Recipes Curated for Health
Customized Food App Related to Individual Health
About the project
This project focuses on designing a user-centered mobile app that helps individuals maintain a healthy diet through engaging, accessible, and personalized recipe content. By understanding users’ dietary habits, preferences, and challenges, the app aims to offer tailored video recipe guides, meal planning assistance, and interactive features to enhance user engagement and retention.
My role
As a Project Coordinator, I played a key role in shaping the food recipe app by managing workflows and ensuring smooth collaboration. I contributed to UX research, gathering insights from home cooks to refine the app’s features. I also worked on the final design, helping create a stylish, user-friendly experience.
- Medium Fidelity Prototype
- High Fidelity Prototype
- Competitors
Quick links
Research objective
To understand the dietary habits, preferences, motivations, and challenges of individuals who aspire to maintain a healthy diet, design a user-centered mobile app that provides accessible, engaging, and personalized diet recipe content through video guides. This research seeks to uncover user expectations for content format, feature preferences, and monetization willingness to enhance user engagement and retention.
Qualitative study
In this qualitative study, we interviewed five individuals to explore their dietary habits, challenges, and preferences for healthy eating. Participants shared their motivations, barriers, and content format preferences, providing valuable insights into their unique needs. This data offered a foundation for designing a user-focused diet recipe app tailored to their goals and routines.
Research Questions
- What are your primary health and diet goals right now?
- How do you usually decide what to cook or eat each day?
- What specific diets or food preferences do you follow?
- What’s most important to you when choosing a recipe?
- What stops you from sticking to a healthy diet?
EMPATHIZE
PARTICIPANT 1
- Age: 30
- Gender: Male
- Location: Kollam, India
- Education Level: Graduate
- Occupation: Cinematographer
PARTICIPANT 2
- Age: 53
- Gender: Female
- Location: Kottayam, India
- Education Level: Graduate
- Occupation: Business
PARTICIPANT 3
- Age: 25
- Gender: Male
- Location: Idukki, India
- Education Level: 12th std
- Occupation: Machine Operator
Empathy maps
Competitor Analysis
Samsung Food App
- Strengths: Provides access to a vast collection of recipes, catering to diverse culinary preferences. It offers connected cooking features, allowing users to directly control compatible Samsung kitchen appliances from the app.
- Weaknesses: Lacks robust social or community aspects for users to share meals or engage with others. Some features, like appliance integration, are most beneficial to users with Samsung devices, potentially limiting appeal to non-Samsung users.
- Opportunities for Differentiation: Developing social features where users can share recipes, participate in challenges, and connect with others could increase user engagement and retention. Expanding compatibility to include non-Samsung appliances may attract a wider audience.
MyFitnessPal
- Strengths: Well-established brand with comprehensive food tracking, barcode scanning, and an extensive database of foods.
- Weaknesses: Primarily focused on tracking rather than recipes; user interface could feel overwhelming to new users.
- Opportunities for Differentiation: A stronger focus on video recipes, personalization, and meal planning could differentiate the app.
Yummly
- Strengths: Offers personalized recipe recommendations, ingredient lists, and instructional videos.
- Weaknesses: Limited in terms of community features and diet tracking integration.
- Opportunities: Adding community or motivational challenges could attract users interested in social features.
Noom App
- Strengths: Uses behavioral psychology to support weight loss, focusing on habits and education rather than specific diets.
- Weaknesses: Subscription-based pricing can be prohibitive; it is not primarily focused on recipes.
- Opportunities: An app with a lower-cost, more recipe-focused approach could appeal to budget-conscious users.
Paprika Recipe Manager
- Strengths: Great for organizing recipes and creating shopping lists; popular among families and home cooks.
- Weaknesses: Lacks nutrition tracking and personalization features for specific dietary needs.
- Opportunities: Adding nutrition and macronutrient-focused options for health-conscious users would be advantageous.
User Persona
DEFINE
Problem Statement
In this qualitative study, we interviewed five individuals to explore their dietary habits, challenges, and preferences for healthy eating. Participants shared their motivations, barriers, and content format preferences, providing valuable insights into their unique needs. This data offered a foundation for designing a user-focused diet recipe app tailored to their goals and routines.
How Might We (HMW Questions)
User Needs
How Might We simplify the process of finding healthy recipes that fit users’ dietary preferences and goals?
How Might We help users overcome common barriers to healthy eating, such as time, cost, and accessibility?
How Might We personalize recipe recommendations to match users’ health goals and dietary restrictions?
How Might We design a premium feature that provides enough value for users to consider paying for it?
How Might We consistently motivate users to use the app for meal planning and recipe discovery?
IDEATE
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
USER FLOW
Core features
Short Video Recipes (Reels Style)
- Brief, Engaging Videos: Each recipe is presented in 60-90-second reels to maintain viewer interest.
- Step-by-step narration or Subtitles: Help users follow along easily.
- Nutritional Information Overlay: Show key nutrition details (calories, protein, carbs, fats) on the screen for quick insights.
Comprehensive Recipe Library
- Category Filters: Users can browse based on diet types (Keto, Vegan, Paleo, etc.), meal type (breakfast, lunch, snacks), or difficulty level.
- Save & Organize: Users can save recipes to custom collections (e.g., “Breakfast Ideas” or “Post-Workout Meals”).
- Search Functionality: Find recipes by ingredient, cuisine, or dietary goals (e.g., high protein, low carb).
3 types of videos
- Collaborating with certified dieticians, culinary Nutritionists, content creators, chefs
- Includes short videos after verification
- Videos generated by AI with verified recipes.
Motivating users
- Attractive widget visuals
- Personalized pop-up notifications
- Nutrient scoreboard or milestone
- Completing meal plans with similar people (‘let’s eat together” page)
Sketches
DESIGN
Mid Fidelity Wireframes
Design Systems
High Fidelity Wireframes
TEST
Usability testing
Iterations and Improvements
What Worked Well?
- Visually Appealing Design: Users appreciated the clean and modern look.
- Smooth Transitions: Animations and page transitions were well-received.
- Engaging User Flow: The process felt logical and well-structured overall.
Pain Points Identified:
- Participants took a longer time to go through the recipe detail
- Stat cards felt visually disconnected, making the section look fragmented
Final prototype
Nourish Me App
Recipes Curated for Health