The purpose for this project was to explore and address the problems that new vegetarians (including vegans) face when transitioning to their new diet. Specifically, we investigated nutritional and social problem spaces for new vegetarians.
Our proposed solution is a nutrition tracking application that allows users to quickly log daily meals and view nutritional data. User data is stored in a gamified manner, promoting daily use.
Literature revealed that when appropriately planned, vegetarian and vegan diets are nutritionally adequate and can provide health benefits. However, several studies suggests that many vegetarians do not receive adequate levels of nutrition. Additionally, during this adaptation period, individuals often turn to outside sources for information regarding diet, nutrition, and food selection.
(Melina et al., 2016; Craig, 2010; Cramer et al., 2017; Leitzmann, 2014).
Because of the importance of a nutritional education for our target user, we conducted competitive task analyses of existing solutions.
We used a survey to gain an understanding of user habits in nutrition/meal tracking, shopping, cooking, and communication regarding diet. These responses allowed us to form more detailed interview questions.
We conducted these interviews with 5 survey respondents. Interviews allowed us to ask follow up questions and asses user sentiment regarding social and nutritional needs.
Using data collected through the survey and interviews, we synthesized an Affinity Model. This Affinity Model allowed us to visualize participant data and construct higher level themes in direct relation to such data.
The major themes that surfaced during this process, displayed on green stickie notes, include:
- Not all vegetarians are proactive in nutritional needs”
- Maintaining awareness/staying proactive” (many vegetarians are aware, educated, and proactive)
- Access to information is valuable”
- Community is important”
- Many external factors play a role in vegetarian diet”
Based on the affinity model, we generated the following insights
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User F1V notes it is "tricky" to be informed of non-vegan ingredients in a meal when dining out
“Some catered events don’t provide vegan options, or they run out quickly” --- User M2V
“I feel embarrassed sometimes to talk with others about my diet choice” --- User F1V
“I hate going out to eat because sometimes my only option is a salad, and my friend can have a full meal” --- User F4LOV
“I tried to make a plan and document my meals, but I never followed along” --- User NBV
“I tracked my breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks” --- User F1V
“I used to track my meals every day when I had an eating disorder in the past” --- User M2V
“I don’t look at the Nutrition tab often” --- User F1V
Based on our collected research data, we created personas that are an amalgamation of identified patterns that represent our target users. We also made empathy maps to correspond with each persona, allowing us to articulate the actions, thoughts, feelings, and goals of a user within specific contexts. To further highlight the engagement between a user and a specific context, we created journey maps displaying end-to-end experiences while also indicating user actions, pains, and emotions.
The following are images of low fidelity wireframe made in Figma. Our low fidelity prototypes acted as a tool to quickly outline our designs and communicate the ideas to our stakeholders for feedback prior to detailed prototyping.
The group then developed high fidelity prototypes in figma, with four separate user interaction flows. provides sufficient notifications, gives access to all relevant information in one place, and promotes communication between employees.
We conducted cognitive walkthroughs with expert reviewers in order to assess the learnability of our design solution from the perspective of a new user. We hoped to identify elements of our interface, whether visual or functional, that could be challenging for users to understand.User Scenario introduced14 tasks with 4 follow up questions
Will the user realistically be trying to do this action?
Is the control for the action visible?
Is there a strong link between the control and the action?
Is the feedback appropriate?
Reflection 1 : Gaining Confidence
Overall this was a great learning experience in time management and prioritization, as we were conducting both this project as well as the Home Depot project in parallel. Having taken on two large end-to-end projects at once, I feel more confident in my future career
Reflection 2 : Be flexible, but stick to your guns!
This project also helped me learn to balance when to be flexible, because there may be times when superiors are not willing to align on an idea, but also when to throw all efforts into being heard. At the beginning of this project, for example, my group had an entirely different topic in mind, however, when discussing it with the professor, he could not see the same potential in it as we did. Thus, the group decided to pivot ideas and have a quick ideation session for new topics. When we came back to present our subsequent idea to the professor, we knew that we had to advocate and support the reasoning and purpose behind the topic in order for it to be accepted.