The Problem

1. Keeping large amounts of food items in the storage provides security and convenience but can be difficult to manage and can lead to wastefulness

  

2. Some people have very specific needs about quantity and quality of food that they store and would like to be able to keep track of expiry dates and their current quantity of food supply. 

3. Ensuring freshness and managing shelf space in the refrigerator is a challenge. 

4. Managing food storage in tight quarters is a difficult problem. 

5. Traveling for grocery shopping demands creation of exhaustive shopping lists. 

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Design solution

Create an application for Android which will help users efficiently manage their food supply. The application will have three broad affordances

Input- The user will input information about their current food supply, as well as goals for nutrition, budget, and emergency preparedness. The application will have three channels of input. 

• Quick Response (QR) codes will be used for rapid input of inventory information. As users move supplies in and out of inventory, they can quickly scan QR codes to modify quantities. 
• Retrieval of existing data will be prevalent throughout the application. Wherever possible, the app will seek out existing data, such as nutritional information, longevity of items, weight and space requirements, and any other relevant data. The user will have a usable interface with which to access this data and input it into their management. The user will also input data naively in many circumstances as the application will leverage the device's hardware such as the clock and the GPS to obtain data. 
• Text and numeric input will allow users to add additional data not available from existing accessible sources. 

Data processing- The application will process the data in numerous ways. Some of the types of processing it could potentially perform are:

• Measure quantities of supplies 
• Aggregate and calculate nutritional or budget information 
• Compare information between users and generate recommendations from aggregated user data 
• Match data from vendors with data from customers to generate recommendations 
• Track expiration of supplies 

Output- The application will generate notifications, reports, and visualizations of the processed data and present it to the user at the right time in a clear and useful manner. For example, the application will:

• Send notifications, including emails, SMS, or messages to the Android OS, about the exhaustion or expiration of supplies. 
• Graphs or other visualizations about inventory status or history can be generated and made available on the device, enabling mobile access to this information. Users can have access to this data at the grocery store or other locations away from the home to help inform decisions. 

Recommendations of supply items, vendors, recipes, or other information generated by creating a social network between app users This solution may involve a multi-platform model. The mobile device may not be capable or usable in all aspects of the design solution, such as complex manipulation of metadata or the generation of new QR codes. Certain aspects of the design will involve a desktop or web application. Other aspects will take advantage of the mobility and simplicity of using an Android, such as rapid inventory input using QR codes and mobile access to information 

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Customers/ Stake holders

This app aims at improving the overall maintenance of the food items more efficiently based on its shelf life. The primary set of customers who would be interested in this kind of an app are:

• People who keep large food storage (household).
  
  
  
   
• People who buy or produce very perishable goods. 
• Health conscious and budget conscious. 
• People living in tight quarters (with less space for food storage). 
  
  
  
  
  
• People who have to travel far for food items shopping . 
• People with little time to manage food storage. 
• Small restaurants. 
  
  
  
  
  
• A secondary set of customers who would be interested in this android application are large scale vendors, grocery stores, fresh markets etc. Who could use this as a way to position their produce to people who would in the near future run out of a specific food item.

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