Too Good To Go-
But Better
Too good to Go currently connects users with surplus food from local businesses, helping minimize waste while providing affordable meals to users.
The platform is facing challenges in San Francisco due to low restaurant density, inconvenient pickup times, and limited brand recognition.
How might we expand its reach to provide budget-conscious consumers with greater convenience while optimizing efficiency for businesses and delivery workers?
Skills
Prototyping
Wireframing
Design Strategy
Concept Testing
Design Research
User Interface DesignTools
Project Timeline
Figma
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Premier ProSept 2024 - Dec 2024 (15 weeks) Cherubin Vajinath (Design and Research Strategy)
Kamya Shah (Visual and Product Design)
Anannyaa Kapur (Product Design and Strategy)Team and Roles
As a Product Designer and Design Strategist, I led the user interface design, incorporating new features, and developed a comprehensive strategy to introduce the delivery model.
Through extensive research and iterative collaboration, I refined the design to ensure it was both impactful and sustainable within the current ecosystem.
My Contribution
Our goal is to enhance the platform with an optimized delivery model and targeted outreach to increase convenience for users while improving efficiency for all stakeholders. By introducing a delivery option alongside the existing pick-up system, we aim to provide more affordable food options and create a smoother experience.
Our Vision: Driving Growth and Impact
Projected Impact:
SF surprise bag sales +83% ($2.2M → $4.02M) by 2026
Meals saved +62% (200M → 324M meals) by 2026.
currently connects consumers with local businesses to rescue surplus food through discounted ‘Surprise Bags’ for pickup, reducing waste and saving money.
Too Good To Go
Current Too Good To Go app interface for booking surprise bag pickups
Too Good To Go X
San Francisco
Despite Too Good To Go's global success with $162M in annual revenue, growth in San Francisco remains stagnant due to unique infrastructural challenges.
Users face inconvenient pick-up spots and rigid time windows, leading to low retention. Unlike other cities in the United States, where dense restaurant clusters boost success, SF’s spread-out neighborhoods and limited TGTG density hinder the user experience, calling for a tailored approach to better meet local needs.
Impact Highlights
As of 2023, Too Good To Go has saved over 200 million meals from going to waste.
252x Growth in Meals Saved — Too Good To Go (2016–2023)
From saving just under half a million meals in 2016 to over 121 million in 2023, Too Good To Go has expanded its impact. This remarkable progress highlights the growing commitment to reducing food waste—one meal at a time.
Problem validated with 30+ interviews
Our primary research, conducted through 30+ user interviews in neighborhoods like Mission District, Valencia, Civic Center, and Richmond, uncovered key pain points—including inconvenient pick-up locations and inflexible time slots—leading to low customer retention in SF.
A local restaurant partner shared, “Some days, surprise bags go unsold as customers don’t pick up on time, and our employees have to stay longer. Customers have often complain about pick-ups being very far and time consuming.”
Designing Solutions for San Francisco’s Unique Pain Points
Too Good To Go’s Pickup Model Lacks Accessibility in SF
Current pickup model is inconvenient for SF’s infrastructure.
Neighborhoods such as Mission and Valencia have a high concentration of TGTG partnering restaurants.
This is ONLY convenient for users living close by who can commute by foot.
For users living in other neighborhoods, commuting for these pickups is more difficult.
Mapped user satisfaction with the TGTG platform and partnered restaurants.Introducing Delivery for
Too Good To Go
Providing Convenience Through Clear Call-to-Action
A toggle bar allows users to easily switch between picking up the surprise bag and getting it delivered to their doorstep, enhancing clarity and convenience.
Highlighting the price and delivery time directly on the restaurant card helps users easily understand the 2-bag minimum for delivery, showcasing the benefit of more food at a lower cost with the convenience of home delivery.
Simplifying Checkout for Convenient Delivery
We streamlined the checkout flow to support delivery of a minimum of two surprise bags and restructured the payment screen for a clear cost breakdown. This redesign will enhance user's trust, boost retention, and encourage users to order more surprise bags with the convenience of delivery.
Designing a Delivery End to End User Flow
This new delivery feature is projected to increase surprise bag sales in San Francisco by 35% within the first year of its implementation.
Leveraging Too Good to Go’s existing design system, I crafted a user flow for customers placing delivery orders of two surprise bags from partnered restaurants, bakeries, and cafes.
Delivery drivers face unfair work conditions
Low pay, long work hours
Drivers don’t get paid enough per delivery, earning an average of $2.5 per order on apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash.
Long distances, low prices
They end up having to drive long and inefficient routes without being fairly compensation for them.
Reliance on tips
They rely heavily on tips, which are not a stable source of income.
Conducted 15+ interviews with Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Instacart drivers in SF to understand their challenges navigating current food delivering systems.
Proposing Efficiency +
Giving drivers the autonomy they deserve.
Driving Business Growth Through Strategy
The Efficiency+ model uses data-driven algorithms to optimize delivery operations, addressing key challenges such as low pay, long hours, and high operational costs. By empowering drivers to select their schedules and preferred neighborhoods, the model boosts driver satisfaction and is projected to improve retention rates by 40%.
At its core, the Efficiency+ algorithm clusters 3-4 orders within close proximity, effectively reducing fuel consumption, minimizing delivery times, and increasing driver earnings by up to 4x. This cost-efficient strategy not only elevates the customer experience but also strengthens driver loyalty and unlocks new revenue streams—positioning TGTG for sustainable market growth and improved unit economics.
Maximizing Impact with Efficiency+
Overcoming Stigma: The Accessibility Gap in TGTG’s Marketing
Research highlights a stigma around the quality of restaurant leftovers, and relying solely on digital marketing has proven ineffective in helping Too Good To Go overcome these misconceptions and build consumer trust.
Humanized & modern marketing campaigns that can convert to sales, awareness and give assurance to potential customers.
We designed a humanized brand outreach campaign featuring interactive pop-up events at colleges and practical branded merchandise to directly address misconceptions about food safety and quality, build consumer trust, and drive sales growth, with taste tests showing 80% of students couldn’t distinguish TGTG meals from typical cafeteria food.
Intentional Focus on the Numbers
Projected Impact:
SF bag sales +83% ($2.2M → $4.02M) by 2026, if implemented now.
Food saved +62% (200M → 324M meals) by 2026, if implemented now.
Product Road Map
With the introduction of the Delivery Model, Efficiency+, and expanded Brand Outreach, we aim to create a solution—benefiting TGTG’s growth and all stakeholders involved.
Reflection
As I look back on these 15 weeks of constant research, testing, refinements and countless pivots, I’ve realized how much growth came from embracing the unexpected and pushing my own boundaries.
This journey taught me that solving the core problem is key to creating meaningful solutions. While it was tempting to focus on “cool” features, real impact came from addressing user pain points while aligning with business goals. Every pivot we made was purpose-driven, backed by research and team feedback, leading to a solution that’s effective, realistic, and scalable.
Unexpected roadblocks and deviations from our initial vision challenged me to think on my feet, adapt quickly, and find clarity in uncertainty. Each iteration, whether prompted by feasibility constraints or shifting user needs, became an opportunity to refine our direction and strengthen the solution’s foundation.
Collaboration was at the heart of this process. Through design sprints, Crazy 8s, and business workshops, we refined ideas into a strategic and impactful product. This project pushed me out of my comfort zone, strengthened my attention to detail, and reinforced my identity as a user-centered designer committed to crafting thoughtful, business-aligned solutions.
My design team with instructor Jessica Y. Wen