U-M Food Accessibility
Understanding and improving food accessibility for University of Michigan - Ann Arbor students.
Role
User Researcher
Team
Melissa Vozar
Timeline
August - December 2023
Tools
Figma
Miro
Overview
This project focused on understanding and improving food accessibility for students at the University of Michigan. Through interviews, surveys, and usability testing, I identified key themes related to the challenges students face in accessing food.
Background
In my course SI 422: Needs Assessment and Usability Evaluation with Gabriela Marcu, I gained hands-on knowledge and skills for understanding users and applying those insights to improve product usability. Throughout the course, I worked with a wide range of research methods, including interviews, surveys, usability testing, and the creation of storyboards and experience maps.
Problem
Research Design (Course-Based Practice)
-Survey
How might we expand food accessibility and mitigate food insecurity for University of Michigan - Ann Arbor students?
Research Methods
Primary Research (Conducted)
-5 user interviews
-Usability Testing - Of the existing mobile app Snackpass
Interviews
To better understand students’ current experiences with accessing food, I conducted five interviews with University of Michigan students living in Ann Arbor. Participants varied by academic year and housing type to capture a range of experiences and perspectives. During the interviews, participants completed a collaging exercise to more deeply explore their thoughts, feelings, and attitudes toward food access.
“I don’t have a car. So that has been a huge barrier for accessing food” - Participant 1
“I would like to be able to just go to the dining hall, but a lot of the times it’s pretty packed”. - Participant 5
“There’s not that many places for groceries, [and] for anything you have to go a little out of the area.” - Participant 4
“If I were [to] struggle with this (finding resources regarding food accessibility as a student), like I don’t really know who I’d go to.” - Participant 3
“My schedule kind of impacts my eating habits and like I’m not a big breakfast person” - Participant 2
Affinity Diagram
After interviewing five participants, I created an affinity map to synthesize my findings. The qualitative data revealed that many students felt there was a lack of resources within Ann Arbor and from the university. They also experienced limitations or barriers when accessing food, which primarily occurred due to busy schedules.
Usability Testing
I conducted a usability test with two participants, asking them to complete tasks on the Snackpass mobile app. I selected Snackpass because it is commonly used by restaurants in Ann Arbor and by students at the University of Michigan to order food ahead of time.
This usability test was designed to help me become familiar with the usability testing research method and process.
Results from Participant 1 for one of the assigned tasks.
Results from Participant 2 for one of the assigned tasks.
Survey
I developed a 20-question survey designed to collect quantitative data. This survey was created as part of a course-based exercise to better understand the process of designing survey instruments that effectively address specific aspects of my research.
The survey includes a variety of question types, including Likert-scale items, multiple-choice questions, and yes/no responses. Using multiple formats allowed me to capture different types of quantitative information while improving clarity, response accuracy, and ease of analysis.
Visualizations
Experience Map
I developed an experience map to provide a visual representation of the insights and themes identified through interviews about a student’s journey in accessing food.
Storyboard
I developed a storyboard illustrating a common experience faced by many University of Michigan students.
Check out more of my work!
