SF Garden Registry

     I recently attended a talk that was all about food waste and how Robert Lee, the owner of the non-profit organization Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, sought to reduce the amount of food being thrown away in the US. The talk definitely inspired me to be more aware of how much food is going to landfills and the impact it can have on the environment. Whenever I learn about social issues like this, I wonder how I can combine my interest in media and coding to help out. I loved reading about how Amy Franceschini and David Lu were able to use their coding skills to create a digital map of the local food sources in San Francisco! I thought the most interesting part of the process was learning that they created their own language using Flash when they realized the current version of CSS would not allow them to create the site they wanted to design. The developers offered a great idea when they were reflecting on the success of their project: Create a mobile-friendly version of the site! Even in 2007 they were able to recognize the importance and use of apps. In 2018 I think it would be almost impossible to create a website without offering an app as alternative for people to use. I also believe this would have helped them a lot with engaging more people to interact with the maps on a regular basis. Listening to users is the most important thing a web designer can do to make sure the UI is as user-friendly as possible.