problem.
Many students face food insecurity, while restaurants and food providers discard large amounts of edible surplus food. SquareMeal aimed to bridge this gap by creating a dignified and accessible way for students to find affordable meals while helping local food providers reduce waste.
SquareMeal creates a two-sided platform that connects students with surplus food from restaurants, food banks, and other local providers. Students can discover and reserve affordable meals through an accessible mobile and desktop experience, while participating organizations can list available food and manage requests efficiently.
solution.
To shape the experience around real student needs, we conducted a focus group with eight Humber College students. Their perspectives helped us understand expectations around affordability, trust, convenience, and dignity, informing the platform’s information architecture, user flows, and interface design.
Below is the representative image of a student focus-group session.
from focus group to insights.
information architecture & user flow.
We used card sorting to organize the platform’s content around users’ expectations and create a clear information architecture for both sides of the service.
We then mapped the key journeys for students discovering and reserving meals, as well as for restaurants uploading surplus food and managing bookings.
This process helped define the platform’s navigation, features, and interactions before moving into detailed interface design.
design system & interface design:
We developed a reusable design system to create a consistent and approachable experience across mobile and desktop. The visual direction combines an accessible colour palette, clear typography, recognizable icons, and flexible components for forms, filters, buttons, meal cards, and carousels.
Interactive states and responsive layouts were designed to support essential tasks across both sides of the platform from discovering and reserving meals to uploading available food and managing bookings.
Reusable components helped us maintain consistency while adapting the experience to different screen sizes and user needs.
