Smart Choice
Picture this:
You’re a student living solo, balancing classes, assignments, maybe a part-time job. You want to eat healthier, but every meal choice feels like a battle—between convenience and what’s good for you, between endless options and limited energy. With no guidance, the weight of each decision wears you down, leading you to whatever’s easiest, even if it’s not the best.
Smart Choice redefines how one makes eating choices. Designed to minimize decision fatigue, this app empowers users to make healthier choices with ease. It provides contextual advice, delivering just the right information when users need it.
UX Activities
Visual design
User interviews
Usability study
Primary target users
Students living independently
A spin-off project inspired by my summer internship at Merakulus, as my original work is protected by an NDA.
.png)
.png)
No
wastage
of food.
.png)
Don't worry
when you lose track.
Focus
only on
what you need
.png)
.png)
Learn
what's best for you.
Track
only what matters
the most
to you.
.png)
.png)
Take
the best choice when
eating out.
The problem
Is there a solution for this in the market?
Gaps in the market led me to an opportunity.
Many independent students aspire to eat healthier but struggle due to being overwhelmed by too many options, a lack of nutritional knowledge, or the absence of an urgent reason to act.
Current market has no solution for this problem! Competitve analysis identified the following gaps:
-
Motivation-dependent: Current apps rely too heavily on user motivation, which fades without quick results.
-
Generic Plans: Lack of personalization makes it hard for users to find sustainable routines.
-
High Cognitive Load: Apps don’t ease the mental burden of daily meal choices, leading to decision fatigue.
-
Lack of Real-Time Assistance: Users miss out on timely guidance, resulting in unhealthy decisions.
-
Weak Habit Support: Limited focus on habit-building means users often revert to old patterns.
What if I identify and target specific stages in the user journey where low-motivation users experience decision fatigue, and design improved experiences that support their decision-making
Talking to the users
I conducted 9 user interviews to achieve the following objectives.
Know the day of the user.
Beliefs and attitudes of the user towards, healthy lifestyle.
How does the user approach towards setting their health goals.
Are there any external influences ? (like community, social media etc)
What are the various touchpoints where user makes decisions related to eating healthy.
Further narrowing down my target user groups
Based on user's attitude and beliefs, I grouped similar users into two groups.
Swaraj - The on the go eater
“I know I need to eat better & excercise, but between classes, work and studying I barely have time to sleep and let alone meal prep of hit the gym”
Stressed
Guilty
Pragmatic
Ambitious
.png)
Jess - The concious eater
“Even with my packed schedule, I make my health a priority - its all about planning and finding creating ways to stay on track, no matter how busy I get.
Preseverance
Anxious
Pragmatic
Motivated
Ideation from the insights
PAIN POINT
Inconsistent meal pattern and reliance on fast food due to lack of time.
PAIN POINT
Feeling overwhelmed to make choices between food due to work, deadlines, assignments.
WHY
Choices can be made with knowledge. Swaraj feels overwelhmed leading to procastination of aquiring the knowledge.
WHERE DOES THE USER MAKE CHOICES
-
Grocerry shopping.
-
Ordering food outside / online
-
Quick meals to satisfy cravings.
-
Eating meals during the day.
HOW MIGHT WE ?
How might we provide the user with sufficient knowledge just enough to make a choice.
1
2
Swaraj - The on the go eater
PAIN POINT
Limited budget for grocerries and gym membership
PAIN POINT
Peer pressure that might often tlead to unhealthy habits.
WHY
She is not aware that good health choices can be made with limited budget as well.
HOW MIGHT WE ?
How might we educate the user identify make food choices within their budget.?
1
2
3
PAIN POINT
Ocassional need to sacrifice workout session due to work demands.
WHY
She might end up eating unhealthy but have to deal with the guilt.
HOW MIGHT WE
How might we help Jess be aware of the alternatives. ?
WHY
Jess thinks that this might have an effect on her calorie burning.
HOW MIGHT WE ?
How might help Jess be confident with a fall back plan ?
Jess - The concious eater
Based on these insights, I mapped the user journey to identify key stages to identify opportunities. Eg: offering simple meal options on busy days and quick, actionable tips to reduce overwhelm. This results in empowering users to make healthier choices with less stress
Identifying necessary features.
Prioritising features to inform the information architecture of the app
Design ideation for information architecture (Homepage)
Object- Action Matrix
Using Object -oriented design below are the identified objects and actions from the user stories derived from the user interview.
The goal of the activity is to form a tight matrix to ensure consistency and aid in designing the layout of the screen.
Example user story #1
As a student, Swaraj wants to find meals that are healthy and can prepare within 10 minutes so that I make sure he eats mindfully when in stress.
Object = "Meals"
Attribute of the object = "Time" ( within 10 mins ), "Healthy"
Action = "Find"
Similarly, the objects, attributes and actions are derived from all the user stories.
The goal of the activity is to form a dense object - action matrix which is the foundation of the app's information architecture.
Prioritising the Object-Action pairs guides the decisions for organising the information on the screen based on whats most necessary for the users.
-1.png)
Actions oriented
Objects oriented
Hybrid oriented
.png)
.png)
Let the pantry work for you.
.png)
Get multiple recipes based on your pantry.
Know the health of your grocerries and reduce any wastage.
Grocerry recommendations from your near by stores within your budget.
.png)
Selected Design Layout
-
Users found the "Your next steps" feature more helpful than just displaying meal or grocery information.
-
The app provides a fallback plan, making it easier for users to stay on track even if they deviate from their routine.
Hybrid" layout proved to be most effective, as it appeared to the user like a daily guide, similar to how one's assistant would give instructions, helping to reduce decision fatigue.
Design Trade-off
Other pages of the app are placed within the burger menu to minimize cognitive overload. While this approach was unconventional, users found the interface action-oriented and helpful.
They only needed to learn the location of other pages during their first interaction.
.png)
Analytical Attribute
(of object Dietary habits)
Transactional Attribute
(of object Dietary habits)
Attribute
(of object Personal Assistant.)
Action
(Plan)
Objects
Focus on the progress that matters to you.
Get simple actions to do to keep your efforts consistent.
Quickly gain back momentum even if you lose your track.
Get personalised tips based on your mood for the day.
.png)
For the first time all users will be prompted with a questionnaire for personalization, with the option to update preferences anytime.
Overall, how is the app addressing user's problem ?
Scan to discover how every food supports your goals.
Quickly arn how a food item suits your goals.
Make informed choices with a detailed food insights.
.png)
.png)
Get Quick Insights and Take Action Fast!
Get to know your consumption
Know if you are consuming the right nutrion.
Helping you focus on the variety.
.png)
.png)
.png)
Learnings
1.
In this project I had the opportunity to learn how to proritise the features based on user needs.
2.
Following the object oriented design, I could detail every information that not only enhances UX but adds value to the user.
3.
This project challenged me to transform text-heavy pages into a more engaging and easily consumable design.