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The mindful way to shop
NOURÉ
Hats worn
Researcher
Systems Thinker
Strategist UX
Visual Designer
Mentor
Gregory Petroff
Team
Yashswee Sinha
Priya Chandra
Sayya Dushanbieva
Timeline
3 months
Feb-April’25
Overview
Nouré is a smart grocery marketplace that helps families save money, eat healthier, and cut food waste. With rising food prices and up to 40% of groceries wasted yearly, many households struggle due to poor tracking of expiration dates, bulk buying habits, and lack of meal planning.
Nouré solves this by adjusting prices based on freshness, sending expiration alerts, and recommending recipes; turning everyday shopping into a smarter, more sustainable experience.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). (2011). Global food losses and food waste – Extent, causes and prevention. Rome. https://www.fao.org/4/mb060e/mb060e.pdf
Food produced around the world
19%
food wasted
Estimation of global food waste
2%
manufacturers
16%
farms
43%
home
40%
food service & retail
Where our waste comes from?
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). (n.d.). Food waste FAQs. Retrieved May 4, 2025, from https://www.usda.gov/about-food/food-safety/food-loss-and-waste/food-waste-faqs
~40%
food wasted
Estimation of food waste in the US
After analyzing trends and behaviors through secondary research, we conducted one-on-one interviews to understand the real, lived experiences behind household food waste.
Our goal was to uncover specific pain points, habits, and motivations that data alone couldn’t reveal.
“I often forget what’s in my fridge until it’s too late to use it.”
“I try, but there’s always too much going on. I hate wasting food, but I just don’t have the energy to stay on top of it.”
“Sometimes I buy in bulk thinking I’m saving money, but half of it goes bad.”
“I keep rebuying the same stuff because I’m not sure if I already have it.”
“Meal planning sounds great in theory, but it never sticks.”
These interviews helped validate assumptions around users’ intentions to reduce food waste and their struggle to follow through often due to lack of time, poor visibility into what they own, and the absence of smart tools that fit into their routine.
Families lack an efficient system to manage food at home
They often forget what’s in their fridge, miss expiry dates, and struggle to use ingredients in time leading to unnecessary waste.
There’s a growing need for automation with empathy
Users aren’t looking for rigid systems, they want tools that work quietly in the background, guiding them gently without adding more to their mental load.
Saving money is important, but not at the cost of waste
While users are budget-conscious, strategies like bulk buying often backfire without support — they want to shop smarter, not just cheaper.
Key Takeaways from our 1:1 interviews
How might we
help people shop smarter by eating healthy, saving money, and wasting less in a way that feels easy and good for the planet?
Nouré comes from nourishment and the sustainability mindset of reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink.
Introducing
Nouré is the only marketplace that intelligently adjusts prices based on product freshness, helping families eat healthier and waste less food during a time of rising costs and growing environmental concerns.
Misfits Market
Flashfood
Imperfect Food
Intelligence-Driven
Feature-Driven
Comprehensive Solution
Specialized Purpose
Olio
Rescuing Leftover Cuisine
Food Rescue US
Winnow
Leanpath
Spoiler Alert
Farm Fresh to You
Farmbox Direct
Farm to People
We used a 2x2 framework to map out key competitors and identify market gaps
Near to Expiry Produce
AI adjusts prices as food nears expiry, so you save money and reduce waste.
Smart Recipes
Get meal ideas based on what you have or can buy.
Preservation Tips
Personalized picks, smart swaps, and budget-friendly tips tailored to your habits.
AI Shopping Assistant
Learn how to store food better and make it last longer.
We mapped the present-day grocery journey against the envisioned Nouré experience
Brand thinking goes beyond the product
I learned to think beyond just building a tool. Noure needed to feel like a trusted part of the home — something families could rely on. Questions around trust, transparency, and habit-building helped shape the product into a long-term, value-driven experience.
User research uncovers real motivations and blockers
Through interviews and behavioral mapping, we learned that waste often isn’t due to neglect, but forgetfulness and lack of planning. Most users weren’t even aware of how much food they were wasting until prompted. They cared about sustainability in theory, but what truly motivated them was saving money and reducing stress. This shifted our focus to features that offer immediate, tangible value while still supporting broader goals.
