SERVICE / PHYSICAL PRODUCT / APP
Zero
Reusable food containers, thermal courier bags and a tracking app for circular delivery.
- Year
- 2022
- Duration
- 5 Months
- Discipline
- Digital Art
ZERO is a borrowed-container system for local food delivery and takeaway. It combines durable, food-safe containers, courier-friendly thermal bags, and a companion app for borrowing, returning, and tracking impact. The service design covers the full loop—checkout, reminders, return points, and cleaning logistics.
Challenge
Key challenges were end-to-end service orchestration and behavior change: incentivizing returns, standardizing sizes across cuisines, and integrating with existing delivery/POS workflows. Technically, we balanced durability, weight, and thermal performance while ensuring easy sealing and ergonomic opening. Research complexities included reconciling owner, courier, and customer needs. We addressed them through literature review, business interviews, field observations, mock-ups, AR scale tests, and iterative UI flows to reduce cognitive load and operational friction.
Results
We delivered a container family with optimized volumes, intuitive locking, and thermal bags; an app with borrow/return scanning, deposit options, reminders, and dish-based sizing guidance; and a service blueprint aligning owners, couriers, and customers. User tests reported strong acceptance of the return model and appreciation for reduced waste. Business owners highlighted projected packaging savings and smoother handoffs. Feedback praised the clarity of sizes, the ease of sealing, and the app’s guided choice
Product Development
Product Design & Details
Stack
Conclusion
ZERO demonstrates how research-driven product and service design can nudge sustainable habits without sacrificing convenience. By uniting biomimicry-informed hardware, AR-validated ergonomics, and a simple borrow/return app, we reframed single-use packaging as a circular, value-aligned experience. Early feedback signals reduced waste, better cost trajectories, and higher user satisfaction. Next steps include longitudinal pilots on return compliance, sanitation logistics at scale, and tighter integrations with delivery aggregators and municipal sustainability programs.