Motivation
As a college sophomore living off-campus on a limited meal plan, I found it very difficult to maintain a healthy diet and cook proper meals. I am able to shop for and cook a portion of my meals, but due to my sporadic class schedule, there are many meals throughout the week that I can never get to. This has led to me opening up Doordash many nights for an impromptu meal. However, upon arriving at the checkout page, I am met with additional service and delivery fees charging 15-25% the cost of my order.
After an entire semester of unsustainable purchases, missed meals, and unhealthy foods, I started to wonder if DoorDash could approach this problem a different way.
So how can DoorDash create a meal plan service highly tailored to these college students?
Background
Before diving into the lives of College students, let’s take a look at DoorDash’s current business model. DoorDash essentially relies on three main stakeholders: merchants, dashers, and consumers. DoorDash takes around 15-30% of the cost of an order from merchants, while charging the customer a service fee and delivery fee ranging from 15-25% of the order. DoorDash pays the dasher with these fees and keeps the rest to operate the business.
Merchants are leaving the platform:
With 46 pages of risks, DoorDash’s 10K report reveals that existing merchants are gradually leaving the platform due to high merchant fees.
“If we fail to retain our existing merchants and consumers or acquire new merchants and consumers in a cost-effective manner, our revenue may decrease and our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected” SEC - 2022 DOORDASH 10K
Lack of customer loyalty:
According to McKinsey, the large overlap of usage of other delivery platforms brings up concerns of long term customer loyalty.
Could we increase customer loyalty through partnerships between merchants and college students?
User interviews
To truly discover the pain points on both sides, I conducted 6 casual interviews with college students and local restaurant owners.
Key Takeaways
College students need a cheaper option for delivery meals
College students would like the ability to easily schedule many meals in advance
DoorDash is selling the same customers back to Merchants and not adding significant new customers
Merchants cannot accurately predict demand
“I tried ordering a $12 meal on DoorDash and was charged three additional $5 fees. I wish I had a better option”
“It is extremely difficult for me to accurately forecast demand. I wish DoorDash helped with that”
Problem:
College students with a limited budget and predictable schedule are reluctant to use DoorDash due to the high additional costs and hidden fees
Solution:
DoorDash Meal Plan: A scheduled meal service for college students that allows them to subscribe to monthly meals from local participating restaurants for a volume discounted price.
This design challenge was completed as part of the 2023 Kleiner Perkins Fellowship application
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UI/UX Designer, User Research, Wireframing, Prototyping
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Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Pen and Paper
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Solo Project
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1 week
Solution
In order to address the pain points of the college student and the merchant, I decided to create an entirely new system within DoorDash called DoorDash Meal Plan, a subscription service that provides college students alternative and cost effective ways to plan out their dining experience, while providing an attractive way for restaurants to secure predictable sources of new revenue.
Students can sign up for a monthly subscription of volume discounted meal deliveries based on a menu of well balanced meals curated by participating restaurants. Merchants can choose to opt into this program and provide cheaper meals for college students in return for a predictable source of recurring revenue. At the scheduled times, verified dashers will mass-deliver the selected meals at the students doorsteps allowing for cheaper delivery fees.
Pre-ordered meals allow restaurants to optimize inventory planning and reduce operational costs by utilizing surplus inventory to curate cost effective menus. These savings are passed to students who can purchase these meals at a volume discounted price—an average of 30% off.
Merchants will have a predictable revenue stream from these subscriptions, while college students can get a variety of meals delivered at a cheaper price.
User Flow
Final Prototype
Main Features
1. Quick & easy sign-up
Students can quickly subscribe to a meal plan based on how many meals they want a week. The price automatically adapts and recommends the monthly plan. In-app payment is quick and simple using Apple Pay
2. Food Preferences
Students can easily pick what restaurants they prefer to eat from. As restaurants are selected, similar options appear in order to streamline the selection process
Low Fidelity Mockups
3. Set Delivery Times
The user will be prompted with a recommended spread of delivery times based on the number of meals and dates provided. The user can easily adjust these dates/times, which will be used to plan future meals
4. Set Meals
Users will be suggested a spread of meals that match their preferences and delivery times. From here, users can choose to continue, or adjust the time and cuisine of each meal. This streamlines the subscription process while allowing users flexibility with food choices
5. Monthly Meal Schedule
From the home page, users will be auto-assigned meals based on previous order history and preferences. Users can easily add or adjust meals for each week from this home page
Final Thoughts
What started as a simple design challenge ended up becoming much more complicated. Instead of focusing on one small feature, I decided to tackle the pain points of the college student by decreasing the delivery cost. However, the deeper I explored this concept, the more holes I was able to poke in the idea. In an ideal world, this concept would work out: hundreds of merchants sign up to create cheaper meals for college students, college students get discounted scheduled meals, and dashers are able to deliver meals in group orders. The primary issue with this is the age-old “chicken and egg” problem: without subscribed customers, merchants will not agree to this plan and vice versa. These are just some of the many problems I encountered during this case study.
Though this idea may not succeed, it has prompted me to explore other areas of potential growth.
For example, ghost kitchens could be implemented throughout a college town to serve a variety of different foods for college students. Meals could be offered at a very cheap price point if students subscribe, providing recurring revenue.
The idea of group deliveries could also significantly decrease delivery fees. If a collective group of college students order all of their meals to the same apartment complex at the same time, DoorDash deliveries may see more college students.
Additionally, with customer loyalty being an issue in a competitive market, gaining university partnerships and attracting college students may transform them into lifetime consumers.
In the end, this project not only served as a great design challenge, but it also exercised my product thinking skills
PR/FAQ
In creating this new concept, I employed Amazon’s Working Backwards methodology which I learned as an intern at AWS. This strategy involves defining the customer experience then iteratively working backwards until the team achieves clarity of thought around what to build. The primary component of this strategy is a written exercise called a PR/FAQ. In light of this, I wrote a mock Press Release under the hypothetical scenario that DoorDash Meal Plan is introduced to the public. This helps to clarify the problem statement and solution idea from a customer perspective.