Research
User Survey
I conducted a survey to gather insights into users' experiences with dieting, calorie counting, and intuitive eating. In total, I received 26 responses, with 16 being highly relevant and useful.
Finding 1: Desire for Non-Numbered Food Journaling
🧐 Many respondents expressed a history of using calorie-counting apps, leading to an unhealthy obsession with numbers. They desire a tool that allows food journaling without focusing on calories or weight management, highlighting the need for a more positive feedback system in their food journey.
Finding 2: Current App Frustration
🧐 Over 80% of respondents currently use similar food tracking apps. However, they expressed frustration with features that focus on calorie counting and weight tracking, which often causes anxiety and doesn’t align with their goals. This reveals a gap in the market that GrowUp aims to fill by offering a safe, numberless environment for food journaling.
Finding 3: Social Pressures
🧐 Some respondents mentioned facing stress and anxiety due to body shaming from social media and the clothing industry, emphasizing a need for a supportive tool that helps alleviate body image concerns.
Finding 4: Positive Features
🧐 Key words that emerged from the feedback included "App," "Feeling," "Phone," "Eating," and "Mood," indicating that users are looking for an app focused on emotions and a holistic eating experience rather than just tracking food intake.
Finding 5: Interest in Intuitive Eating
🧐 Respondents hope to use such a tool to develop a healthier relationship with food, track their progress, and find emotional comfort.
Based on the survey, I found that my target users need a food journaling tool that focuses on emotions and intuitive eating rather than calorie counting. They are frustrated with apps that emphasize numbers, which lead to anxiety and unhealthy habits. There is a need for a supportive, numberless platform that helps users track their progress, manage body image concerns, and develop a healthier relationship with food.
💡 Key insights
Project Overview
Objective
To empower individuals to break free from diet culture and reduce eating-related anxiety by promoting intuitive eating habits. GrowUp aims to provide users with the tools and support they need to listen to their body's natural hunger and thirst cues, fostering a healthier relationship with food and their body.
Through features such as mood and body feeling records, progress tracking, eating and hydrating reminders, mindful eating exercises, and a supportive community, GrowUp aims to create a comprehensive platform that aids in psychological and emotional healing from the impacts of dieting and calorie counting.
Solution
UX/UI Designer, Researcher, Copy Writer
My role
14 weeks
Jun - Sep 2024
Duration
Miro, Figma, Adobe Creative Suite
Tools
A project to help people break free from diet culture by providing a supportive, numberless space for intuitive eating. The app focuses on building a healthier relationship with food.
UX/UI Case Study
Persona
Brain Storming
Many of my users are looking to break free from diet culture and heal from their obsession with calorie counting, seeking relief from the frustration associated with calories and body weight. However, most current apps focus primarily on weight control and calorie tracking. They need a product that supports their journey toward healing from diet culture.
Provide user surveys during profile creation to fully understand their needs.
💡
Based on users' profiles, deliver personalized daily educational content.
💡
Offer educational content in various formats, including text, video, and meditation exercises.
💡
“How might we provide users with the knowledge to achieve long-term progress in intuitive eating?”
01.
Provide a daily post-meal reflection section to help users better understand their feelings.
💡
Use a conversational approach to allow users to input their feelings and providing feedback for each input.
💡
Link the educational content to reflection results; offer more meditation exercises to help users feel better.
💡
“How might we help users understand their emotions related to calorie counting and help them feel better?”
02.
Use a plant-like avatar to help users visualize and track their progress in a stress-free way.
💡
Provide daily insights to help users better understand their progress.
💡
Incorporate checklists and weekly/monthly reports to motivate users to continue logging and practicing.
💡
“How might we use a stress-free approach to help users track their progress and stay motivated in their practice?”
03.
Sketch
View full image ->
Solution
Information Architecture
Mid-fi Design
Growth Mindset, Balanced, Calm, Compassion
Daily Insights & Advice
today
Library
Community
Account
Good Morning,
Ellie
M
Quick Mood Log
Quick Feeling Log
Quick Energy Log
T
F
S
S
T
W
Hunger Cues Reflection
Understanding Signals, Nurturing Intuition, Promoting Satiety Awareness
Food Reflection
Exploring Self-Awareness, Balance, Insight, Acceptance
today
Library
Community
Account
Explore
Pathways to Nourishment
Explore eating habits that nurture your body and mind.
5 days - 14 sessions
4-7 min per day
Day1
Day2
What is Mindful Eating?
Behavioral Video
2 min
How Intuitive Eating Can Transform Your Life
Behavioral Video
1 min
You Are Not Alone: Community Support
Behavioral Video
1 min
Understanding Your Hunger Cues
Behavioral Video
1 min
Surprise Insight: Reflect on Your Meal
Behavioral Journal
1 min
Notice How Food Affects Your Mood
Behavioral Journal
1 min
Hi there! Ready to reflect on your last meal? 📝
Yes, let's do it
Back to Home
How full do you feel on a scale from 1 to 10? 📊
Continue
Enter a number
How were you feeling after eating? 😊🙁
Continue
terrible
bad
okay
good
awesome
What did you have for your last meal? 🍽️
Continue
Search for a food
How satisfied do you feel with the meal you had on a scale from 1 to 10? 😋
Continue
EnIter a number
Would you choose to eat something different next time or stick with the same choices? 🤔
Continue
Enter your thoughts here
Thank you for sharing your meal experience with me! Remember, 🥰every meal is a chance to nourish and listen to your body. See you next time!
Finish for Suggestion
Usability Test
Tester Tasks
You have just finished your pepperoni pizza, you feel full and a bit regret as you worry you may gain weight. Complete your eating reflection.
Key consideration:
Did you feel the recoding is smooth?
Did you feel pressured during the recording?
Did you feel your regret has been released?
Before
After
The main function is hard to find
Test Findings
Finding 1:
“In homepage, the after-meal reflection section is very difficult to find.”
Solution:
Make this section clearer and enhance it with more visuals and illustrations.
Finding 2:
“It’s hard to fill the number of scales for my fulless.”
Solution:
Using more illustrations and descriptions to indicate the fullness level, as inputting numbers can be confusing and vague.
Finding 3:
“People with diet trauma often feel more specific emotions like guilt and regret, rather than simply being sad.
Solution:
Simplified the options and provided more specific scenarios.
Before
After
How full do you feel on a scale from 1 to 10? 📊
Continue
Enter a number
Hard to find the right number
Key Takeaways:
Use of Illustrations and Descriptions: Inputs based on numbers to represent fullness levels could be confusing. I can them with illustrations and detailed descriptions will make the interface more intuitive.
💡
Conversational Reflection Flow: Instead of saving suggestions for the last step, I can provide users instant feedback after each user input makes the reflection process more conversational and engaging.
💡
Provide Emotional Scenarios: The initial feelings provided were too general. Simplifying the choices and offering more specific scenarios, better to address emotions like guilt and regret.
💡
Next Steps
Conduct detailed user surveys to ensure GrowUp addresses real user needs and stays on the right track.
User-Centered Design
Maintain a consistent visual style across all elements to avoid user confusion and enhance the user experience.
Visual Consistency
Streamline the logging flow so users don’t need to take extra steps, making the process smooth and intuitive.
Simplified User Flow
Use uplifting and supportive language to help sensitive users, especially those with diet trauma, feel encouraged and understood.
Motivating Copy
See Other Works
Design Challenge:
CodeQuest is an app designed to keep online students motivated and engaged in learning web development through fun challenges, rewards, and community support.
April, 2024
Ellie
Let’s connect!
