Pantry

Planning meals & reducing food waste

Pantry project hero
Pantry project hero
Pantry project hero

Pantry is an ongoing personal project I am designing and building in public. It's an app designed to help users reduce food waste and save money by creating shopping lists linked to inventory, and by tracking the expiry and stock of food at home.

Role
Creator
Company
Personal
Category
Food & Drink / Productivity
Year
2024–Present
Disciplines
Product Design
Design System
Visual Identity
Background

Using produce and other ingredients in your home before they expire can feel like a race against the clock.

The idea for Pantry started when I wished I could receive notifications for food that was expiring, and have recipes suggested to me with food I had at home.

After the seed was planted, and the idea grew, I searched the app store and beyond for similar apps and found a lot, but I was not discouraged – though my idea was not novel, my mission became to create the best-designed app that would make these tasks as easy as possible, and a joy to use.

Research

The fact that Pantry wouldn't be the first of its kind had its benefits – I could analyze existing apps and read reviews to find out where they fell short for some users. And so, I did just that. These learnings were useful when crafting the design principles and throughout the design process.

Key takeaways

  • Item categories that can be created and modified

  • Manageable Common Items and Saved Items

  • Items that include tags and an expiry date

  • Shopping lists that can be manually re-ordered

  • Functionality to print lists

  • Customizable Inventory lists

Research
Brand Identity
Brand Identity

The brand aesthetic is inspired by modern kitchens. The full logo includes the glyph which replaces the "a" in the wordmark, but can also stand alone. Its shape emulates the curves found in the typeface, as well as the fun personality exuded by it.

Logo.
Logo.
Logo construction.
Logo construction.
Logo colour applications.
Logo colour applications.
App Icon on iPhone home screen.
App Icon on iPhone home screen.
Primary colour palette.
Primary colour palette.
Display font - STK Bureau Serif.
Display font - STK Bureau Serif.
Body font - TT Commons Pro.
Body font - TT Commons Pro.
Typographic scale.
Typographic scale.
Product Design

I crafted a set of design principles at the beginning of the design process to guide my thinking.

Agility before detail
Allow users to perform actions with the minimum amount data possible.

Highly reusable
Users should only have to detail something once.

Highly configurable
From a simple grocery list to full inventory management and beyond.

Use data effectively
Use the data users' input to the maximum effect.

I opted to design the app to be flexible enough to be simplified down to shopping lists optimized for groceries, or up to including full inventory management, meal plans, and recipes that could be changed in a settings area at any time.

Plan

Plan meals and cooking steps with clarity around the ingredients you have at home and when they will expire.

Plan

Plan meals and cooking steps with clarity around the ingredients you have at home and when they will expire.

Plan

Plan meals and cooking steps with clarity around the ingredients you have at home and when they will expire.

Plan

Plan meals and cooking steps with clarity around the ingredients you have at home and when they will expire.

Plan screens (Today (default), and Tomorrow).
Plan screens (Today (default), and Tomorrow).

Keep track of food at home

Inventory is designed to detail the food in your home, so you never buy something you already have at home again. It allows you to plan meals and use recipes you already have the ingredients for, floating items expiring soon to the top of the list by default. Items can be given a Restock Priority which will surface those items when adding items to the Shopping list.

Keep track of food at home

Inventory is designed to detail the food in your home, so you never buy something you already have at home again. It allows you to plan meals and use recipes you already have the ingredients for, floating items expiring soon to the top of the list by default. Items can be given a Restock Priority which will surface those items when adding items to the Shopping list.

Keep track of food at home

Inventory is designed to detail the food in your home, so you never buy something you already have at home again. It allows you to plan meals and use recipes you already have the ingredients for, floating items expiring soon to the top of the list by default. Items can be given a Restock Priority which will surface those items when adding items to the Shopping list.

Keep track of food at home

Inventory is designed to detail the food in your home, so you never buy something you already have at home again. It allows you to plan meals and use recipes you already have the ingredients for, floating items expiring soon to the top of the list by default. Items can be given a Restock Priority which will surface those items when adding items to the Shopping list.

Inventory screen.
Inventory screen.
Inventory screen (Batch Commands).
Inventory screen (Batch Commands).

Enabling users to quickly add items

Adding items to shopping lists or directly to inventory is easy with suggestions that show previously added items followed by common items that also inform users of their current stock. Expiration Dates, Reminders, and Tags can be set for items that will be remembered next time they are added. Once an item is added, details can be viewed by tapping an item. When the feature is turned on, the quantity or stock of items can be updated, including whether an item was used or discarded to track progress towards users' goals of reducing food waste.

