Macro n' Cheese

The Problem Space

Today restaurants are primarily focused on presenting dishes that are delicious, but they are often loaded with excess unwanted calories. People believe it to be difficult or near impossible to adhere to their diet or nutrition goals when ordering takeout or dining with friends at these establishments.

How might we make it easier for users to find foods that meet their nutritional goals while eating out?

My Approach

Research

My research consisted of conducting online surveys and virtual interviews with individuals in the target demographic. From the primary research I discovered:

○ Users primarily look at overall calorie contents and macro nutritional information

○ Majority of the individuals use some nutrition tracking app but find a lot of information unreliable

○ Individuals find it difficult to find nutritional breakdowns for restaurants

From there I found the major paint points.

Who is this for?

Personas

In order to hone in deeper on the target demographic I used the pain points above to create user personas.

I narrowed the target demographic to young health conscious individuals with active social and work lives.

Ideation

Competitive Analysis

From my user input I realized many of the individuals already use a mobile application to track their eating habits. I then analyzed the most common tool, MyFitness Pal.

From there I wanted to find the core features users love and its short comings. My own analysis and user interviews pointed to its largest benefit being the large database of food entries, but this feature causes users to have lower trust in the accuracy of information.

"I use MyFitnessPal and it’s good because there is countless number of entries in there but with that comes the liability and responsibility of checking and verifying the accuracy of the entries as a lot of them are inaccurate."

The analysis drived the choice to include only verified data listed by the food establishment. Other features I wanted to include were:

○ Ability to make accurate nutritional estimates from unlisted foods

○ Ability to access information easily and readily

Lo-Fi Wireframing

Visual Design

My Solution

I believe confidently that Macro n' Cheese provides a solution to individuals struggling to live a flexible dieting lifestyle. This app assists in ways other food tracking apps cannot by providing recommendations and accurate information.

Adobe XD Project Link

Quick and Reliable

Users have the ability to quickly search for meals on the go with the added benefit of inputting their desired macronutrients and caloric contents

Plenty of Options

Users are able to scan through serval restaurants and takeout locations based on food type and dietary restrictions. Individuals can feel confident in their decisions by being able to look at multiple menu items nutritional values from an array of establishments.

A Second Set of Eyes

Macro n' Cheese also includes an augmented reality lens which can provide a good estimate of ingredient contents and their nutritional values.

Reflection

This project was an excellent practical learning experience. Through completing this project I learned the importance of following the design process. I learned the value of research and talking with the target users. This project allowed me to explore design principles of mobile applications through the use of colour and a minimal aesthetic.

I am very happy with the end result of the project but there is also many areas I seek to improve in the future. Due to certain circumstances I was unable to complete in person user research. I believe with additional primary research and user testing I can vastly improve upon the core features within the app.

Reflection