UX/UI Case Study
AI-Driven Diet planner
This study demonstrates how the design thinking methodology has been applied to explore the ways in which Artificial Intelligence can solve various problems within the field of nutrition.
Project duration
Tools used
- Patients are often not prepared to change their eating habits, ultimately hindering their progress, increasing skepticism and losing faith in their health journey.
- Patients have often found it difficult to stick to long-term changes, which can result in a high loss of motivation and willingness to report dietary intakes.
- Patients, are given very few diet plans and meal options, as nutritionists may not have the time to provide patients extensive, personalised diet plans, nor to share additional information.
- Many nutrition centers have not yet upgraded to digital methods of offering services, thus, when consulting a specialist, people are likely to be overloaded with paper-based guidelines or general information which they do not fully understand and can easily be lost.
- Current methods of measuring dietary intakes are highly time-consuming and challenging, as well as error prone and subjective, leading to nutritionists having difficulties when deciding which method is most suitable.
Offer people and health clinics an application which would help provide accurate, personalised nutritional advice with the use of AI. Once patients’ blood tests are analyised in the lab, AI will generate various diet plans, suggest aliments to include in the users’ diets, provide information about the importance of each aliment and mineral, track progress and generate timeframes.
Benefits to the customers
- no longer need to worry about travel distance
- progress tracking
- easier to access information
- more diet variety
- easier to maintain a health schedule
- increased motivation
Benefits to the sector
- less paperwork
- time management efficiency
- increased treatment accuracy
- more convenience
- increased popularity of nutritional clinics and other related brands
- increased popularity of supplement providers
Three main categories of nutrition content consumers:
- atheletes
- regular people who are health-conscious
- people who would attempt to live healthily if given motivation
Dietitian patients demographics:
- older patients
- more females than males
- people that are overweight or underweight
- people with other health problems
A comprehensive competitor analysis was conducted in order to assess this project’s competitors’ strengths and weaknesses and identify a gap in the current market.
Additionally, using a competitor analysis comparison table, contenders have been analysed in terms of product quality, reputation, pricing, position on globe and user reviews.
Following the competitor analysis and considering user feedback, it was concluded the main issues are:
- not enough information provided
- lack of content & features
- overall poor UX
Gwen Fernsby
A lady with various food intolerances, frustrated with her diet plans.
Goals
- More personalised diet plans
- Detailed test results
Needs
- Learn new recipes
- An easier way of managing her test results
Pains
- Feeling limited in her options
- Feeling disorganised
Alexandra Loughty
A stressed and unmotivated artist struggling to maintain her weight.
Goals
- Lose weight
- Reduce sugar cravings
Needs
- Straightforward instructions
- Motivation
Pains
- Lack of motivation
- Picky with food
Elias Dankworth
A skinny guy with no nutritional background attempting to build muscle to no avail.
Goals
- Build muscle
- Manage exhaustion
Needs
- Learn about nutrition
- Maintain a schedule
Pains
- Lack of knowledge
- Feeling exhausted
Gwen needs to find a more organised way of
viewing her dietitian’s advice and test results so that she manage her health more easily.
Alexandra needs to be able to choose her
meals so that she can eat the foods she
enjoys and stay motivated.
Elias needs a way to understand how nutrition
influences his progress so that he can improve
his workouts and physical energy.
Help Gwen keep track of her test results and improve their quality?
- Risks associated with each nutritional deficiency
- Before and after chart comparison
- Health history
- Progress tracking
- Test result charts and diagrams
Motivate Alexandra to maintain a
schedule?
- Before and after chart comparison
- Reminders
- Daily tracker
- Progress tracker
- Estimated healing time
- Meal planner
Offer Elias accessible information that
would improve his health and workouts?
- Information on importance of each mineral
- Risks associated with each nutritional deficiency
- Health issues associated with deficiencies
- Calorie and nutritional information for foods
- Meal planner
- Meal recommendations
- Personalised meal plans
- Options for meals
- Supplement recommendations
- Shopping list
- Smartwatch compatibility
- Shopping list
- Food scanner
- Calorie tracker
- Role of each mineral
- Risks associated with each nutritional deficiency and excess
- Meal planner
- Detailed test results section
- Chatbot
- Calorie tracker
- Appointment booking
- Clinic map and directions
- User profile
- List of intolerances, allergies and other health related issues
- Possible health issues associated with deficiencies and excesses
- Chatbot
- FAQ section
The Crazy 8’s design method was used during this project to quickly generate ideas and attempt to find the best ways of displaying important features.
Following the first Crazy 8’s session, it was assessed that the “diet plan” frame was the most important aspect of the app, followed by the “test results” frame.
The second and third Crazy 8’s sessions focused on the before-mentioned screens and attempted to ideate different designs and features.
Journey maps were created for each persona, helping clearly identify:
- their sequence of action
- needs and/or pains
- the parts of the system they interact with
- their feelings and thoughts
- how users’ experiences meet expectations
- what the outcomes of using the products are
With the use of user flows and storyboards, a few gaps within the current design process have been noticed, such as having separate screens for “daily tasks” and “diet plan”, along with a general lack of features. In order to ensure the quality of this project, I revisited the initial steps and iterated.
This way, I was able to ideate more efficient ways of displaying information and features. This marked the point where I was confident enough to transition into the prototyping phase.
Method
Six testers aged 23 to 65 with no design background were chosen to participate in think-aloud sessions in order to evaluate the prototype.
Before the study, participants were briefed on the purpose and details of the prototype, and were encouraged to be critical, with a reminder that there were no right or wrong answers.
Throughout the study, their actions and comments were observed and documented.
Results
In terms of positive feedback, overall, participants found the prototype easy to navigate, liked the complexity of features, and described the app as “professional” and “consistent“.
However, some negative observations were noted. Participants encountered minor usability issues regarding the visibility and clarity of features.
Following these insights, a high-fidelity prototype was created to address recommendations and resolve conflicts.
Method
The same method was applied a second time in order to test the high-fidelity prototypes, build upon previous findings and address any new observations or conflicts that came up with the introduction of the high-fidelity prototypes.
Results
Differing opinions arose on the placement of different elements, along with a further lack of clarity regarding different features.
Despite these nuances, participants found the app overall useful, logical, professional, and user-friendly.
- The reliance on secondary research introduced the possibility of outdated, unreliable, or irrelevant data, limiting the accuracy and relevance of the insights.
- The use of secondary data may not have provided sufficient depth to fully understand the scope of the problem, potentially restricting the richness of information.
- Participants testing the prototype on desktop computers instead of mobile phones may have influenced the interaction design and overall user experience, potentially deviating from real-world usage scenarios
- The recruitment of only six participants for interviews, may have restricted the diversity of perspectives and introduced potential bias.
This project has the potential to transform the nutrition sector by solving various problems regarding dieting, not only for customers, but also for nutritionists. The outcomes of this study show a highly positive start to the concept of this app, and a green light to proceed with its further development.
What I would do differently
- Include more participants
- Primary research in the early stages
- Find a more diverse pool of testers
- Consider diversifying testing scenarios
What I learned
- Became familiar with new design methods
- Gained valuable experience regarding user testing methods and the think-aloud protocol
- Gained valuable experience with the design process and accessibility
- How to solve conflicting views
- How to manage time constraints and avoid burnout
- Became familiar with the potential of Machine Learning