STORY PREVIEW

We interviewed our school classmates and canteen vendors and identifed these challenges/problems: (1) The canteen vendors found it difficult to hear the students' order as they speak behind their masks especially when the canteen gets noisy. Hence, wrong orders are served which holds up the queue. (2) Many muslim students are not aware of halal food options in non-muslim stall. Some students mistakenly buy food that are too spicy for their liking. This leads to food wastage. (3) The current food price lists are not placed at a inconvenient location and often go unseen. (4) Students are often on their phones while waiting in the queue. Hence, they may not pay attention when its their turn to move up and order. (5) One of the canteen vendors often has a short queue with a few patrons only. We suspect that this might also reduce her profit margin.

The main challenge that we have chosen to work on was a combination of problems 1 to 3. We believe that if we were to re-design the food price list with more information (e.g. halal-certified; spicyness level) and change the current location, students and staff can make a more informed decision of their food, and be able to point at a certain dish to make their order, thereby streamlining the ordering process.

The people who were affected by the problem are the canteen vendors and the patrons. The canteen vendors shared that some students may express their frustration towards the canteen vendors if the orders were to be incorrect. This will also hold back the line affecting the others in the queue.

The solutions that our group came up with are: (1) Redesigning the menu for each stall, including photographs of each dish for greater clarity (the current food price list contain names and cost only), and symbols at the side to indicate halal-certified / spiciness level / chef's recommendation) (2) Decorating the stalls which especially did not have much business, such as putting fairy lights around the food cabinet to attract more attention (3) Having stickers on the floor and posters in the canteen to encourage students to put away their phone as they get closer to the stall and to promote respect and graciousness towards our canteen vendors.

We decided to redesign the menus to make it more informative, and this would also solve the problem about having wrong food orders as students can just point at the dish in the picture to communicate seamlessly with our canteen vendors. After speaking to the canteen vendors which usually had a shorter queue, we understood that it would be inconvenient for her to move the food cabinet on a daily basis when cleaning up or setting up the stall if there were fairy lights hung around it. Hence, we decided to put this idea aside. After seeking our teachers' advice, we have decided to focus the project on getting to know the canteen vendors so that we can create personalized menu for each canteen vendors for this year. We will design the floor stickers and posters to promote graciousness next time.

We came together as a group to discuss our observations and experiences at the school canteen. We then interviewed three of the eight canteen vendors to understand their concerns and challenges and ascertain our preliminary ideas. After consolidating our findings, we decided on the angle that our project would take. We split up into 4 teams to focus on two canteen stalls each. We met up with the canteen vendors share our idea of creating a food menu for each stall and took photographs of some of their dishes. Thankfully, they were all agreeable and excited. Some of our friends purposely ate from the same stall for a few days and tried different dishes so that we could take more photographs. We designed the menus on a collaborative digital platform which we shared with the canteen vendors for their feedback and approval. Lastly, we printed the menu and sticked them at more visible and accessible locations (e.g. counter top).

We put up the menus at each canteen stall. The staff were very appreciative of our effort and for injecting some colors into the canteen. It has only been a few days since the menus were up. We plan to speak to the canteen vendors in a few weeks to assess the full impact of our project.

1400

They were grateful for the changes to the menu and the more appealing design. Most vendors mentioned that it would be a great help to them and reduce the miscommunication they have with students from time to time.

(1) One challenge we faced was communication. Some canteen vendors were not fluent in English and preferred speaking in Mandarin and Malay. This was challenging for some of us as we were not very proficient to obtain information from them. However, we persevered, and tried our best to converse in our mother tongue and simple english. (2) Another challenge was also that only some of us had prior experience working on the Canva platform to design the menus. Our teammates readily helped one another to work on and improve the menu design. (3) It was challenging to find suitable timeslots to interview the canteen vendors. Whenever we were available (i.e. during recess and after school), the canteen vendors were busy at work attending to our school mates. Hence, we had to find time during morning assembly period. Though the vendors were busy preparing for the first recess, they graciously made time for us to speak to them. (4) After we completed our first draft for the menu, we found out that there was a revision of prices for all food items. Hence, we had to speak to the canteen vendors again to confirm the pricelist. We also recognised that the prices may change in the near future. Hence, we decide to reduce the amount of colours on the food menus to reduce excessive use of printer inks.

MORE THAN 30 DAYS

Responsible consumption and production

We feel that our project aligns with these goals: a) Goal 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production. With less miscommunication between canteen vendors and students, less wrong food orders will be served which will lead to less food wastage. b) Goal 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. With the redesigned menus, we hope to create a more vibrant school environment (in particular the canteen) and encourage students to have greater respect for the school canteen vendors as well.

We presented our project experience and reflections with some student leaders from secondary 2 classes on 31 August. The student leaders were supportive of our project and shared that it was indeed a good initiative for the school. We will also share our project with our school in late October.

More than 100

The pricing on the menu may change from time to time given that there is inflation. We will need to find a more sustainable way to ensure the prices on the redesigned menus can be changed by the school or canteen vendors without having to reprint. We will also need to share with the entire school body about this revised and improved menus so that they will all be put to good use to reach the intended outcomes of our project. We will also look into creating poster and floor stickers to serve as cue and reminders for students in the queue to put away their phones as the approach the front of the line. This will promote a culture of kindness and graciousness.