Plant-based food is becoming more prevalent than ever. Embraced by vegans and vegetarians, many consumers opt for a healthier diet, either for personal well-being or to make an impact in saving the environment.

Despite its popularity, following a plant-based diet requires a gradual approach and commitment. This is often a breakpoint for people who have a specific diet preference, such as gluten-free.

Finding food where vegan and plant-based diet culture is not widespread could be difficult. Even so, switching to a different diet type is challenging, due to many misconceptions. Apart from being nutritionally deficient, a plant-based diet is believed to be too expensive and hard to stick to in the long term.

Unfortunately, shops with vegan and vegetarian options often have to throw away their unsold products throughout the day.

I was curious to find a solution that is both feasible for the shops to collaborate, and convenient for people to use it on the go. That was the opportunity to create Vegfully - a marketplace for offering and discovering plant-based food that would otherwise be thrown away, at discounted prices. Throughout the app, users can discover soon-expiring, plant-based offers segmented into food categories, and narrow down by diet preferences.

Note: Due to confidentiality reasons, sensitive information such as the user data, as well as the research phase, cannot be shared publicly.

With core features and app foundation developed, there are more upgrades that could be made in the future, improving the products experience.

• Signing in anonymously: Allowing users to use the app without creating an account. Their sign-in data could be linked to anonymous accounts for future sessions. Useful for short-stay tourists.
• Shop reviews: A score or emoji-based rating system that engages the users and compels them to provide feedback on the shop, allowing them to expand and evolve.

The main takeaway for me is that just walking into someone’s shoes isn’t enough to empathise with them. Instead, the best way to gain empathy and understanding is by getting the individuals to use the early version of the product and taking their every feedback and critique. After all, they are the ones experiencing the problem for years and have developed a unique way of coping with it - something that I can’t emulate nearly as well.