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Designers 

 
Designers 

 
Designers 

 
Grubhub SmartPlan

Helping Students Plan Smarter, Spend Less, and Eat Better

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Designers 

 

David Mattos

Zoe Wang

Ane Saenz de Buruaga Del Castillo

Sage McDonald

SUMMARY

Grubhub SmartPlan explores how food delivery platforms can become more than just transactional ordering apps for students. Through interviews, surveys, and iterative prototyping, this project looked at how Gen Z students navigate budgeting, decision fatigue, convenience, and inconsistent eating habits. The final concept combines AI-powered meal planning, grocery integration, budgeting tools, and a real-time AI Helper that gives adaptive recommendations and savings support. The project ultimately reframes food delivery as a personalized planning system built around real student routines, behaviors, and needs.

challenge 

Through interviews, surveys, and research, we identified that students are not struggling with access to food, but with the mental, financial, and logistical stress surrounding food decisions. Many students rely on delivery because it is the easiest option within demanding schedules, limited budgets, and inconsistent routines. We also found that existing food systems are fragmented across multiple platforms, making planning difficult. This revealed an opportunity for Grubhub to move beyond transactional ordering and become a proactive support system centered around planning, budgeting, and behavioral support.

Outcome

The project ultimately became Grubhub SmartPlan, an AI-powered food planning and support system designed around real student behaviors and routines. The final concept combines personalized meal planning, grocery integration, budgeting tools, passive learning, and a real-time AI Helper that offers adaptive recommendations and savings support. By reducing decision fatigue and helping students balance convenience, cost, and time, the system addresses the gap between food access and food management while repositioning Grubhub as a proactive daily-use platform rather than just a delivery service.

MEET THE Designers:
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David Mattos

Zoe Wang

Ane Saenz de Buruaga Del Castillo

Sage McDonald

linkedin.com/in/david-mattos-25366a215
linkedin.com/in/ane-saenz-de-buruaga/
@dvidmattosphotos
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