Good Bites
Problem:
Many college students face difficulty in maintaining a healthy diet due to the demanding nature of academic, work, and social commitments. The struggle to find meal ideas often results in the temptation of convenient yet unhealthy food choices, exacerbated by financial constraints. Good Bites can mitigate this challenge by offering affordable, nutritious meal options on campus and promoting a culture that prioritizes overall well-being. Addressing these issues is crucial for ensuring that students' nutritional needs are not neglected amid the complexities of college life.
Project Goal:
The project aims to develop a user-friendly application that generates practical and accessible meal ideas tailored to the ingredients available in students' homes. This initiative seeks to streamline the culinary decision-making process, empowering students to optimize their time, reduce financial strain, and conserve energy by making efficient use of existing resources.
Wireframes
Creating high-fidelity wireframes helped me understand where I wanted all the features of my app to go. The flow and navigation of the app were apparent in this step of the design process.
Deliverables
Research, Interview Findings, Prototype
Year
Fall 2023
Tools Used
Figma, Adobe Illustrator
Project
Capstone Project
The home screen includes features like meal suggestions you can make based on what you already have in your pantry, the filter option where you can create your own selection, and the update pantry button.
(Example of filter selection tool)
The pantry screen includes all the ingredients you already have at home. Here you can delete ingredients after they are gone and also access the update pantry button.
The saved recipes page includes bookmarked recipes that you have saved in the past. If you enjoy a recipe you can click on the white bookmark icon. Once it’s yellow you can view and edit the recipe once it’s selected in this screen. When a recipe is selected it will tell you what ingredients you still need to purchase in the yellow warning box.
You can also access the swipe feature that allows you to quickly swipe through trending recipes.
In the dietary preferences screen that you can access through the profile screen, You can add and food sensitivities or diets you may be following.
Usability Test Insights and Main Takeaways
For this usability test I interviewed 7 students after they used the prototype of my app. These are the most helpful takeaways from the test. I later changed the navigation and flow of the prototype according to their answers.
What improvements or changes would you suggest for the app's navigation and layout?
“The notes section doesn’t make complete sense because if the edit button is on the saved recipes screen we have to double click the recipe.”
“It was easy to learn how to use the app. The functions are pretty straightforward.”
“The swipe feature could be places somewhere else instead of being a main page.”
How quickly users can learn to navigate and use the product? Is it easy to find what you are looking for?
“I was a little confused by the pantry screens and how to remove ingredients once I added them in, but I got it once I browsed through the app.”
How clear was the content within the app? Were the icons and text used easy to understand?
“The text was easy to understand yes and the icons seemed intuitive to me.”
“The filter confused me because it said I can sort by price first. I thought I was already supposed to have the ingredients.”
“It might be helpful to be able to access the pantry more than one way.”
“Yes! I found everything that I was looking for easily. I think the navigation works well.”
“I think the icons and word choices are good. It was easy to understand.”