App to Combat Food Waste Nominated for UX Design Award
Two female students from Bremerhaven have made it onto the international shortlist with their digital solution
On average, people in Germany throw away 78 kilograms of food every year. Per person! That’s far too much, thought Jette Kirmse and Merle von Forstner. They are studying Digital Media Production at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences and have developed the “zero left” app. It helps people waste less food by providing a digital fridge and smart management of expiration dates and recipes for leftovers. The students have now been nominated for the prestigious UX Design Award for their app. It is one of the most important international awards in the field of user experience design and honors outstanding user-centered digital products, services, and concepts.
Whether it’s yesterday’s roll or leftovers from a generously portioned stew: Every year, each of us throws a lot of food in the trash—an average of 78 kilograms per person, according to data from the Federal Environment Agency. To avoid unnecessary purchases and salvage food that’s still edible, Merle Freiin von Forstner and Jette Kirmse designed and developed the “zero left” app. The two are studying Digital Media Production (DMP) at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences and are using their digital app to help people reduce food waste in their daily lives. The app combines a digital fridge with smart management of expiration dates, suggests recipes based on available ingredients, and assists with meal planning. Users receive valuable tips on how to use food more consciously, save time and money, and act sustainably. “The idea arose from a problem we, as students, know all too well: The fridge is almost empty, and yet we still can’t manage to use up all the food before it goes bad,” says Merle Freiin von Forstner, explaining how the app came about.
User-Centered Design from Bremerhaven Impresses International Panel of Experts
The project was developed in the “User Experience & User Interface Design” course during the third semester. “The goal of the course is to familiarize students with the methods of user-centered design—from analyzing user needs through conception and prototyping to designing intuitive digital user interfaces,” explains Prof. Nicole Slink, who supervised the students during their project work.
Merle von Forstner and Jette Kirmse have now been nominated for the prestigious UX Design Award for their innovative and user-oriented app. It is one of the most significant international awards in the field of user experience design and recognizes outstanding user-centered digital products, services, and concepts. An international panel of experts selected the app from Bremerhaven based on criteria including its user-friendliness, level of innovation, and design quality. “We’re very excited about the nomination and, to be honest, didn’t expect it at all,” says student Jette Kirmser.
Professional Solutions to Social Issues
Professor Nicole Slink shares the design students’ joy over this tremendous success: “The nomination for the UX Design Award shows that students are already capable, as early as their third semester, of addressing socially relevant issues using professional methods of user experience and user interface design and developing solutions that stand out even on an international level.”
Vote now for the People’s Choice Award
In addition to the evaluation by the international expert jury, a People’s Choice Award will also be presented. Anyone interested can support the “zero left” project by casting their vote online. Every vote helps bring the work of the two students to the attention of a wider audience and increases their chances of winning the People’s Choice Award. Link to vote: https://ux-design-awards.com/winners/2026-2-zero-left
Studying, teaching, and conducting research with enthusiasm—that’s what Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences stands for. In more than 20 practice-oriented and innovative degree programs, the approximately 3,000 students benefit from close collaboration with the regional business community and modern teaching and learning approaches. The numerous research activities of the “University by the Sea” have already received many awards and support sustainable development in the region and beyond.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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