Streamlined food rescue sign up

Improving the sign up process for FoodRecovery.org

My Contributions

UX/UI Design
Usability Studies
Project Management

Team

Director of Technology,
Freelance Product Manager

Project Type

Freelance

Timeline

Nov - Dec 2023

Overview

FoodRecovery.org enables businesses to donate surplus food to local nonprofits, turning potential waste into meals for communities in need.

In 2023, FoodRecovery.org (formerly MEANS Database) facilitated the rescue of over 52 million pounds of food through its innovative online platform. This B2B SaaS solution prevents food waste while feeding communities in need.  

With a user base exceeding 3,000, FoodRecovery.org was poised for growth. However, a critical bottleneck stood in the way.

The Problem

An overly complicated sign up process stands in the way of our mission

Discovery and Research

The current sign up process tries to serve two different user types with one form

FoodRecovery.org is a two-sided marketplace with Food Donors and Food Recipients.

Food Donors are organizations with surplus edible food that need an efficient way to reduce waste
Food Recipients are nonprofits and charities that collect and distribute food to communities in need

Usability participants were so overwhelmed by the lack of context

With 5 usability participants, the frequency and impact of usability issues were palpable. Participants were so overwhelmed, the cognitive load led to a lot of frustration and uncertainty.

Lack of visual grouping made the amount of information requested overwhelming

Overly complicated microcopy made required fields unclear

Different marketplaces need different signup solutions

Leading marketplaces like Airbnb, eBay, and Amazon each have distinct signup approaches. Their approaches reflect specific business goals, user behaviors, and platform requirements, showing why marketplace signup design should be tailored to each platform's unique needs.

Airbnb

A separated signup flow for Hosts and Guests allows Airbnb to address specific needs, expectations, and requirements of each user more effectively.

eBay

eBay users often switch between buying and selling, therefore a unified signup process for both Buyers and Sellers reduces complexity and lowers the barrier to entry for new users.

Amazon

The Amazon platform is primarily focused on the buying experience. So the Buyer signup is much simpler, whereas the Seller signup is less prominent and requires rigorous verification.

Challenges

Balancing a two-sided marketplace

Extreme friction from overly complicated data collection

Identify and Ideate

Working with stakeholders to identify goals for the signup process

Mapping user value against effort to optimize data collection

My initial goal was to reduce friction by reducing the amount of information collected. By mapping each field based on its value to users and the effort required to provide it, we could prioritize which information was necessary and when.

Uncovering shared needs across user types

I wanted clarity on the differences between each user type. By identifying the purpose of each field per user type, we were able to discover that one field applied to food recipients only. This insight led me to consider various sign up flows.

From parallel flows to unified experience

I demonstrated how a unified signup approach simplifies the user journey and reduces technical complexity. The left diagram exposes the redundancy of data collection, while the right diagram is streamlined with conditional logic.

Separated sign up flow

Unified sign up flow

Design Solution

A single sign up process for both user types, while introducing the perfect amount of friction for quality sign-ups.

Minimizing information cost with conditional logic

To address the challenge of balancing the needs of food donors and recipients, we implemented user type selection at the beginning of the sign up process. Early differentiation between donors and recipients reduced complexity. We maintained necessary data collection while simplifying the user experience.

Before

After

Faster time to value with personalization

We took a risk and decided to request the address upfront to differentiate ourselves from competitors. We wanted to enable immediate value by showing nearby donation opportunities or food sources, solving the 'chicken and egg' problem common in two-sided marketplaces.

Final Deliverable

In the first month, over 5 million pounds of food was diverted from landfills

FoodRecovery.org is recovering more food than ever before! A month after implementing the rebrand and improved sign-up form, over 5 million pounds of food was rescued. That's a 500% increase, compared to 1 million rescued the previous month.

As my first freelance client, it’s been heartwarming to see the success of my client’s business. I’ve been grateful to go through their growing pains as if I was a permanent member of the team.

Next project

Reimagined search and content pathways

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