Overview
As a three-month academic project for an upper level interface design course, proxi is a platform that targets young-adults with selective diets due to personal preferences or dietary restrictions. The mobile application aims to ease the process of searching for recipes to accommodate any diet.
Current Issue
From the target demographic, our team investigated current issues people had when encountered with new recipes. I discovered that people found it
hard to modify existing recipes as they required knowledge about how specific ingredients impact their overall health. Substituting individual ingredients rather than following a meal plan
allows people to eat familiar meals while maintaining their dietary goals.
Findings
To further understand the perspective and goals of our target audience, we analyzed the common challenges that arose during our research process and proposed viable design opportunities to further enhance the usability experience.
Objectives
- How can we organize large amounts of information into consumable portions, like categories, popular recipes, or sorting systems?
- What information does the user require when clicking into a page or on a feature? How in depth does it need to be?
- How can we obtain a balance between the two criteria for the user to explore new interests while also finding specific, accurate information?
Solution
We synthesized our findings to develop a medium-fidelity wireframes that addresses our principal objective of users maintaining control over their ingredient intake while experimenting with new food choices.
Features
Search Recipe Catalog
The recipe filtering system enables the possibility of sorting searches by preparation time, cuisine type, and avoided ingredients. Thus, the flexibility allows potential users who have no restrictions can search freely without filtering if desired.
Embracing a full-page design ensures readability and improves the ease of interaction with elements.
Ingredient Alternatives
Substitutional ingredients can be found directly inside recipes or through the search feature.
Inside the recipe page, we chose to use an info button to activate the ingredient alternative pop-up to avoid overwhelming selective eaters with an excessive amount of information at once. They also have the option to further explore the substitute by viewing it on the full ingredients page.
The pop-up also signifies that the suggested alternative is merely applicable for the current recipe, and is used to change the state of the original recipe.
Personalized Preferences
Create an account to define your dietary preferences, intolerances, and allergies to receive recipe suggestions catering to your nutritional needs.
Preferences and other dietary choices can be modified and adjusted later under the profile tab for more flexible usability.
I was in charge of designing the preference selection pages, search page, filtering feature, and filtered results page. The process began with medium-fidelity wireframes, mapping out all required features and their functions.
User Interviews
When searching for participants for our user interviews, our team focused on targeting young adults who have dietary restrictions and the desire to cook. We created a simple task list for our users to perform and test:
- Create an account
- Search for a recipe
- Find alternative ingredients
- Bookmark a recipe
- View profile & edit dietary choices
I successfully interviewed and walked Heyden through the testing process over a zoom call, which was definitely challenging compared to in-person. The gap in communication required more guidance to explain certain features, making it difficult as the evaluator to see what the user sees and troubleshoot prototype errors.
We discovered a few common usability issues and minor style drawbacks from our participants. Coming together as a team from the interviews, we identified the most plausible solution to resolve them, ensuring that we considered the goals of end users.
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Value Proposition
- Easily find diet-specific recipes, reducing hassle and discouragement to explore new food and ingredient options
- Avoid ambiguity of finding suitable alternatives themselves
- Feel positive and encouraged to try out new cuisines and recipes
Style
I took part in developing the style guide for proxi with the intentions of a modern and minimal aesthetic with a neutral colour palette of black, white, grey, and peach, featuring a turquoise green accent colour that exemplifies healthy eating. Chosen icons were universal and simple to ensure familiarity for a wide range of users.
Reflection
Developing the functional recipe searching mobile application proxi was challenging yet fulfilling. While not a complete experience, it is a concrete foundation to explore further, and within the given time frame, I am satisfied with the outcome our team produced.
In addition to embracing collaboration and taking advantage of prototyping tools such as UXPin to enhance usability and the overall experience of mobile applications, I also learned the significance of prioritizing user needs and goals. The application of a user-centred perspective when designing and considering the feasibility of features ensured that we were always making ethical choices and retaining a clean and honest aesthetic.
References
Shirai Sola S., Seneviratne Oshani, Gordon Minor E., Chen Ching-Hua, McGuinness Deborah L. (2021). Identifying Ingredient Substitutions using A Knowledge Graph of Food. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 3, 111. DOI: 10.3389/frai.2020.621766