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2
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Design should blend into daily life, not disrupt it
One of my biggest takeaways from Noure was that users aren't eager to change their habits overnight especially when already juggling busy routines. Instead of expecting behavior change, we should design solutions that seamlessly fit into existing patterns and minimize mental load. The more intuitive and integrated a feature is, the more likely it is to be adopted.
What did I learn from this project?
We identified 3 key user archetypes
& primarily designed our product for Sarah
One evening, tired of the stress, the waste, she downloads Nouré.
The splash screen greets her . A few gentle onboarding screens explain what Noure is all about.
She swipes through and lands on the home screen, where she sees two options: a regular shopping experience and a smarter, AI-powered journey, more personalized shopping experience.
Here, Sarah gets options tailored to her needs from set templates like “Seasonal Produce for One Week” to Surprise Me deals that help rescue near-expiry food at unbeatable prices.
As she shops, Nouré suggests recipe ideas and food preservation tips based on what she’s adding to her cart. The ingredients are curated using a mix of Sarah’s past preferences, shopping behavior, and best deals.
Checkout is seamless. No long lists, no overthinking. At checkout, Sarah is greeted with a message letting her know she just saved food from going to waste and trimmed her carbon footprint.
It’s a small win that adds the feel-good factor, remind her that her everyday choices matter to her wallet, her family, and the planet.
But Nouré doesn’t stop there. It keeps track of upcoming occasions — birthdays, holidays, special family events and offers Sarah timely deals and bundles to make those moments easier and more affordable.
Sarah is pleasantly surprised by one of Nouré’s most thoughtful features, the ability to scan any produce and instantly receive recipe suggestions and preservation tips.
What makes it even more special is that Nouré already knows what she’s purchased through the app. So when she scans an item, it can even tell her how long it will stay fresh, helping her plan better and waste less.
With Nouré, Sarah isn't just managing her groceries she’s part of a connected, supportive community. When she has extra ingredients she won’t use in time, she can easily share or barter them with nearby users through the app.
This feature encourages local food circulation, prevents spoilage, and makes sustainability feel social.
Sarah gets notifications from Nouré which gently prompts her to make the most of what she’s already bought offering quick recipe ideas or simple preservation tips based on her past purchases. They’re timely, and always helpful.
Over time, Nouré becomes part of Sarah’s daily rhythm. It’s not just an app, it’s a habit.
It helps her save money, eat better, waste less, and feel good doing it.
Projected Impact
Nouré has the potential to transform how families manage food at home by turning everyday grocery habits into smarter, more intentional, and sustainable routines. Instead of relying on memory, guesswork, or wasteful habits, Noure empowers users with visibility, planning, and support; all delivered with minimal effort and maximum impact.
Increased Adoption of Eco-Conscious Behaviors
70% of consumers say they want to shop more sustainably, but lack tools that fit into their lifestyle.
(Deloitte, "Sustainable Consumer 2023")
Nouré bridges that gap by making eco-friendly actions like buying near-expiry items, storing food properly, or sharing excess easy, guided, and rewarding.
Reduction in Household Food Waste
Studies show that poor tracking and lack of meal planning are leading causes of food waste at home.
(FAO, "Food Wastage Footprint Report")
By offering smart inventory tracking, expiry alerts, and personalized meal suggestions, Nouré helps households use what they have before it goes bad potentially reducing food waste by up to 30%.
25-30%
in Annual Savings per Family
The average U.S. household wastes over $1,500 worth of groceries each year due to spoilage and overbuying.
(NRDC, "Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40% of Its Food")
By connecting dynamic pricing with planned usage, Nouré enables families to shop smarter, avoid duplicate purchases, and make full use of their groceries leading to meaningful savings.
$500-$1000
Higher Likelihood of Sustainable Grocery Habits
Behavioral studies show that habits stick better when the effort is low and outcomes feel rewarding.
(BJ Fogg, "Tiny Habits" Framework)
Nouré’s low-friction experience with automatic suggestions, usage reminders, and AI-driven planning supports habit formation by embedding sustainable choices into everyday actions.
3x
Traditional Food Management Cycle
The mindful way to shop
Nouré
