HealthyEats
HealthyEats is a mobile application designed to help users track their vegetable and fruit intake, promoting healthier eating habits. The app provides an intuitive and user-friendly platform for logging daily food intake, accessing educational resources, and monitoring progress towards dietary goals.
Role
Concept Design
Usability Testing
Product Direction
Design System
UI/UX Design
Type
USYD Coursework
(Groupwork)
Tools used
Figma
Miro
Canva
Balsamiq Wireframes
Design Challenge
The primary challenge was to create an application that encourages users to monitor and improve their diet by tracking their intake of vegetables and fruits. The app needed to be simple, engaging, and informative to ensure users consistently use it despite busy schedules and potential lack of motivation.
Solution
HealthyEats offers a range of features including a daily logging system, educational resources on serving sizes, and progress-tracking tools. The app allows users to log their daily intake, correct any mistakes in their logs, and access detailed information about the nutritional value of different foods. Additionally, users can set dietary goals and track their progress over time.
Design Process
Discover
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Conducted user research to identify the challenges users face in maintaining a healthy diet and tracking their food intake.
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Engaged with potential users to understand their needs, preferences, and motivations for using a dietary tracking app.
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Analyzed existing food logging apps to identify best practices and areas for improvement.
Define
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Defined user personas and created user journey maps to outline the ideal user experience.
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Established key features and functionalities based on user needs and feedback.
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Set clear 5 user Goals and 10 user Tasks to ensure the app would be easy to use, informative, and motivating.
I want to start eating healthier, but I just don't know how to do that.
Emily
Occupation: College student
Age: 20
Goal: Wants to improve her eating habits and have a healthier diet despite being lazy and having a busy schedule with schoolwork
Needs:
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Instructions & tutorials on how to plan a healthier diet
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Suggestions on healthy quick meals
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Information about healthy delivery meals
Environment: Emily is often consumed by schoolwork and lacks the time and motivation to cook nutritious meals for herself. Emily frequently orders takeout or delivery meals that are high in calories and low in nutritional value, which makes her unhealthy. She wants to improve her eating habits and incorporate more vegetables into her diet but feels overwhelmed and unsure of where to start.
Develop
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Created low-fidelity prototypes and iterated based on user feedback.
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Developed high-fidelity prototypes incorporating features such as daily logging, educational resources, and progress tracking.
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Conducted usability testing to identify and address any issues in the design or improve the design.
Think-Aloud
The think-aloud method was used to gain insights into users' thought processes as they interacted with the app. Participants were asked to verbalize their thoughts while performing tasks such as logging their food intake and accessing educational resources. It provided valuable feedback on the app's usability, highlighting areas that were intuitive and those that needed improvement.
Cognitive Walkthrough
A cognitive walkthrough was conducted to evaluate the app's usability from the perspective of new users. The process involved walking through key tasks such as logging food intake, correcting errors, and setting dietary goals. This method helped identify potential usability issues and informed design decisions to improve the user experience.
Deliver
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Finalized the app design and implemented all features.
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Launched the app and monitored user feedback to make continuous improvements.
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Ensured the app was accessible and met the needs of diverse user groups.
Key Features
Daily Logging: Users can easily log their daily intake of vegetables and fruits. The app provides an intuitive interface for logging, with options to correct any mistakes.
Educational Resources: The app includes a comprehensive e-textbook on serving sizes and nutritional information, helping users make informed dietary choices.
Progress Tracking: Users can set dietary goals and track their progress over time. The app provides detailed visualizations of intake trends and goal achievements.
Interactive Tools: Features such as serving size calculators and personalized recommendations help users stay on track with their dietary goals.
User Support: The app offers guidance and tutorials to help users navigate the features and make the most of the app.
Final Design
Reflection
Working on the HealthyEats project has been an enlightening experience that highlights the importance of user-centred design. The project taught me how to create solutions that are both practical and engaging, ensuring that users can easily integrate them into their daily lives. I learnt to use a variety of usability engineering methods such as Think-Aloud, Cognitive walkthrough, and user feedback highlighted the value of design simplicity and clarity and reinforced the need for continuous iteration and improvement. This project strengthened my skills in mobile app design and user experience and demonstrated the impact of thoughtful design in promoting healthy lifestyles.