Hot Meal Challenge
Engineering Virality to Tackle Food Poverty in the UK
Overview
Role: Founder & Head of Product
Duration: January 2023 – December 2024
Scope: From concept to App Store
Charity Partner: Sufra
Impact: We raised █ British Pounds, providing meals for ██ people
The Challenge: Overwhelmed Food Banks and the Overlooked Crisis of Loneliness
In 2023, the UK faced its most severe food crisis in decades, with food inflation hitting a 40-year high of 19%. Food banks and charities were overwhelmed by unprecedented demand, leading to:
A widening gap between food needs and available support
Increasing social isolation from skipping meals among affected families
Limited public awareness of the social consequences of hunger
The Solution: Turning Giving into a Self-Reinforcing Feedback Loop
My research indicated that tackling food poverty required addressing both the immediate need for food and the public's lack of awareness about loneliness. My hypothesis: social proof drives stronger giving behavior than pure altruism.
The Hot Meal Challenge was born out of this hypothesis: a donation app based on a positive feedback loop, where every new donor seeds a new donor, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of generosity and awareness.
The goal was to replicate growth mechanics seen in platforms like Snapchat and Clubhouse, including friend-finder systems, invite flows, and sharing flows to raise donations for hot meals.
Research: Defining the problem to identify the target donor demographic
I conducted interviews with food bank volunteers, donors, and recipients, uncovering three key insights:
Overwhelmed Food Banks: Demand exceeded supply, failure to scale
Awareness Gap: Many were disconnected from the issue and its solutions
Social Isolation: Food poverty was as much about loneliness as hunger
Why University Students Were Chosen as the Target Group
University students emerged as the ideal demographic for the campaign for three reasons:
Peer Influence and Social Proof: Students value not only doing good but also being seen doing good
Post-Pandemic Cultural Zeitgeist: Social giving aligns with their desire for connection and shared purpose
Tight-Knit Communities and High Geographic Density: University campuses provide uniquely strong, interconnected social networks
Designing the Solution: Balancing social network design with user-centric principles
The main design exercise was to balance the needs of the network (every new donor needs to seed 3 new donors) with the individual (personal satisfaction and altruism.)
Designing the Core Engagement Loop
The foundation of the Hot Meal Challenge was a viral engagement loop inspired by social network dynamics. Every donation triggered a cycle where users nominated three friends, creating a ripple effect of generosity.
This core loop turned donations into a shared, repeatable social experience that scaled virally across universities.
Designing a High-Activation Onboarding Donation Flow
The onboarding process started with a university selection screen displaying real-time membership counts, leveraging peer influence as a motivator. By making university selection the first step, I tapped into pre-existing social identities and connections.
Real-time adoption metrics created a sense of urgency and social proof, with users expressing pride in joining their university’s collective effort
This design established a strong connection with users, motivating them to engage from the outset.
Designing a High-Empathy Donation flow
A delightful 'Thank You' screen was designed to reward student donors for their contributions:
Timeline: Explaining the timeline of the hot meal delivery was key to activating student nominations in the next step
Designing a Social Donation System
To sustain participation, I built features that emphasized recognition and competition:
Shareable Donation Badges: Personalized awards celebrated user contributions and encouraged sharing on Instagram Stories, significantly increasing visibility
Donation Leaderboards: Highlighted meal counts per donor and per university, fostering friendly competition and inspiring repeat donations
These features transformed charitable giving into a dynamic, communal experience, reinforcing both individual impact and collective achievement.
Crafting a Retentive Push Notification Strategy
Retention was key to sustaining momentum. I crafted a push notification strategy that combined:
Timely reminders of leaderboard standings to nudge competition
Celebratory updates showcasing milestones achieved, both individually and collectively
Personalized nudges encouraging users to nominate additional friends
This approach kept users engaged, with retention rates improving by 40% compared to benchmarks, ensuring continued participation and advocacy.
Challenges & Breakthroughs
Challenge: Expanding beyond early donors seeded via university student ambassadors.
Solution: Adding the 24 hour real-time countdown modal on the homepage added urgency, increasing successful nomination rates by 33%.
Challenge: Big student drop off during onboarding on contact nomination screen
Solution: Ranking contacts by number of mutual friends, profile picture in contact and emoji in contact name, which served as proxies for social proximity to emulate friend group clusters.
Outcomes: Transforming Charity into a Movement
Viral Coefficient (K>1.0): Each student donor recruited 3 others on average, driving exponential growth
Nationwide Reach: Expanded from London universities to institutions across the UK
Social Impact: We fundraised █ British Pounds, feeding ██ hungry people
Campaign Launch: Lord Woolley delivered the keynote address for the Hot Meal Challenge launch
Lessons Learned: Building for the Collective Good
By reframing charitable giving as a shared experience, we didn’t just solve a problem; we built a movement. The Hot Meal Challenge demonstrates the transformative potential of design when aligned with human connection and purpose.
Key Insights
Social Proof: Peer dynamics are more powerful motivators than pure altruism
Network Effects: Charitable giving can be engineered through careful UX design
Community Density: University networks provide ideal conditions for viral growth
