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GreenPlates+

A mobile UX/UI concept for discovering and reserving discounted surplus food from nearby restaurants and markets.

2023UX/UI DesignerFigma, Information Architecture, Wireframing, Prototyping, Usability Walkthrough
UX/UI DesignMobile AppInteraction DesignService Design

GreenPlates+ is a mobile surplus-food concept for finding discounted meals and grocery boxes from nearby restaurants and markets. The project began as a broad sustainability app idea, but its real UX value is more specific: helping people evaluate and reserve surplus food before the pickup window closes. The interface needed to handle a fast, trust-based decision under real constraints: location, timing, food quality, dietary fit and price.

The problem

Surplus-food platforms sit between sustainability and convenience. Users may want to reduce waste and save money, but the decision still happens under everyday constraints. Pickup time, food quality, distance, price clarity, allergens and seller trust all have to be answered before a reservation makes sense. The UX challenge is not listing discounted food. It is making each offer understandable and actionable before it is wasted.

Problem snapshot showing three stages: surplus food exists, users face decision barriers, confident reservation reduces waste.
Surplus food exists. Users hesitate. The UX gap is between intention and confident action.

Core service flow

The concept was structured around six stages: discover nearby surplus offers, compare them, check trust details, reserve and pay, pick up, then review and track impact. This sequence kept the product focused on the user's actual decision path rather than treating it as a generic food delivery interface.

Core service flow showing six stages from discovering nearby surplus food to reviewing and tracking impact.
Six stages from discovery to review, each with a clear user job and design requirement.

Trust and decision

Before any reservation, users need to answer four questions: Is it relevant to me? Is it safe? Is it convenient? Is it worth it? Competitor reviews of similar apps pointed toward persistent failures on all four: disappointing food quality, missing orders, unclear fees and service-area confusion. The concept's design responses address each layer directly through filters, visible allergen info, pickup windows on cards, transparent pricing and seller ratings.

Trust and decision framework showing four user questions: Is it relevant, is it safe, is it convenient, is it worth it, each with product responses.
Four questions every user answers before reserving. Each needs a visible design response.

Information architecture

The original IA separated Browse, Search, Favourites and Settings, but several categories overlapped and the checkout path was buried under an Information Page. The improved structure reorganizes the app around the user's actual task sequence: set location, browse nearby offers, inspect details, reserve, pay, collect and review. Restaurants and Markets became segmented controls rather than competing navigation branches.

Information architecture diagram showing the full app structure from first login through Browse, Search, Favourites, Settings and the reservation flow.
The full app structure mapped from entry through discovery, reservation and account management.

Wireframe process

The wireframes established the core layout logic before any visual decisions: splash, login, home with search and categories, location-based discovery, restaurant/market list and settings. These frames kept structural decisions separate from surface decisions and grounded the IA in actual screen behaviour.

Six GreenPlates+ wireframe screens showing splash, login, home, location-based browse, restaurant list and settings.
Core layout logic defined in wireframes before any visual decisions were made.

From findings to improvements

A task-based usability walkthrough with one participant checked the main flows across login, browsing, filtering, offer detail, reservation, payment and settings. It surfaced five concrete friction points that shaped the interface iteration: payment control, language support, voice search permission, filtering depth and impact visibility.

Improvement map showing five observed issues, the UX improvement for each and the corresponding interface response.
Five friction points, five UX improvements, five interface responses: concept feedback to product decisions.

Reflection

GreenPlates+ is a student UX/UI concept with a broad prototype and an early usability walkthrough. Its value is in showing how food-waste research, local Istanbul context, information architecture and interaction structure can be translated into a focused discovery-reservation-pickup flow. If continued, the next step would be testing with more users, simplifying the filter logic, validating pickup and payment expectations and designing the business-side listing workflow.