PlantUp
Increase your plant-based food intake.
One day at a time.
WHO
UX Researcher, UX/UI Designer
WHAT
End-to-End Mobile App (iOS)
Background
In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of Americans who follow, or aspire to follow, a plant-based diet. This healthy lifestyle focuses on increasing one's fruit, vegetable, nut, seed and whole grain intake, without setting specific rules or restrictions. The diet aims to reduce animal product consumption rather than eliminate entirely - likely a more realistic goal for many.
The Problem
Whether the inspiration for upping one's plant-based foods is health, sustainability, animal cruelty, or a combination of these 3, many people find the diet a bit daunting. They don't know where to begin or how to ensure food still tastes good and meets their dietary needs.
How might we help people "try on" a plant-based diet in a realistic, fun, educational, and approachable way?
RESEARCH
With a clear understanding of PlantUp's objectives, an applicable set of research methods were determined in order to understand the core user base.
Chosen methods:
topic research
competitive analysis
1:1 customer interviews
survey distribution
Goals
1. Understand current trends, statistics, and future growth projections for the plant-based market in the United States.
2. Identify common motivators, constraints, misconceptions, and curiosities related to plant-based eating.
Topic Research
Competitor Analysis
In searching for potential direct competitors, 5 apps were identified. While there was some overlap determined after the feature analysis, none of the products offered the user experience Plantup hopes to provide.
Customer Interviews
Topic research and competitor analysis provided guidance in order to determine the right questions to ask during customer interviews.
For the 1:1 interviews:
2/3 participants followed or aspiried to follow a plant-based diet
1/3 were curious but neutral about the diet
During the review process, I extracted standout verbatims from each session, identified themes in feedback, and categorized all within an empathy map.
Interview Results
The interviews validated a set of initial hypotheses related to the fears, beliefs, and perceptions of a plant-based diet. A few key takeaways:
1. The top fears identified were associated with texture, taste, and potential nutrient deficiency. A fear of protein deficiency overwhelmingly took the lead in this category.
2. The general breakdown of macronutrient information, ie. fat / protein / carbohydrates, is more important than suggested serving size and calorie count.
3. Understanding the "real life" benefits of a plant-based food is more important than the actual names of the micronutrients responsible for these benefits, ie. "Vitamin A", is secondary.
Survey
To confirm we were moving the right direction, and to fine-tune some of my previous research findings, I also set up a survey before moving into the define & design phases.
Key Survey Findings
1. 97% of respondents increased their plant-based food intake in the past few years.
2. Respondents cared most about learning "real life benefits" of these foods, ie. "strengthens bones" "supports vision" and "boosts the immune system" vs. "Vitamin A" "Vitamin B" and "Vitamin C".
3. 70% of respondents are either following, pursuing, or curious about plant-based eating.
4. Top motivator for eating plant-based is nutrition, followed by fitness goals, sustainability, animal cruelty, and seasonality.
DEFINE
Without further adieux, meet Will, our primary persona.
"I've found if you give yourself some space to not be perfect, it's easier to keep up with a habit and build it over time."
How Might We support Will in his journey to a more plant-forward diet?
POV Statement: Will needs an easy-to-use resource to help him get a baseline for his current plant-based food intake. He'd like to learn about the nutrients in the foods he consumes, find plant-based swaps for some of his go-to snacks, and track his progress along the way.
DESIGN
Prior to designing the UI, user stories were established, ultimately leading to the MVP's main task and user flows.
User Flow
After flow iterations and with the customer journey scoped, I moved on to wireframing, beginning with rough sketching and then digitizing into lo-fi versions.
Branding + UI Components
When entering the UI design processs, I referred back to the project brief. The keywords used to describe PlantUp's brand: Colorful. Playful. Curious. Inclusive. Feel Good. With the guidance of these words, I built the UI Kit and completed V1 of high fidelity UI designs. After feedback from my team and a few iterations following, the key flows were ready to test. I was excited to get the prototype into the hands of prospective customers and continue learning.
High Fidelity Designs
PROTOTYPE
RESULTS
High Priority Iterations
A total of 5 task flows were tested in the V1 prototype. With the exception of the final mission, all tasks had 100% completion rates. The issue with the final task was UI related and resulted in the following revisions:
1. Move 'Favorites' icon to right-side of navigation bar. The app's dashboard is designed with top navigation only. If a user is within the Favorites section of the app and wishes to "Go Back" to an earlier screen, the expectation from all testers was for the back arrow to be on the left. V1's location of the Favorites icon interfered with this.
2. Decrease curve of graph design. User feedback and further research confirmed that it is easier to decipher graph data when its components are less rounded.
3. Support 'Recent' in keyword search. It's likely users will eat, and therefore need to add, the same foods often. Having shortcuts in design for a user to select recently consumed foods therefore made all of the sense.
Reflection & Future Iterations
With more time, I would complete another round of iterations. With both user and business needs in mind, I would play with shifting to a tab bar. While I wanted to keep the dashboard navigation simple, it will likely present limitations down the road(map) as new features are added. A tab bar would allow a profile in which the user could potentially access recently tracked foods and save plant-based food products for reference. From a business perspective, it could be an opportunity to provide advanced features, ie. Account, allowing for further customer data retention. And finally, I would consider an educational tab. This would provide the user in-depth information on plant-based food benefits. The tab would also benefit the business, as it creates a new opportunity to push dynamic content in-app, strengthening brand voice and trust with the audience.
In addition to the above, I would continue to identify opportunities to speed up the food tracking process for the user. An example of this might be a 'Quick Add' feature within each food group, or a 'Repeat Daily' option at the food item level for users who are self-proclaimed creatures of habit, ultimately offering a more efficient user experience.