User Interviews & Research

I talked to 14 NYU students, 7 freshmen and 7 juniors and seniors. I kept the conversations casual and just asked how they handle meals, what they do with swipes, and what’s annoying about it. The freshmen side was almost too easy. Six of the seven said they’d realized they signed up for more meal swipes than they can use. They thought they would strictly eat at NYU dining halls, but they end up eating out more than expected. One of them told me, “I’d honestly just give them away if I knew someone who needed them.” The upperclassmen were the flip side. Most of them don’t have a meal plan, and everyone said the food around campus is way too expensive. One senior told me she relies on her sorority little's meal swipes at least twice a week since food around campus can be costly.

I also asked how they’ve tried to solve this already, and the answer was they barely even tried because it was "too much effort". People post in group chats, DM friends, or beg someone from their fraternity or club to swipe them in. That only works if you already know someone with extra swipes, and nobody wants to keep asking the same person. A few people had heard about the Berkeley version and knew it got shut down, so they weren’t sure something like it could even exist at NYU. That led me to research how I could bring the concept to NYU in a way that wouldn't violate any of NYU's Licensing agreements.

One thing I wanted to figure out early was whether this would break NYU’s terms. I read through the Housing License, and it says meal plans aren’t transferable to any other person, but it doesn’t say anything about the food itself once it’s been bought. So ViolEATS never shares or transfers a meal plan, an ID card, or any dining access. A seller uses their own plan to buy a meal, then sells that meal, which is their own property, to a buyer. I built the app around that line. It’s an independent student project, it never touches the swipe, and there’s no NYU login. I also added an “Is this Allowed?” page so people can read the reasoning themselves. It’s still a grey area, since NYU’s terms don’t define when a dining hall meal becomes a student’s personal property. That’s why I kept the flow simple and kept the app out of the dining system completely.