UI/UX Design Project - Mobile Design
Indian celebrations, particularly its 10+ million annual weddings, are significant cultural events where food plays a central role. While these festivities showcase India's rich cultural heritage, they also result in massive food wastage. The surplus from weddings alone could feed millions of people in need.
This project seeks to address this issue by redirecting excess food from celebrations to those who need it, promoting both sustainability and community support.
How can I create an efficient food redistribution system that addresses logistical challenges, ensures food safety standards, overcomes social stigma, and raises awareness about food donation opportunities to effectively channel surplus from celebrations to those in need?
Bridging the gap between surplus and scarcity. The app is designed to:
Reduce Food Wastage by turning celebrations into an opportunity for sharing rather than waste.
Foster a sense of social responsibility among individuals and organizations.
Contribute to a reduction in landfill emissions by keeping food out of waste systems.
Empowering hosts to take initiative by registering events fosters a sense of ownership and contribution. The intuitive scheduling and confirmation flow encourages action by minimizing friction, while reinforcing the user's impact on the community.
Proximity-based event discovery supports spontaneous participation and inclusivity. By reducing logistical barriers and providing immediate directions via maps, the interface creates a seamless bridge between intent and action.
Enabling users to sign up as volunteers directly from event pages creates a direct path from awareness to engagement. This decision-driven flow encourages proactive participation and immediately reinforces the user’s value with a confirmation step.
By pairing a seamless donation experience with vivid displays of real-world impact, the AnnaDaan turns intent into action and action into meaning. The donation flow lowers the barrier to giving, while impact stories provide emotional and quantitative reinforcement creating a powerful feedback loop that nurtures generosity, builds trust, and inspires continued engagement.
Want to experience AnnaDaan yourself? Try out the Figma Prototype below! :)
Prototype Link
This project started as a 3 day challenge where I spent the first day researching about the various reasons and psychology behind the food wastage in the country. Given the limited time for the project I used any and all information i could find on the internet about the subject matter. I also used Notionsmith to generate some personas to interview.
What were the reasons behind the food waste?
What is their perspective on food wastage in weddings in India?
What is their approach with surplus food?
What challenges do they face while managing the excess food?
While researching I found that the decisions people make when ordering food are deeply influenced by their cultural background, which shapes their perceptions of abundance, hospitality, and social expectations, often leading to surplus.
QUOTE
"It’s a complex process....coordinating pickup timings, ensuring food safety, and dealing with last-minute changes. Without clear systems, it can feel chaotic, especially if I’m juggling multiple events."
-_Event Planner
Prioritizing Design Tasks
Hosts go to extraordinary lengths to ensure their guests are well-fed, often overestimating food quantities out of concern that no one leaves unsatisfied. This is rooted in 3 major factors:
Fear of falling short
Social Comparison
Symbol of Prosperity
The common challenges that people faced with surplus food were
Coordinating food redistribution.
Ensuring food is distributed before it goes bad.
Connecting with the right organizations.
Managing logistics efficiently.
User Flow for Host Interface
User Flow for Recipient Interface
Paper Wireframes
Digital Wireframes
AnnaDaan Typeface, Icons, Colors
AnnaDaan Components
Final Screens
Through the case study, I gained a deeper understanding of the psychology behind food wastage during events, where cultural norms, social expectations, and the need to ensure abundance often lead to surplus food. This 3 day journey highlighted how ingrained habits and logistical challenges prevent efficient redistribution, even when the intent to reduce waste exists.
By analyzing these psychological and practical barriers, I was able to uncover actionable insights and design solutions that address the root of the problem. From efficient coordination and real-time notifications to establishing a trusted network of donors and recipients, each feature of Annadaan was thoughtfully crafted to balance cultural sensitivities with technological innovation.
WHAT I LEARNT
Creating Annadaan was a transformative process that combined research, empathy, and creativity to solve a significant social issue.
It reinforced the importance of understanding human behavior and leveraging it to drive meaningful, user-centric solutions.
EDITORS NOTE
This was my first design challenge I took up and the research for this project was conducted in a non traditional way but I made most of what resources I had available and I’m incredibly proud of myself for that :)
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