a direct connection between donation deliveries and rating improvements, making benefits immediately clear to drivers.

When everything was done, I delivered:

• High-fidelity UI designs for restaurant web dashboard.
• Mobile app designs for customers.
• Mobile app designs for drivers.
• Complete user flows for all three user types.