Canteens are struggling to identify students with food allergies to provide suitable meals

Schools now need parents to report their kids' allergies. But sharing this information and managing meal options for student with allergies has become a hassle.

  • Year

    2021 - 2022

  • Role

    • Interface and experience design
    • Gathering requirements from school.
    • Led design thinking session
    • Information architecture & flow diagrams
    • Wireframing and illustrations

Amid COVID-19 restrictions, we shifted to remote interviews and collaboration to gather school requirements and work together as a team safely.

How Might We help canteens in schools effectively identify students with food allergies to ensure the provision of suitable meals?

1. Use Allergy tags some schools already use

2. Let student call out their allergies when about to be served

3. Have students add QR codes to their Student ID Cards

4. RFID in Student Cards/bands

Solution We Agreed to go with option 3 (QR Codes on student IDs) and later introduce option 4 (RFIDs)

Have students add QR codes to their Student ID Cards.

A Mobile POS for catering services to easily scan student QR codes and instantly display meals allocated to students and their allergies if any.

...because

  • A student's allergies record can easily be updated or managed in realtime by authorized managers or parents without changing QR codes of students.
  • School canteens can get very noisy so asking students to call out their names to identify themselves can be hectic.
  • Some schools outsource their catering services, hence the catering service personnel may not be familiar with students and their names.
  • Students have nose masks around their mouths, calling out their names may not be so audible.
  • Students don't have to always prompt whoever is serving them food of their allergies.
  • It's cheaper for the company and schools to roll out QR codes for students or attach them to their ID cards
  • 1 QR codes can be used by a student as long as QR code is not physically damage.
  • RFID is equally a good long term alternative. Mainly because of the cost component it comes with.

Why login with phone number or e-mail address?

Based on an observation from a previous project. I found that in school settings, even a small percentage of teaching staff are more likely to remember their phone numbers than their email addresses.

Choose channel to reset your password

We aimed to offer users the option to select their preferred channel for receiving OTPs to reset their passwords. This feature is designed to simplify the experience, especially for individuals who may not be tech-savvy and find it challenging to remember their email accounts.

How do we quickly identify students in the canteen?

Students are to present their QR codes/student IDs at the canteen, containing their personal details, allergies, meal coupons, and other relevant canteen information. This empowers canteen operators to make informed decisions about the students' dietary needs and preferences.

We've also included the option for students to be identified by manually searching on the scanner. We recognize that there may be occasions when students don't have their QR codes readily available for scanning.

Design Components

Students are to present their QR codes/student IDs at the canteen, containing their personal details, allergies, meal coupons, and other relevant canteen information. This empowers canteen operators to make informed decisions about the students' dietary needs and preferences.

Design Handoff for Engineers

Learnings

  • Prioritizing accessibility from the outset of designs is essential. During the review of high-fidelity designs, a flaw was observed: the primary color failed accessibility standards.
  • Participating in design thinking sessions with engineers revealed valuable insights.
  • Engineers were prompted to understand users' problems deeply and empathize with their goals before delving into engineering solutions.
  • The project manager emphasized, "There's no wrong answer, feel free," fostering a creative atmosphere.
  • Online sessions should be concise with regular breaks to maintain engagement.