“I never know what to cook, and half the time, I just end up ordering in.”
– Mei, 24, recently moved into her first apartment in Singapore.

​

​

This project began with a simple but relatable problem: young adults navigating independent living often struggle with grocery shopping. We aimed to reimagine that experience—not just to help them buy groceries, but to empower them to eat well, waste less, and stay within budget.

​​

​

​

​The Big Picture

​This project focuses on redesigning the existing FairPrice app to enhance the grocery shopping experience for young adults living independently in Singapore. While FairPrice already offers innovative features like Scan & Go, the current app still leaves gaps when it comes to supporting users who are new to cooking, unfamiliar with choosing produce, or managing groceries within a tight budget. These challenges often result in food wastage, stress eating, and difficulty maintaining a healthy diet.

​

The goal of the redesign is to create a more personalized, supportive, and intuitive grocery experience—one that helps users shop smarter, reduce waste, and feel more confident in their day-to-day food decisions. This solution aligns with FairPrice’s mission of “Everything Food Made Easy” by tackling these lifestyle-specific barriers and elevating the digital grocery experience beyond just transactions.

​​​​

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

​

🔍 My Approach

​To ensure this redesign directly meets users' real needs and aligns with FairPrice’s brand direction, I followed a human-centered and research-driven design process:

​

1. App Audit & Journey Mapping
   – Reviewed existing FairPrice app and Scan & Go flow
   – Identified user pain points and friction in the experience

2. Brand & Market Understanding
   – Aligned redesign with FairPrice’s mission and strategic goals
   – Analyzed competitors and emerging grocery trends

3. User Research
   – Conducted interviews with young adults living independently in Singapore
   – Extracted key behavioral patterns, frustrations, and aspirations

4. Empathy Mapping & Persona Creation
   – Turned insights into empathy maps and two actionable personas
   – Focused on emotional and practical user needs

5. Ideation & Prototyping
   – Designed wireframes and prototypes with features like personalized meal plans, food storage tips, and AI-powered suggestions

6. User Testing & Iteration
   – Tested with real users
   – Refined based on feedback to improve usability and relevance

 

📸 Below are some screenshots of the existing FairPrice app and the Scan & Go Kiosk setup, which is currently available in selected supermarkets. These helped inform the audit and inspiration for improvement.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

My analysis of the app:​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

Aligning with the Bigger Picture: Supporting FairPrice’s Mission and Values

​​FairPrice’s mission, “Everything Food Made Easy,” sets the tone for a customer-centric approach that simplifies food choices and empowers individuals to live healthier, more affordable lives. While FairPrice does not publicly list official core values, their mission — “Everything Food Made Easy” — and ongoing initiatives reflect a commitment to several key priorities:

​

• Convenience and personalization through digital features like Scan & Go.

• Affordability with house brands and curated value deals.

• Sustainability via food waste reduction and packaging programs.

• Community well-being, demonstrated by their social responsibility programs.

 

This redesign supports and extends these brand priorities by offering an intuitive, AI-powered experience tailored to the needs of young adults navigating independent living. By making healthy, affordable food choices easier and more accessible, it strengthens FairPrice’s role not just as a retailer, but as a trusted partner in daily

life.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

Listening to Our Users

Through user interviews and contextual inquiries, we gained valuable insights into the specific challenges young adults in Singapore face when it comes to food and grocery shopping. These include:

​

• Choosing the Right Produce: Many users struggle with selecting fresh ingredients, often leading to uncertainty when grocery shopping.

​

• Stress and Emotional Eating: Food serves as a comfort mechanism for some, contributing to overeating and weight gain, particularly during stressful periods.

​

• Budget Constraints: The high cost of living, especially rent, limits their grocery budget, which often leads to food wastage as they can’t afford to buy in bulk or plan effectively.

​

• Desire for Healthier Meals: While young adults want to eat healthier and cook at home, they often lack the time, energy, or culinary knowledge to do so.

​

These insights were instrumental in shaping the redesign, ensuring the app directly addresses these pain points. The result is a more thoughtful, user-centric solution that meets the real needs of our target audience.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

​

​

 

How We Pushed the Envelope

The redesign introduces several innovative features tailored specifically to the needs of young adults living independently — a group that often struggles with time, cooking knowledge, and managing tight budgets. To support them, we integrated:

​

• AI-powered product and recipe recommendations based on dietary preferences, ingredients on hand, and past purchases

​

• Personalized meal planning tools that adjust to users’ schedules and budgets

​

• In-app contextual cooking guidance to make meal prep less intimidating and more intuitive

​

These features collectively create a smarter, more personalized grocery journey — one that not only eases the cooking process but also helps reduce food waste and overspending. FairPrice already operates within a robust ecosystem — combining grocery shopping, cooked food offerings (FairPrice eateries), and a unified rewards/payment system (Pay/Earn). Our redesign makes this synergy more pronounced and user-driven. Users are now guided through flexible meal pathways based on their lifestyle and needs:

​

• Want to cook at home? The app suggests optimized grocery lists, uses up ingredients you already have, and provides AI-generated meal plans.

​

• No time to cook? Users can seamlessly discover ready-made meal options nearby, powered by existing FairPrice food stalls and partner eateries.

​

Either way, they stay within budget and continue to “Earn” through the same integrated app.

In essence, the redesigned app becomes more than a grocery tool — it becomes a complete meal decision hub. Whether users cook or tabao, the journey is unified, rewarding, and stress-free.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​​

​

​

​

 

 

​​​​​​​The Design in Action

​

The redesigned FairPrice app offers a clean, intuitive interface that supports young adults living independently by making grocery shopping smarter, healthier, and more budget-conscious.

Key features include:

​

💰 Budget Tracker Upfront

Before browsing, users can set a weekly or monthly grocery budget. The app actively tracks spending and recommends options that keep them within budget — helping users plan mindfully without overspending.

​

🍽️ Smart Meal Planning with AI

The app combines personalized meal suggestions and AI-powered product recommendations to deliver a fully integrated experience. Based on users’ past purchases, dietary needs, available ingredients, and cooking skills, it suggests meals that are easy to prepare, budget-friendly, and nutritionally balanced. Once users select a recipe, all associated ingredients can be added to their grocery list in one tap, making planning and checkout fast and effortless.

​

​​​​​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​​​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Built to Scale & Evolve

​

Looking ahead, the redesigned FairPrice app is not just built to scale — it’s built to transform FairPrice into a full-stack food ecosystem, owning the entire customer journey from planning to eating.

​

🧠 Smarter, More Predictive Experiences

Future iterations may include:

​

• Machine learning models that assess freshness of produce based on purchase and delivery timelines, and recommend “consume by” windows to minimize waste.

​

• Feedback loops that help the app learn user routines and auto-adjust suggestions for ingredients, quantities, or even when to restock.

​

• Dynamic pricing or promotions based on a user’s consumption history and household size.

​

🛵Reimagining Retail: Delivery First

​​With more users favoring delivery, a future where FairPrice pivots to a delivery-first model isn’t far-fetched. This would:

​

• Reduce reliance on physical store expansion and lower rental overheads.

​

• Allow hyper-local fulfillment centers to power faster, cheaper, and more sustainable deliveries.

​

• Expand reach to more remote or underserved neighborhoods.

​

If FairPrice successfully strengthens this full-loop experience — groceries, cooked food, budgeting, planning, delivery — it won’t just compete with other grocers; it will own the food journey of millions, forming a near-monopoly on everyday food decisions for young adults, families, and busy professionals alike.

​

​

​

For a deeper dive, you may read more about it here