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Service Design

Promoting a Healthier Lifestyle

Exploring a holistic service concept that blends affordability, convenience, and health into a sustainable service design model.

Services

 

 

 

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YEAR

Services

 

 

 

YEAR

Secondary Research    |    Human-Centered Research    |    interviews    |    contextual inquiry    |  Service Design     |  journey mapping    |    blueprint MAPPING    |   touchpoint design    |    Systems Thinking (integrating human, physical, digital components)    |  Prototyping & Iteration    |  Data Analysis

 

2020

Secondary Research    |    Human-Centered Research    |    interviews    |    contextual inquiry    |    Service Design     |  journey mapping    |    blueprint MAPPING    |    touchpoint design    |    Systems Thinking (integrating human, physical, digital components)    |    Prototyping & Iteration    |    Data Analysis

 

2020

Secondary Research    |    Human-Centered Research    |    interviews    |    contextual inquiry    |  Service Design     |  journey mapping    |    blueprint MAPPING    |    touchpoint design    |    Systems Thinking (integrating human, physical, digital components)    |    Prototyping & Iteration    |  Data Analysis

 

2020

Services

 

 

 

 

YEAR

How might we provide healthier food options to people in need?

Newcomers in metro cities face challenges in finding affordable, healthy, and familiar food. Their choices are limited to cooking at home, eating out, or ordering takeout — all of which are often expensive, time-consuming, or unhealthy. The project aimed to design a service system that provides wholesome, home-cooked-style meals for busy office-goers, bachelors, and students living away from home.

Food Image by Defrino Maasy
Image by Defrino Maasy

GOAL

  • Promote a healthier lifestyle

  • Leverage local resources (home cooks, ingredients, delivery networks)

  • Ensure affordability & accessibility

  • Create a distinctive, human-centered food experience

TASK

My task was to understand user needs, map their food journey, and design a service that integrates human, digital, and physical touchpoints. This required:

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  • Conducting primary & secondary research across stakeholders: end-users, nutritionists, local food vendors, and delivery agents.

  • Immersing in urban food ecosystems (markets, restaurants, corporate canteens, street food stalls).

  • Identifying pain points: convenience, health, cost, trust in food quality.

  • Prototyping a service concept that bridges gaps between demand for healthy food and supply from local home cooks.

Website Mock Up

ACTION

I used Service Design principles and Human-Centered Design methods to structure the process:

 

Research & Immersion

  • Stakeholder Interviews: Spoke with office goers, students, bachelors, nutritionists, and corporate cafeteria managers.

  • Contextual Research: Observed food purchase patterns in metro cities, price points, and preferences for healthy vs. fast food options.

  • Competitive Analysis: Reviewed restaurants, cloud kitchens, and canteen services to benchmark offerings.

Customer Journey Mapping

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  • Mapped the end-to-end meal experience: from hunger trigger → search for food → decision-making → purchase → delivery/pickup → eating experience → post-meal satisfaction.

  • Identified friction points:

    • Long wait times

    • High cost of healthy options

    • Lack of trust in food hygiene

    • No personal customization available

Ideation & Concept Development

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  • Co-created with users through workshops to ideate solutions.

  • Proposed a home-cook-based meal service:

    • Local home cooks prepare meals using fresh, local ingredients.

    • Nutritionists customize meal plans for dietary needs (low fat, low sodium, diabetic-friendly).

    • Delivery handled by Dabbawallas or pick-up kiosks, keeping costs low and service sustainable.

  • Prototyping & Feedback​

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  • Designed service blueprints showing physical, digital, and human interactions.

  • Developed small-scale prototypes: menu mockups, delivery packaging concepts, and a basic order flow (manual or app-based).

  • Gathered user feedback to refine convenience factors, pricing, and meal customization options.

Ideation & Concept Development

​

  • Co-created with users through workshops to ideate solutions.

  • Proposed a home-cook-based meal service:

    • Local home cooks prepare meals using fresh, local ingredients.

    • Nutritionists customize meal plans for dietary needs (low fat, low sodium, diabetic-friendly).

    • Delivery handled by Dabbawallas or pick-up kiosks, keeping costs low and service sustainable.

