CampusEats

We began by conducting thorough research to create the foundation for our design solution. We crafted an interview guide to learn about personal details, needs, motivations, frustrations, and interactions from different types of people, places, and situations.

We used affinity diagramming to organize our findings from the interviews, identify key themes, and create insight statements. Then we developed “How might we” questions to define opportunities for design that were differentiated and generative.

During our brainstorming session we generated as many ideas as possible related to our three “How might we” questions and narrowed them down to what we thought was the most innovative and likely to succeed.

At first we were thinking along the lines of GrubHub but with mass ordering to receive a discount from restaurant partners and pass on the savings to students; however, delivery fees and tipping would still be a deterrent. So I came up with the idea to pivot to grocery stores instead since a variety of healthy food options is readily available that is a lot more affordable than restaurant entrees.

And thus CampusEats was born: a food delivery app that lets students order lunch from nearby grocery stores such as Albertsons, Grocery Outlet, Ralphs, and Smart & Final.

These grocery stores have click-and-collect in-store pickup programs so the infrastructure already exists and would seamlessly integrate with our service. Unlike Uber Eats and Postmates, CampusEats doesn’t charge exorbitant delivery fees because a student volunteer does a single mass pickup and delivery straight to a designated spot on campus, saving students time and money.