Enabling users to quickly add items

Adding items to shopping lists or directly to inventory is easy with suggestions that show previously added items followed by common items that also inform users of their current stock. Expiration Dates, Reminders, and Tags can be set for items that will be remembered next time they are added. Once an item is added, details can be viewed by tapping an item. When the feature is turned on, the quantity or stock of items can be updated, including whether an item was used or discarded to track progress towards users' goals of reducing food waste.

Enabling users to quickly add items

Adding items to shopping lists or directly to inventory is easy with suggestions that show previously added items followed by common items that also inform users of their current stock. Expiration Dates, Reminders, and Tags can be set for items that will be remembered next time they are added. Once an item is added, details can be viewed by tapping an item. When the feature is turned on, the quantity or stock of items can be updated, including whether an item was used or discarded to track progress towards users' goals of reducing food waste.

Enabling users to quickly add items

Adding items to shopping lists or directly to inventory is easy with suggestions that show previously added items followed by common items that also inform users of their current stock. Expiration Dates, Reminders, and Tags can be set for items that will be remembered next time they are added. Once an item is added, details can be viewed by tapping an item. When the feature is turned on, the quantity or stock of items can be updated, including whether an item was used or discarded to track progress towards users' goals of reducing food waste.

Add Items to Inventory screens (Default, Typing, and Added states).
Add Items to Inventory screens (Default, Typing, and Added states).
Food Item field selection screens (Expiring Date, Reminders, Tags).
Food Item field selection screens (Expiring Date, Reminders, Tags).
Item Details (Inventory) screen - Medium and Large Detents.
Item Details (Inventory) screen - Medium and Large Detents.
Item Details (Inventory) full.
Item Details (Inventory) full.
Update stock screen (Used, Discarded, and Correction varients).
Update stock screen (Used, Discarded, and Correction varients).

Optimizing shopping lists for groceries

Shopping lists are sorted by item category by default that can be re-ordered. Adding items to shopping lists utilizes the same modal design pattern as with Inventory, allowing for quick and familiar list creation. As items are checked-off, they are moved into a "In Bag" section that appears at the bottom of the list where items can be added to Inventory.

Optimizing shopping lists for groceries

Shopping lists are sorted by item category by default that can be re-ordered. Adding items to shopping lists utilizes the same modal design pattern as with Inventory, allowing for quick and familiar list creation. As items are checked-off, they are moved into a "In Bag" section that appears at the bottom of the list where items can be added to Inventory.

Optimizing shopping lists for groceries

Shopping lists are sorted by item category by default that can be re-ordered. Adding items to shopping lists utilizes the same modal design pattern as with Inventory, allowing for quick and familiar list creation. As items are checked-off, they are moved into a "In Bag" section that appears at the bottom of the list where items can be added to Inventory.

Optimizing shopping lists for groceries

Shopping lists are sorted by item category by default that can be re-ordered. Adding items to shopping lists utilizes the same modal design pattern as with Inventory, allowing for quick and familiar list creation. As items are checked-off, they are moved into a "In Bag" section that appears at the bottom of the list where items can be added to Inventory.

Shopping, Shopping (scrolling), and Item Details (Shopping) screens.
Shopping, Shopping (scrolling), and Item Details (Shopping) screens.
Add Items to Shopping list screens (Default and Typing states), and Create Food Item modal.
Add Items to Shopping list screens (Default and Typing states), and Create Food Item modal.

Get creative with your ingredients

Create your own recipes and cookbooks, and easily add ingredients from recipes to your shopping list.

Get creative with your ingredients

Create your own recipes and cookbooks, and easily add ingredients from recipes to your shopping list.

Get creative with your ingredients

Create your own recipes and cookbooks, and easily add ingredients from recipes to your shopping list.

Get creative with your ingredients

Create your own recipes and cookbooks, and easily add ingredients from recipes to your shopping list.

Cookbooks and Cookbook Detail (Dinner) screens.
Cookbooks and Cookbook Detail (Dinner) screens.
Recipe Detail and Recipe Detail (Scrolling) screens, and Save to Cookbook modal.
Recipe Detail and Recipe Detail (Scrolling) screens, and Save to Cookbook modal.

Roadmap

Settings/Help screen designs
Recipes features screen designs
Plan feature screen designs 
Brand identity
Dark mode
iOS app assets

Build prototype in Play
iOS Version 1 Swift UI development (Inventory, Shopping, and Settings)
Plan feature development
Recipes feature development
Sharing feature development
More

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