Prototyping & Feedback

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  • Designed service blueprints showing physical, digital, and human interactions.

  • Developed small-scale prototypes: menu mockups, delivery packaging concepts, and a basic order flow (manual or app-based).

  • Gathered user feedback to refine convenience factors, pricing, and meal customization options.

RESULT

  • Developed a holistic service concept that blends affordability, convenience, and health into a sustainable business model.

  • Validated the demand for home-cooked meals among target audiences, revealing high preference for customizable, wholesome options over fast food.

  • Delivered a customer journey map and service blueprint that became the foundation for further development.

Application Graphic
Food Image by Imad 786

KEY TAKEAWAY

​Service excellence is iterative — combining design thinking, user feedback, and a systems view was crucial for aligning human needs with viable delivery models.

Competition Analysis

IMMERSE IN CONTEXTS - CURRENT SCENARIOS (METRO CITIES)

Competition Analysis
Competition Analysis

CONTEXTUAL RESEARCH

Observed food purchase patterns in metro cities, price points, and preferences for healthy vs. fast food options.

SERVICE PROPISTION

PROBLEM:

People living in metro cities (office goers, students, bachelors) struggle to find affordable, healthy, and familiar food options. Cooking at home is time-consuming, eating out is costly, and takeaway is often unhealthy.

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SOLUTION:

A home-cook-powered meal service that delivers customizable, wholesome meals using local ingredients at affordable prices, leveraging an existing delivery network (Dabbawallas) for convenience and sustainability or Kiosks.

Graphic Imagery

SERVICE DESIGN APPROACH

Application Graphic

CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAPPING

  • Trigger: Hunger, desire for healthy food
     

  • Search & Decision: Finds curated home-cooked meal options online
     

  • Order: Selects meal type, dietary preferences (low sodium/fat/sugar)
     

  • Delivery/Pickup: Receives meal via Dabbawalla network or picks up from kiosk
     

  • Experience: Enjoys fresh, healthy, customized meal
     

  • Post-Meal: Provides feedback, joins loyalty program

TOUCHPOINTS

  • ​​Digital: Ordering platform (app/website), real-time order tracking, feedback loop
     

  • Physical: Food packaging, kiosk experience, home delivery interaction
     

  • Human: Home cooks, nutritionists, delivery staff (Dabbawallas), customer support

SERVICE BLUEPRINT MAPPING

  • Frontstage: Seamless order experience, branded packaging, clear nutrition info

 

  • Backstage: Menu planning by nutritionists, local cook preparation, logistics coordination

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  • Support Systems: Inventory management, route optimization, customer relationship management (CRM), feedback analytics

HUMAN CENTERED
DESIGN

EMPATHY

Research with users to uncover needs for affordability, taste, health.

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CO-CREATION

Engaged home cooks, nutritionists, and delivery partners in ideation.

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ITERATION

Tested meal plans, delivery methods, and pricing to refine service experience.

 

Tagline: “Wholesome meals, cooked with care, delivered with trust.”

Graphic Imagery - Concept
Cooklocal-01.png

OUTCOME OF THE SERVICE

  • Improved Accessibility: Healthy, home-style food becomes available at an affordable price point for people who lack time to cook.

  • Personalized Nutrition: Meals based on dietary preferences or health conditions (low fat, low sodium, diabetic-friendly).

  • Economic Opportunity: Creates micro-entrepreneurship opportunities for local home cooks and strengthens the existing Dabbawalla ecosystem.

  • Sustainability: Uses local ingredients, reduces reliance on processed fast food, and minimizes carbon footprint through optimized local delivery.

  • Customer Engagement: Builds a loyal community around food culture, health, and convenience, encouraging repeat orders.

Service Design Infographic

IMPACT ON THE CHALLENGE ADRESSED

  • Social Impact: Supports newcomers and urban professionals in adapting to city life without compromising health.

  • Behavioral Shift: Encourages a healthier lifestyle by making good food the easiest choice, not the hardest.

  • Economic Impact: Empowers local cooks and supports small-scale food producers, creating a community-driven food economy.

  • Systemic Change: Redefines the urban food ecosystem by bridging the gap between home-cooked quality and on-demand convenience.

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