Exploración personal · 2021
DeliveryNow
More sustainable delivery without asking the user for effort
A mobile concept exploring how a delivery app can nudge more sustainable choices — less packaging, batched orders, local producers — without sounding like a lecture.
- Tipo
- Exploración personal
- Rol
- Product concept · Solo
- Plataforma
- iOS
- Disciplinas
- Figma · Mobile prototyping
El problema
Pedir comida no debería costarle al planeta
In the thick of the pandemic, ordering delivery became part of the daily routine. Every order arrived with three or four plastic bags, disposable cutlery nobody used, and food brought from 40 km away when there was an option 5 km out. DeliveryNow explores how the app's flow can suggest more sustainable choices without turning into something that makes you feel guilty for ordering food.
Discovery
Lo que hacen las apps que ya existen
I reviewed five delivery apps — PedidosYa, Rappi, Uber Eats, among others — and found the same pattern in all of them: the sustainable option exists, but you have to switch it on, it is hidden in the checkout, and it almost always shows up as an extra cost. And nothing gives the restaurant a reason to take part.
The challenge
Three product tensions
Reduce friction, do not add it
Any nudge toward sustainability competes with the user's urge to eat now. If I add one extra step, they will most likely abandon the order.
Sustainability without the lecture
Guilt works once and annoys ten times. It had to be designed so the sustainable option was the easy option, the one you pick without thinking.
Make sustainability count in the ranking
Today's app algorithms rank by closest, fastest, and cheapest. The idea was to add lower packaging and local sourcing to that equation without killing conversion.
El concepto
Invertir el default
La opción sostenible siempre existió — escondida, opcional, presentada como un esfuerzo extra. DeliveryNow no agrega una opción nueva: cambia cuál es el punto de partida.
El patrón actual · opt-in
Escondido en el checkout y presentado como un esfuerzo extra. Casi nadie lo activa.
DeliveryNow · por defecto
Viene activado. Si los necesitas, los pides. Invertir el default cambia la base del comportamiento.
Decisions
Three design decisions
Sustainable is on by default
The "no disposable cutlery" option comes pre-checked; if you need it, you ask for it. Flipping the starting point changes the behavior of nearly everyone.
Discreet environmental labels
Small labels on each restaurant card: "local · 5 km," "low packaging." It is not there to moralize, it is there so the user decides with the information in plain sight.
A delivery window with an incentive
A flexible window of fifteen extra minutes makes it possible to batch orders from the same area. The user gets a discount, the courier runs a shorter route, and fewer kilometers are covered overall.
Execution
What I designed
Discovery with environmental labels
Restaurants with local produce, veggie options, or compostable packaging stand out with a small label, without having to split them into a separate category.
Disposable cutlery, only if you ask
By default it is not included. Whoever wants it checks the box. It is a product-architecture decision more than an interface one.
An impact summary after the order
When the purchase is done, a screen shows something concrete: "This order avoided 2 plastic bags and 18 km of extra route." No guilt, just the fact.
Results
How far the exploration went
Concept
Validated with 5 users
9
Screens designed
iOS
Mobile design
2021
Personal project
Takeaways
What I took forward
- 01
Sustainable wins when it is the default. It loses when you have to switch it on and get guilt-tripped on top.
- 02
Friction is sustainability's worst advisor: add one step and people abandon.
- 03
The order an app shows options in is a design decision. What is at the top is what gets chosen.
On to the next project?