THE HUNGER INDEX

2018 Capstone Project for Interactive Media Arts

@ New York University Shanghai

An interactive web piece that raises awareness of the environmental impact of packaging in the food delivery industry 🛵 in China.

First, you answer some questions about your delivery habits, such as this 👇

Then you play some mini-games 🕹️

Lastly, you get a report about your environmental "foodprint" 🐾

At this point, you are probably thinking: okey it's all great, but why this topic?

There are at least 2️⃣7️⃣2️⃣ 0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣

delivery orders placed daily in China.

Source: 2019 Annual Financial Report by MEITUAN, one of the largest food delivery service provider.

Now suppose every order only comes with one plastic bag 🛍️

The energy it requires to produce these bags would still be enough for a car 🚗 to drive around Earth 7️⃣8️⃣0️⃣ times

Without an effective recycling system, this will soon become too much for planet Earth 🌏 to digest

The takeout-container trash the author collected during a three-week period. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

What do different groups involved in the food delivery process think about this?

To find out, I became a delivery rider 🏍️, because it will let me connect with restaurant owners, platforms and customers.

Here's what I found 👀: Some customers want to be environmentally conscious but can't resist the convenience.

Others think payment 💸 = not my problem anymore.

Some restaurant owners would love to use biodegradable packaging, but worry that customer won't want to pay for it.

For others, keeping cost down is everything 💰

Delivery riders are stuck in the middle with little negotiation power either way.

To them, it is more important that people keep ordering.

What does it take for people to care? 💕

Make it personal. When it comes to relatability, it all comes down to the user.

Feedback I received from Clay Shirky, Vice Provost of Educational Technologies@NYU

Find a balance between Love, Guilt & Fear. People care because people love. Most environmental advocacies focus too much on guilt, which can be brushed away and forgotten easily.

Feedback I received from Yifei Li, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies @ NYU Shanghai

Time to test out ideas!

One week prototype 👇

One-week prototype-1

One-week prototype-2

One-week prototype-3

One-week prototype-1

1/3

2nd Iteration

Paper Prototype-1

Paper Prototype-2

Paper Prototype-4

Paper Prototype-1

1/4

Site Dev Architecture Design

Demo 💻

Screenshot 2020-01-09 at 4.24.04 PM

Screenshot 2020-01-09 at 4.24.10 PM

Screenshot 2020-01-09 at 4.24.54 PM

Screenshot 2020-01-09 at 4.24.04 PM

1/13

IN THE END

3️⃣5️⃣% of the users made a pledge to reduce their use of takeout disposable utensils

1️⃣0️⃣% of the users commits to avoiding restaurants with excessive packaging.

Stickers I gave to people for participating in the pledge.

If you'd like to know more about the project, you can read my capstone proposal here.

Icons are from thenounproject, credits attributed to Nawicon, Luis Prado, Priyanka, Vectors point, et al.

Katie

THE HUNGER INDEX

An interactive web piece that raises awareness of the environmental impact of packaging in the food delivery industry 🛵 in China.

First, you answer some questions about your delivery habits, such as this 👇

Then you play some mini-games 🕹️

Lastly, you get a report about your environmental "foodprint" 🐾

At this point, you are probably thinking: okey it's all great, but why this topic?

There are at least 2️⃣7️⃣2️⃣ 0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣

delivery orders placed daily in China.

Now suppose every order only comes with one plastic bag 🛍️

The energy it requires to produce these bags would still be enough for a car 🚗 to drive around Earth 7️⃣8️⃣0️⃣ times

Without an effective recycling system, this will soon become too much for planet Earth 🌏 to digest

What do different groups involved in the food delivery process think about this?

To find out, I became a delivery rider 🏍️, because it will let me connect with restaurant owners, platforms and customers.

Here's what I found 👀: Some customers want to be environmentally conscious but can't resist the convenience.

Others think payment 💸 = not my problem anymore.

Some restaurant owners would love to use biodegradable packaging, but worry that customer won't want to pay for it.

For others, keeping cost down is everything 💰

Delivery riders are stuck in the middle with little negotiation power either way.

To them, it is more important that people keep ordering.

What does it take for people to care? 💕

Make it personal. When it comes to relatability, it all comes down to the user.

Find a balance between Love, Guilt & Fear. People care because people love. Most environmental advocacies focus too much on guilt, which can be brushed away and forgotten easily.

Time to test out ideas!

One week prototype 👇

2nd Iteration

Site Dev Architecture Design

Demo 💻

IN THE END

3️⃣5️⃣% of the users made a pledge to reduce their use of takeout disposable utensils

1️⃣0️⃣% of the users commits to avoiding restaurants with excessive packaging.

If you'd like to know more about the project, you can read my capstone proposal here.

THANK YOU! 🖖🌱

THE HUNGER INDEX

An interactive web piece that raises awareness of the environmental impact of packaging in the food delivery industry 🛵 in China.

First, you answer some questions about your delivery habits, such as this 👇

Then you play some mini-games 🕹️

Lastly, you get a report about your environmental "foodprint" 🐾

At this point, you are probably thinking: okey it's all great, but why this topic?

There are at least 2️⃣7️⃣2️⃣ 0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣

delivery orders placed daily in China.

Now suppose every order only comes with one plastic bag 🛍️

The energy it requires to produce these bags would still be enough for a car 🚗 to drive around Earth 7️⃣8️⃣0️⃣ times

Without an effective recycling system, this will soon become too much for planet Earth 🌏 to digest

What do different groups involved in the food delivery process think about this?

​

To find out, I became a delivery rider 🏍️, because it will let me connect with restaurant owners, platforms and customers.

Here's what I found 👀: Some customers want to be environmentally conscious but can't resist the convenience.

​

Others think payment 💸 = not my problem anymore.

Some restaurant owners would love to use biodegradable packaging, but worry that customer won't want to pay for it.

​

For others, keeping cost down is everything 💰

Delivery riders are stuck in the middle with little negotiation power either way.

​To them, it is more important that people keep ordering.

What does it take for people to care? 💕

Make it personal. When it comes to relatability, it all comes down to the user.

Find a balance between Love, Guilt & Fear. People care because people love. Most environmental advocacies focus too much on guilt, which can be brushed away and forgotten easily.

Time to test out ideas!

​

One week prototype 👇

2nd Iteration​

Site Dev Architecture Design

Demo 💻

IN THE END

​

3️⃣5️⃣% of the users made a pledge to reduce their use of takeout disposable utensils

1️⃣0️⃣% of the users commits to avoiding restaurants with excessive packaging.

If you'd like to know more about the project, you can read my capstone proposal here.

THANK YOU! 🖖🌱

To them, it is more important that people keep ordering.

2nd Iteration