The Problem
Our Solution
Insights
Students don't know what the process entails.
Students don't know what food they are getting and what to do with it.
Food pick-up and selection requires a long wait time.
About
As a response to COVID-19, Santa Monica College created a weekly Pop-Up Drive-Thru Food Pantry. Students are able to receive pre-packaged bags of groceries either through the drive-thru or walk-up station. Unfortunately, despite the improvements, students are faced with circumstances that prevent them from going in the first place.
Initially, we were tasked to focus on improving transportation during COVID-19 for a specific location. Though, after conducting several rounds of research, we found much of the problem came from lack of information and insufficient information delivery.
We took a look at the current SMC Food Pantry website and found it appears standard with all the basic information listed. To dig further into what we can improve upon, we conducted secondary research, user interviews, and spoke with stakeholders.
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50% of SMC Students are food insecure since COVID.
Many students don't know they are food insecure.
There is STIGMA, students feel ashamed of it.
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Douha
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Leanne
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We looked over how other colleges handle food distribution during COVID-19. Out of all the schools, UC Davis had the best onboarding experience by using an external website that provides all the information needed in regards to retrieving food and finding additional resources.
Michelle
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About
Students may want to learn more about the Food Pantry or ways they can help.
Food Pantry Events
The Food Pantry hosts events such as the Thanksgiving Event where students can take home a turkey.
Programs
SMC Food Pantry partners with other programs where students can seek more resources from.
Food Pantry Locations
Students living far away may find this option more convenient.
Walkthrough
This step-to-step guide can help students get a piece of mind when going to the Food Pantry for the first time.
What To Bring
This gives the standard info of bringing a student ID, a face mask for safety, and a sturdy bag or caddie to carry food.
Social Media
Students are able to see what food others get from the pantry on Instagram #smcfoodpantry. Being open about the food they received may also help eliminate stigma.
Recipes
Instead of wasting or giving away food they don't use, we want to create value for students in discovering new food ingredients and recipes.
After conducting user testing and card sorting, we organized a site map to be more intuitive for users to find information they are seeking.
Provides brief information for students with option to send directions directly to their phone.
Creating an inviting and friendly experience to ease students into the food pantry process.
Desktop onboarding as a page is easier to navigate quickly for students to get an idea of what to expect.
A simple recipes page featuring recipes with common staples received at the pantry.
The SMC Food Pantry may not be the closest to those students that live farther away from campus. We created a simple food pantry map so students are able to find their nearest food pantry.
Prototype Illustration Credits: ZOE TORREALBA MARIN
Creating a step-by-step walkthrough for students allows them to have a piece of mind. They will know exactly how the process works rather, eliminating the fear of uncertainties.
Since the Food Pantry finds out what food they're receiving the day of distribution, our original idea of creating an ordering menu would not work. Thus, we provided the option for students to make due with what they get. We hope students can gain value of trying new foods and recipes.
During our interview with the stakeholders, we inspired the idea of developing a Food Pantry Network where sister community colleges can provide food for students from other schools. With the Food Pantry Map, students can visit the nearest location to receive food.
We presented the project to a few graduates of SMC's IXD program. Overall, the project was well-received. In comparison to other groups who presented, we were told the critics had very noticeable positive reactions towards various portions of our presentation, such as the illustrations, vision video, and success metrics.
The only issue mentioned was how our solution addressed Problem #3: "Food pick-up and selection requires a long wait time;" since none of the features appear to be directly correlating to the long wait times at the pantry. This was a result from our interview with the stakeholders. Our time-based solutions, such as an ordering menu, were not high priority and could not be implemented. Thus, we focused more towards onboarding students.
Although our website design was not implemented, some ideas we brought to the stakeholders were put into effect in helping students. Such as having a buddy-delivery system where students can drop off food to students within their nearby location.
Our team had great coordination and communication with regular meetups between phases of the project. Using Figma, Google Drive, Notion, and Miro helped organize our research and ideas efficiently.
Speaking with stakeholders also added a challenging aspect, causing us to discard ideas less in demand and narrowing down the concept. Surprisingly, we inspired the stakeholders to come up with a new system of the Food Pantry Network that can make the travel more convenient for students living far from school.
Although Notion helped with organization, over the course of the project, it became cluttered and difficult to look for information; which led to reduced productivity.
When it came down to making big decisions, we often felt stuck at crossroads, such as when I brought up the opportunity of pivoting from our previous location to the SMC Food Pantry. We were unable to solve some of these dilemmas on our own and needed to consult our professor.
In terms of organization, Notion is great for adding notes but I would not use Notion as a primary source of organizing information in case of clutter. I generally use Google Drive for this purpose.
When it came down to disagreements of pivoting the project location, it may have been better to lay out the opportunities, limitations, and scope of each choice . That way, we can better understand each other's thoughts on why one choice is better than another.
