Rich Bartlett
Cover image for Wellness features in food delivery apps — heat-safe riding in a warming city

User Experience

Wellness features in food delivery apps — heat-safe riding in a warming city

Humanitech brief: empower communities via technology in the face of climate change. We focused on food delivery riders working in extreme heat and prototyped wellness features inside an existing rider app. Research → concepts → mid-fi → client feedback → hi-fi + testing, with clear learnings and next steps.

RoleTeam lead / client contact, UX researcher, UI designer, co-presenterYear2021Duration6 WeeksTeamOsama Mah, Ash Cheuk
UX DesignProduct DesignPrototypingUsability TestingHealth
Hi-fi usability testing of wellness features inside the Deliveroo rider app concept

Wellness features in food delivery apps — heat-safe riding in a warming city

Humanitech brief: empower communities via technology in the face of climate change.

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Case study
Prototype
Usability testing

Project scope & team

Humanitech's brief (Australian Red Cross): Define what it means to empower a community through technology; identify themes worth exploring; map lived experience; develop concepts; and prototype solutions that prioritise psychosocial wellbeing and livelihoods.

Problem & design challenge

Problem: Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of heatwaves in Australian cities. Riders working outdoors are vulnerable; safety features are fragmented or absent in their day-to-day tools.

Design challenge: How might we, through technology, empower urban communities—in our case, delivery riders—to better respond to extreme heat?

Process at a glance

  • Discover — desk research, field interviews in Adelaide/Perth/Hong Kong, stakeholder review.
  • Define — affinity mapping, problem scale, personas, journey.
  • Develop — ideation with client, MVP matrix, detailed & simple user flows, mid-fi prototype.
  • Deliver — usability testing rounds, design iterations, hi-fi prototype and style guide.

Discover — research & rider voices

We began broad (heat risk & public-health literature), then narrowed to delivery riders as a high-exposure group we could reach quickly for research.

Fieldwork

  • 14 interviews with Deliveroo/UberEats riders (street intercepts, café approaches, Facebook group outreach).
  • 66% reported being negatively affected by heat during work.
  • 78% said platforms could do more for their health/wellbeing.
  • 81% said in-app health information could improve their experience.

Outreach artefacts (video)

Looking for riders:

Trying to engage riders:

A Deliveroo rider demonstrates the current app:

Voices from riders

"Yes, in the summer it gets very hot doing this job so I just need to drink lots of water but sometimes I forget to fill up or the bottle gets warm." — Henry, Delivery Rider
"Heat doesn't really affect me, I just need more support from the delivery company for things like when my bag breaks." — Inga, Delivery Rider
"I make sure I wear long clothes on my body, a bandanna around my neck and face and sometimes use sunscreen." — Adesh, Delivery Rider
"I work two shifts, one during the morning then I have a break in the middle of the day and go back out for the peak afternoon/dinner shift." — Delivery Rider
"I like the existing COVID-19 features in the delivery apps but this is just political and I'm not sure they really care about our wellbeing." — Adesh, Delivery Rider

Define — insights, personas, journey

Key insights

  • Riders want platforms to show they care; motivation rises with visible support.
  • Hydration is easily forgotten when busy; access to water & shade is inconsistent.
  • Knowledge gaps exist on heat stress signs and where to rest safely.

Problem scale

Businesses optimise for profit; charities focus on climate & wellbeing; riders prioritise earnings. Our solution needed to align incentives across that spectrum.

Personas & journey

We created primary/secondary personas and a rider journey to locate pain points (task pressure, navigation, recovery between jobs).

Develop — concepts, flows, mid-fi

Co-design & ideation

We ran Crazy-8s with our client (Humanitech), consolidated ideas via brain-writing, then prioritised in an MVP matrix (impact × effort).

Core concept

Integrate wellness features into the rider app (starting with Deliveroo):

  • Map markers for water, shade, sunscreen.
  • Daily check-ins to earn credits redeemable at partner vendors.
  • Quick tips on heat stress & a compact weather panel.

Sketch Mocks

Phone screen sketch

Sketch mock 1

Phone screen sketch

Sketch mock 2

Phone screen sketch

Sketch mock 3

Phone screen sketch

Sketch mock 4

Phone screen sketch

Sketch mock 5

Phone screen sketch

Sketch mock 6

Phone screen sketch

Sketch mock 7

Phone screen sketch

Sketch mock 8

Phone screen sketch

Sketch mock 9

Phone screen sketch

Sketch mock 10

Phone screen sketch

Sketch mock 11

Phone screen sketch

Sketch mock 12

Mid-fi prototype (walkthrough)

Humanitech mid-fi video with voice-over

Deliver — iterations, hi-fi & tests

Round 1 — mid-fi testing (8 tests: 4 moderated, 4 unmoderated)

Findings: onboarding lacked clarity; wellness screen felt static; credits/QR redemption was confusing; slider interaction disliked; some map icons unclear.
Iterations simplified language, made the wellness screen dynamic, refined iconography and interactions.

Round 2 — hi-fi testing (12 tests: 6 moderated, 6 unmoderated incl. riders)

Findings: explanation of new features still needed tightening; "star" was a poor metaphor for credits; map legend ate space.
Iterations renamed Climate Credits → Credits; switched to coin-stack icon; removed persistent legend; improved copy and micro-interactions.

Hi-fi prototype

Style guide & further considerations

We sampled the Deliveroo Rider App to ensure visual fit, paired it with Australian Red Cross colours where relevant, and chose bold, distinct icons.

Further considerations

  • Platform partnerships (Uber Eats, Foodpanda) and retail partners (7-Eleven, BP).
  • Optional wearables (Fitbit/Apple Watch) for passive wellness signals.
  • Animate/expand the weather widget; deepen research into heat-related incidents.

Learnings & reflections

  • Pivot early when research access is hard; align to reachable communities.
  • Structure your tests—consistent scripts/metrics make results comparable.
  • Don't get attached; iterate on copy, icons, and interaction metaphors.
  • Facilitated sessions surfaced richer insight than unmoderated links.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Osama Mah and Ash Cheuk for collaboration, and Alastair Pryor (Humanitech) for guidance and feedback. Shout-out to mentors Jaemie (Academy Xi), Simon Woods (Data Action), and Juan Vaamonde (Cochlear).

View slide deck

Open the deck