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Hello,
I’m Dipthi Dinesh (she/her)


With a focus on UX design & research, branding and motion design, I craft solutions that blend creativity with functionality, ensuring users are always front and center!

About me

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Fresh Rescue Champions | Optimizing Food Rescue & Donation Systems


Timeline: 5 months
Role: Graphic Design Fellow
Tools:  Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Lightroom, MURAL 
Skills: Branding, Visual Design, Graphic Design, Prototyping,  User Research, Form Design, Diagram & Flowchart Development, Poster Design, Data Visualization


This initiative was part of an NSF-funded project, led by a collaborative team from Johns Hopkins University and the Maryland Institute College of Art, aiming to improve the Fresh Rescue food donation program at Albertsons stores across the Mid-Atlantic. As a Graphic Design Fellow, I contributed to the development of key visual assets that supported the communication and implementation of new food donation processes. My work included creating flowcharts, forms, and posters that helped streamline the donation workflow and make complex processes more accessible and understandable for store employees and volunteers.


Problem Statement:
How can the Fresh Rescue food donation program at Albertsons be optimized to ensure that food donations are processed more efficiently and effectively, and how can the system be communicated clearly to both internal employees and external food donation partners?



My Role:

As a Graphic Design Fellow, I was responsible for developing visual assets that aided in the understanding and execution of the Fresh Rescue program. My tasks included creating flowcharts and diagrams to represent key processes, designing forms to streamline data collection, and producing posters and presentation materials for internal and external communication. I worked closely with the research team to ensure these visual assets were aligned with the Human-Centered Design Process and supported the overall project objectives of improving food recovery and donation efficiency.


Research & Discovery (Informal UX Research):

Although my role was focused on graphic design, I worked closely with researchers and stakeholders to understand the needs of store employees and food donation partners. This allowed me to create visual tools that would directly support the program’s goals, including improving communication, simplifying workflows, and ensuring the clarity of the donation process.


Key Contributions:


Diagram & Flowchart Development:
One of my key responsibilities was creating diagrams and flowcharts to visually explain complex concepts, including the Human-Centered Design Process. These visual tools helped to simplify and clearly communicate the steps of the donation process and strategies developed throughout the project. These visuals were incorporated into the final report and used in presentations to senior management to illustrate processes and workflows.

Form Creation:
 I designed a series of forms intended to improve data collection for the Fresh Rescue program. By collaborating with the research team, I ensured that these forms met the specific needs of both Albertsons staff and donation partners. I also created different versions of the forms to accommodate varying store capacities, ensuring the program could be effectively scaled.

*please click on the arrows to navigate between the pages of each form
Poster Design:
 For the final report and communication materials, I created posters that adhered to Albertsons' branding guidelines. These posters focused on food donation procedures and general project guidelines, like community norms, and were used in stores across the Mid-Atlantic. They were also presented to senior management as part of the final project deliverables.


*please click on the arrows to navigate between the posters

Presentation Aids & Name Cards:
In preparation for the in-person meetings where the final reports were presented, I designed presentation aids and name cards to enhance the communication experience. The presentation aids visually supported key points and data, making complex information more accessible and digestible for the senior management team and other stakeholders.

*please click on the arrows to navigate between the posters


Impact & Results: 

The visual tools I created helped Albertsons' internal teams and food donation partners better understand the donation processes and workflows, ultimately leading to greater efficiency in food recovery. The forms streamlined data collection, while the posters and presentation materials enhanced communication and ensured the program's goals were clearly communicated to stakeholders across the Mid-Atlantic region. The overall result was a more effective and accessible food donation program that could be scaled across multiple stores.


Takeaways & Future Considerations:

This project reinforced the importance of clear communication and visual design in complex systems like food donation. Moving forward, I would explore the integration of digital tools to support ongoing data collection and donation tracking. Additionally, creating interactive or digital versions of the presentation aids and forms could further improve accessibility and efficiency for store staff and food partners.


Thank you for reading this case study and the final report can be viewed here.
Running on Cargo