Food Diary : Big step to conscious eating
The Need:
While talking to people who had concern about their health, first thing was to keep a check on what they eat and how much they eat. Research proves by keeping a food diary, you does start feeling guilty when they eat something they should not- being answerable to the diary. In todays day and age your phone is a companion and can record your food intake.
Imagine if your smart phone was smart enough- when you take picture, it identifies what food it is, detects portion and estimates calories. Or if you speak the name of the dish and quantity you could get amount of calories you are about to take with a provision for a user override, in case the estimation seems incorrect. Keeping a log helps in keeping a check on the food intake.
While testing the prototype, users appreciated the fact of having pictures as a guide in assisting with the log intake.
The design has evolved in phases after user testing.
Initially, the prototype had a complex interface requiring many steps to input the image/voice/text entry for food. Each method had its own set of menus to enter the information. Evidently, it was not a simple interface for the task on hand.
As it evolved, it became more uniform, direct and user friendly. The menu structure was simplified, enabling the application to guide users to logging their calories’ consumption.
Eventually, the final prototype benefitted from the results of the heuristic evaluation - menu options clearly labeled, fresh look and feel, no data loss during input till you logging completes, ability for users to modify date and time, portion sizes, and interactive dashboard on all screens.
