BiteCHECK
A beginner friendly nutri-fit mobile app
Role
UX Designer & Researcher
Time
8 Weeks part-time
Tools
Figma
How Might We motivate newcomer South Asian youths to prioritize their time in cooking and meal prepping healthy home cooked meals, so that they don’t face unfavorable health consequences growing older?
BiteCheck is a nutrition tracker that promotes young adults to cook and eat healthy.
Majority of nutri-fit apps have features such as calorie counting which may be too advanced for someone who has never cooked before or eats pizza every other day.
BiteCheck is made for beginners! It is for those who are not ready to commit to being “healthy”. It is for those who struggle with the basics, such as cooking in itself.
The Problem
Each year an increasing number of young international students immigrate to North America for higher education.
These students face challenges in cooking and eating healthy due to their youth and inexperience in self-care.
South Asian descent living in Canada are 3-to-6 times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes, compared to the general population!
Studies show - Out of 140 Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi students:
78% were obese or overweight
44% had poor diets
70% had abdominal obesity
27% had high cholestrol
Research Goal
First I wanted to understand why immigrant South Asian young adults made poor eating choices. Then I wanted to figure out how to motivate them to do otherwise.
Hypothesis:
I believe the reason immigrated South Asian young adults choose to consume more unhealthy food than healthy is because they are intimidated by the meal prep and cooking process, since from childhood cooking and household chores were not encouraged and doing so was frowned upon.
I will know I am right when 3 out of 5 of my interviewee respondents describe their experience in meal prepping as “intimidating” or “not knowing where to get started”.
Interview Participant Criteria
South Asian Immigrants between the ages of 18 to 30, who is currently or recently were an international student, and living without any parental guardians.
Age: 24 | Indian
Age: 29 | Bangladeshi
Age: 27 | Bangladeshi
Age: 26 | Indian
Age: 22 | Pakistani
Affinity Mapping
Interview Themes & Insights
Social Motivation
They find it boring to cook alone but friends are a motivation to cook.
Lack of Time
They don’t want to prioritize much time towards cooking chores.
The Norm
They are more likely to cook when it is considered a social norm.
Read about Monjolika's story…
Persona
This persona represents my target users by having common pain points, motivations, and behvaviours.
Experience Mapping: Current State
This is the current mapping of my persona’s journey. Let’s see how Monjolika currently navigates her decision making process when she is hungry. This will help me as a designer to empathize with my persona and identify the key challenges in their current journey.
Possible Solutions
Observation of other’s progress
Tailored Recipe Suggestions
Socially Rewarding Healthy Behaviour
Tracking Dietary Habits
User Stories & Epics
Upon noting my user stories, two distinct epics emerged: Social Motivation & Tracking Dietary Habits
Social Motivation
I want to...
Compare my veggies, meat, and carbs intake with my friends and people of my age
Challenge my friends in a diet plan
Type messages to my friends regarding the experience in a challenge
So that...
I am aware of how healthy of unhealthy my eating habits are compared to my friends and people of my age
I feel motivated to maintain healthy eating habits
I feel included in a shared social experience
Tracking Dietary Habits
I want to...
Input weather my meal is cooked or a take out
Upload pictures of what I am eating at the moment
View the food I am eating per day and week
Denote my mood before I choose to eat a meal
So that...
I am aware of my progress in cooking habits
It is fast and easy to record my food intakes
I can visualize how healthy or unhealthy my eating choices are
I can correlate if my eating habits are influenced by my emotions
Design Inspirations
My top inspiration sources were:
Instagram, See What You Eat, and Apple watch
Social Medias like Instagram and snapchat are quite popular with the demographic, for which it provides the social design inspiration to the app.
See What You Eat provides the visual reality check of one's dietary habits.
Apple watch design combines the competition and social nature to the app which can be a great motivation boost.
Sketches
Landing Screen
Users can view their weekly food logs here.
Camera Screen
Tracking Screen
Top Circle - User
Middle Circle - User’s friends
Bottom Circle - National Average
Create New Challenge Screen
Users can select or type a challenge type, select or input duration of challenge, and select which friends to challenge.
Challenge Screen
Users can select a challenge type to view the challenge stats.
Stats Screen
The circle represents like a race track where users can view their friends position in the race of the challenge in relative to themselves and other friends. Users can also message their friends in the challenge below.
Share Screen
Users can choose to share their challenge stats with their other friends.
Usability Testing
Two rounds of user tastings were done with 10 different users. The main feedback that was received were:
Brand Discovery
This app is more trendy than classy
This app is more quick than comprehensive
This app is more colourful than monotone
This app is more visual than informative
This app is more vibrant than muted
biteCHECK
You use biteCHECK? You just passed our Vibe Check :)
The app name 'biteCHECK' rhymes with "vibe check" which sounds trendy and in-sync with internet lingos young millennials and older Gen-Z’s use. Also, the app’s goal is to make the users aware of what they are eating. The app helps users "check" what they "bite".
Typographic Inspiration
Design Systems
Accessibility
Normal Text
WCAG AA
WCAG AAA
Graphic & UI
WCAG AA
Large Text
WCAG AA
WCAG AAA
Ratio
11.74:1
#161616
#13E8DE
Normal Text
WCAG AA
WCAG AAA
Graphic & UI
WCAG AA
Large Text
WCAG AA
WCAG AAA
Ratio
12.27:1
#1D1D1D
#CEE913
Normal Text
WCAG AA
WCAG AAA
Graphic & UI
WCAG AA
Large Text
WCAG AA
WCAG AAA
Ratio
3.45:1
#161616
#FFFFFF
Normal Text
WCAG AA
WCAG AAA
Graphic & UI
WCAG AA
Large Text
WCAG AA
WCAG AAA
Ratio
8.31:1
#1D1D1D
#B6B6B6
Normal Text
WCAG AA
WCAG AAA
Graphic & UI
WCAG AA
Large Text
WCAG AA
WCAG AAA
Ratio
12.82:1
#161616
#D9D9D9
Normal Text
WCAG AA
WCAG AAA
Graphic & UI
WCAG AA
Large Text
WCAG AA
WCAG AAA
Ratio
8.55:1
#373634
#D9D9D9
Responsive Marketing Website
This marketing website spreads the word out on what biteCHECK s and why users should use it.
Same functions, Different format
Just like apple’s fitness app, you can view biteCHECK on your apple watch!
Key Takeaway
Aiming to be UI creative while maintaining the UX process was definitely a challenge. The biggest challenge I have encountered throughout the process is dulling the voices of my assumptions and really empathizing with my persona. I have learn to trust my persona and let my users lead the way to the solutions.
Going Forward...
I will find a sustainable way to view the nutritional data for all of the user’s friends, instead of just the top 5.
I will expand on my IOS watch format for all 3 flows.
Exploring any negative impact from comparing nutritional data with your peers, such as effects on eating disorders, and how the app can prevent that from happening.
Things to ponder about...
How does the product change or create new ways for people to interact?
How might a community change if 80% of the residents used this poduct?
In what scenarios can the product cause harm or endanger people?