Plateful - Nutrition App
A nutrition app that focuses on mindful eating.
Role:
Researcher and designer
Category:
Food & Drink, Nutrition, Health & Wellness, Fitness
When:
May - June 2022
Why:
Course Project
What:
Native Mobile App (iOS)
Where:
Vancouver, Canada
Why I made this project
I drafted a nutrition, wellness, and fitness app proposal because I strongly believe in maintaining a balance between fitness and nutrition. Early in my fitness journey, I encountered only apps that promoted restrictive diets and heavy exercise, which was not in line with my personal focus and goals. I wished for apps that wouldn't promote caloric-restrictive diets and wouldn't be intimidating to use due to their large focus on fitness. Every individual has different goals, and that's where Plateful comes in. It is an app that amalgamates healthy and achievable nutrition and fitness goal-setting, without promoting a restrictive mindset. The app focuses on helping individuals learn good habits and how to maintain them.
The problem
Current fitness-focused nutrition apps solely provide calorie counting to reach an individual's health goals. In reality, this is not always the best or healthiest option for everyone as goals vary, and the individuals' abilities to reach them differ too. Calorie counting is not an accurate way to calculate nutrition and can affect mental health and body image.
The claim
The health and nutrition industry has seen constant growth. With COVID-19, taking care of one's health through proper nutrition and habits has become more critical. Accessing information and resources on health and nutrition can be difficult. Online videos and blogs offer advice but may not apply to everyone. Seeking professional dietary advice may not be accessible or convenient. Revenue within Nutrition Apps is projected to reach US$15.20bn in 2028.
MyFitnessPal
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Pushes users to become members
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Very plain UI with no distinct brand identity
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Overwhelming amount of features which is good but also intimidates the user at first glance
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No introduction and explanation of features, so the user has to figure it out themselves
Noom
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Asks for a subscription after the onboarding process, but provides a free trial option
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Expensive being almost $60/per month
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Cancelling the subscription is made to be tedious and difficult
Sworkit
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Glitches in some videos
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May not be challenging enough for users to help attain their goals
Competitive analysis
I analyzed the three most popular fitness apps – MyFitnessPal, Noom, and Sworkit in the fitness, nutrition, and wellness space. I compared the positive and negative comments online to look for patterns.
The good
Noom
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Onboarding process with a focus on habits and psychology
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Very research-driven
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Personalized plan can be made
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Gamified process that increases user engagement and learning
Sworkit
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Clean UI
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Personalized workout plans
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Customizable workout length
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Suitable for workouts at home
MyFitnessPal
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Auto-syncs daily steps into the day’s activities/progress
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Adding friends so you can motivate each other regarding fitness goals
Problems from the comments
The Not so Good
Initial research shows
Initial research shows a need in the market for a product that aids people in maintaining a healthy lifestyle as per their schedule, promotes a non-restrictive diet, and encourages a mindful and healthy way of life to help them achieve wellness without added stress.
User flow
To outline the functionality of Plateful, I created a simple and easy-to-use flow which takes users from onboarding to successfully logging items and researching the benefits of specific things to reach their goals. Through the user flow, I could visualize the user's journey from when they open the app to when they complete their task and close it.
The user flow can be viewed by clicking the link here.
Mid-fidelity wireframes
Once the user flows were mapped out, I created low-fidelity wireframes of the primary user flow. This guided my design process when creating the high-fidelity prototype and screens. The wireframe can be viewed by clicking the link here.
High-fidelity prototype
I connected my high-fidelity designs into a clickable prototype. With this clickable prototype, I can validate my design decisions with a usability test on a potential user.
The clickable prototype can be viewed by clicking the link here.
High-fidelity UI
Once the user flows were established, I began designing the main structure of the screens for Plateful. First, the colour palette and fonts were finalized.
Alignment and grid
I worked with an 8-point grid and set the margins to 24px. The space between the input fields is 8px, space between the border of the input field and the information text within is 16px. The space separating the logo from the main information on the screen and the call-to-action button is 40px. The hierarchy was established throughout the screens, following a top-to-bottom format with all the information provided to the user before a clear call-to-action button below.
A total of 45 screens were designed
The screens needed to be designed to emulate warmth and be inviting to the user. Compared to other competitor apps, which have a colder colour palette and UI, the Plateful UI needed to be alluring so users felt supported and motivated when opening the app.
Key takeaways from the survey
User survey
I conducted a quick in-person survey at my gym with individuals who are currently working on their health and fitness or would like to. I asked a total of 12 people the following question:
Personas
I created personas based on two types of users for this app:
About Jenna
Jenna is a nurse who works long and irregular hours at the local hospital. Jenna enjoys going to a pilates class and cooking healthy meals in her free time, however, she finds it stressful to think about meals after such long and exhausting hours at the hospital. Thinking about planning healthy and nutritious meals constantly adds to her demanding work schedule. Jenna is concerned about her mental health and stress levels, as she often feels overwhelmed and exhausted from work.
Age: 28 🤘🏼
Education: Holly Nursing School
Hometown: Vancouver, Canada
Goals
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Alleviate additional stress that cooking and eating well brings. When Jenna comes home at odd hours, the last thing she wants to consider is what to eat.
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Incorporating easy and simple ingredients into her mindful and healthy eating plan without restriction. The goal is to work with whats readily available, and doesn't require too much prep.
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Find easy recipes from simple ingredients. Readily available simple ingredients will help Jenna reach her goal. It is hard to find time to shop for groceries, let alone shopping for higher end groceries, which isn't easily available and at a higher price point.
Frustrations
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Too tired and stressed from work to prioritize self-care and well-being. Long and odd hours prevent her from keeping a consistent routine. Because of this, it is hard to shop, prep, and prepare meals, especially those that are time-consuming.
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An understanding that eating and cooking healthy seems to be costly and time-consuming. No immediate access to higher quality, healthy ingredients. Being healthy seems to be a luxury that she does not have.
About David
David is a newly appointed marketing manager at his workplace. He loves his work and works tirelessly at a fast-paced agency. David enjoys socializing with friends and colleagues. Because of this, he eats out often and doesn't get much time to take care of his health and fitness. He doesn't have any means to learn or incorporate healthier living habits into his lifestyle. David also hasn't set a consistent routine due to his new job being more demanding and him still acclimatizing to the new responsibilities. He wants to lead a balanced lifestyle between work and personal and improve his physical and mental well-being to ensure he is energized all day.
Goals
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Healthier and more balanced lifestyle. With the workload of this newer, more senior position, David wants to make sure he doesn't experience burnout or fatigue.
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Track progress and learn about what works best for his body. Health is not a one solution fits all, it is catered to each individual and David wants to learn what works best for him so he can be as healthy as possible.
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Discovering new hobbies or recipes that aid his health progress. David is open to trying new things and is excited to learn what recipes or activities he enjoys.
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Develop a consistent routine that helps his health journey. With consistency, results will show.
Frustrations
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Not sure where to start. There are so many different fitness opinions, and it is hard to create consistency when there is an overwhelming and intimidating amount of information online.
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David finds it hard to track what he eats when he eats out often with friends and colleagues. He could be making better eating decisions while eating out but its hard to know this information and find advice on it.
Age: 25 🤘🏼
Education: Weld Business School
Hometown: Toronto, Canada