nomo
Saving food becomes easier when progress feels personal, social, and rewarding.
Nomo is a year-long initiative with Design for America focused on tackling food waste at the individual level. Through research-backed design, we created an end-to-end solution that makes food waste reduction accessible and actionable. Our team developed tools that help people build smarter, more sustainable food habits - one meal at a time.
Food waste doesn’t feel real until you start noticing your own. You track your steps. You track your sleep. But what about your food habits?
Saving food becomes second nature when progress is personal and shared. Nomo helps users build smarter routines through three key experiences:
1 in 3
Food items go uneaten in the U.S.
Source: EPA – Preventing Wasted Food at Home
But for most people, this shows up quietly: forgotten groceries, expired leftovers, or overbuying at the store. It’s not a lack of care—it’s a lack of visibility into everyday habits.
Understanding why food waste happens in everyday life
We conducted 12 interviews and 100+ survey responses to uncover patterns behind daily food habits. We found that food waste is shaped by a combination of:
We used thematic analysis to align on shared codes and grouped insights into key themes, planning, challenges, motivations, and environmental factors. We then used hypothesis-driven survey analysis to connect patterns across responses and validate what actually influences behavior.
53%
said a lack of routine leads to waste
60%
forget what’s in their fridge
92%
are motivated by saving money
People don’t lack motivation—they lack visibility and consistency.
Reducing food waste is not about better intentions. It is about making habits easier to follow through.
While competitors offer a variety of useful features, none of them provide a comprehensive solution that addresses all the user needs we identified.
design a solution that empowers individuals to reduce food waste by fostering social accountability and encouraging personal ownership of their food habit?
01
Time-Saving
easy meal planning and grocery management to save time and effort
02
Financial Efficiency
help users manage their grocery budget efficiently, preventing overspending
03
Habit Formation
encourage consistent use by helping users to create consistent meal planning and budgeting routines.
From opportunity areas to features
We explored a wide range of ideas, and the challenge wasn’t generating ideas. It was deciding what would actually drive behavior change.
Through Eisenhower Decision Matrix we narrowed down our feature to three core pages: Community, My Kitchen, Profile.
Evaluating the core user experience across key tasks
Unclear labels and confusion in navigation, unintuitive interface, and general lack of clarity.
Assess how users responded to our updated designs and uncover remaining points of friction
While some improvements were made, users still faced confusion around navigation, clarity of features, and interpreting key information.
A food management experience that turns everyday habits into sustainable, rewarding routines.
Share your journey — one meal at a time
Build lasting habits through shared moments. Encourage each other with comments, and stay motivated as a community.
Seeing clean plates from the community inspires everyone to waste less
Post your before-and-after meals to reflect, stay accountable, and inspire others on the same journey.
From Tracking Everything to Meaningful Reflection
Bottom Sheet Modal to streamline user actions.
Landing page → an expiration + waste summary to boost visibility and quick access.
Input with Purpose, Output with Awareness
Manual input to semi-manual input simplified with autofill.
Output shifted focus from micromanaging inputs to encouraging reflection.
Add Groceries Instantly — Just Take a Photo
Add food by snapping a photo—no typing needed.
Photo Upload: Stock Your Kitchen
Scan your receipt to auto-fill your grocery list.
Stay motivated and visualize your progress
Set and track personal and shared goals with streaks to stay motivated; earn badges as you reach milestones; review all the food photos you’ve posted and pin your favorites.
Take control of your financial expenses and make every bite count
See the savings you’ve earned by wasting less food! Track your budget, spending, and money lost to waste across months, quarters, and the year. Visual breakdowns help you stay conscious of your budget, so you can spend smarter and save more.
Our solution combats food waste across three major areas:
Community motivates, tracking empowers, users become more mindful.
Key considerations looking ahead and refining for real-world use
