First iteration design based on wireframes

Evaluation

Advantages of this design:

• clean – there is a lot of white space which helps it look less crowded;
• readable – selection of fonts and their sizes enables good readability;
• simple – there is no redundant text decorations or animations;
• intuitive – ‘Cancel’ buttons are a lighter shade than ‘Submit’ buttons;
• easy to use – functionality is grouped into 4 main categories that are all easily accessible from the navbar.

Disadvantages of this design:

• mobile-like look – it looks as if it was a mobile application;
• not scalable – it is not designed for different screen sizes and would be hard to use on smaller screens;
• outdated design – the goal of creating a modern looking application was not achieved;
• indistinctive design – it has no original, one of a kind characteristics thus it would not be easily recognisable among other fitness applications.

Conclusions

The interface for kcalPal does not meet established goals. At this moment, the application does not solve the design problem. Although it has its advantages, it looks too much like a mobile application and it is not designed for various screen sizes. Very plain, boring and old-fashioned design will cause low interest in the application. The interface certainly needs to be redesigned.

User research

Interviews

On Monday October 28^th, 2019, interviews with 5 potential future users of the application were conducted.

Participants

The participants in these interviews were of both genders, belonged to different age groups and had various occupations. In total, 4 ‘fit’ participants and 1 person leading a sedentary lifestyle took part in interviews.

Participant 1

Gender: male

Age: 21

Occupation: student

Fitness/sports: gaelic, running, gym

Participant 2

Gender: female

Age: 18

Occupation: student

Fitness/sports: football, dancing, gym

Participant 3

Gender: male

Age: 41

Occupation: professional

Fitness/sports: walking, swimming

Participant 4

Gender: female

Age: 56

Occupation: professional

Fitness/sports: none

Participant 5

Gender: female

Age: 38

Occupation: professional

Fitness/sports: hiking

Findings

1. All of the ‘fit’ participants admitted to having used online calorie counting apps at least once in the past.
2. 3 out of 4 ‘fit’ participants admitted to using calorie counting apps frequently.
3. Participant 4 stated that they would be willing to start using an intuitive calorie counting app in order to improve their overall health.
4. Participant 5 stated that they would not be interested in using a calorie counting application.

Target users

Based on the research, target market for kcalPal formed 3 main groups:

• regular people caring for good nutrition, occasional gym goers – this group of potential users will use the app mainly to keep track of consumed calories, avail of useful fitness tips, occasionally add products and recipes to the database;
• athletes and sportsmen – this group of users will be generally interested in tracking the overall energy expenditure as well as consumed macronutrients, occasionally adding products and recipes;
• patients aiming to improve their overall health and/or lose excess weight – this group of potential users will be paying attention to the number of consumed calories, monitoring their weight loss progress and adding their own recipes and products to the database.

Personas and scenarios

Persona 1: “Couch potato”

Quote

“I like a good burger and soda pop.”

— Michael Pearse.

Name

Michael Pearse

Job/Role

Data analyst

Background

Age: 52           

Status: Married

Education: MA in Data Analytics

Location: Los Angeles

Income: $100,000

Values

• Family
• Money
• Success
• Time
• Health

Goals

• Losing extra weight
• Improving stamina to be able to keep up with the kids
• Decreasing cholesterol level

Needs

• Monitoring his calorie intake to make sure it’s low enough
• Eating healthier
• Avoiding foods high in cholesterol

Pain points

• Has trouble fitting in some doorways
• Gets tired easily
• High cholesterol level

Skills

Usage: regular

Tech savvy: yes

Professional: experienced

Likes/Dislikes

Likes: coffee, burgers, sodas, beer, unhealthy snacks, watching sports, polite people

Dislikes: exercise, walking, running, arrogance, bad customer service

Scenario 1

Michael Pearse is a data analyst living in Los Angeles. He leads a sedentary lifestyle. His typical week is very busy and leaves him tired at the end of most days. His job is really stressful and full of challenges but he enjoys working hard to support his family. Michael spends most of his free time with his wife and kids.

Because of his busy schedule and lack of health awareness, Michael has never exercised or paid attention to what he consumes. This has caused him many health problems over the years, the biggest one being obesity and high cholesterol level. He also gets tired easily which means he cannot keep up with the kids. Michael would like to change that and get healthier for his family that matters so much to him.

Michael has never used a fitness app before but he undoubtedly needs help of one to assist him on his new journey. He will use the app on a daily basis for tracking consumed calories, important macronutrients, updating the database with some custom recipes and products that his wife buys and prepares, as well as monitoring his weight loss progress.

Persona 2: “Gym bunny”

“The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion.”

– Bart Bass.

Name

Bart Bass

Job/Role

Personal trainer

Background

Age: 29

Status: Single

Education: BA (Honours) in Sports Management

Location: Galway

Income: 36,000e

Values

• Money
• Time
• Health
• Self-improvement

Goals

• Gaining as much muscle mass as possible
• Always eating properly before and after training sessions
• Treating asthma

Needs

• Keeping the number of consumed calories on a high level
• Monitoring his weekly progress
• Consuming less dairy

Pain points

• Lack of time
• Never being good enough
• Asthma

Skills

Usage: very frequent

Tech savvy: yes

Professional: un-experienced

Likes/Dislikes

Likes: ready meals, going to the gym, football, protein shakes, HIIT training

Dislikes: takeaway, diets, fried food, vegetarians, steroids

Scenario 2

Bart Bass is a fitness instructor from Galway. He received a Bachelors degree in Sports Management when he was 23 and has been working at his local gym since. He was planning to become a Kinesiotherapist but at the moment he is settling for an easier job of a gym instructor. Sport is his biggest passion.

Bart has always paid attention to what he consumes as it is closely connected to his role. He aims to be an inspiration to his clients by always pushing himself. He is trying to build a substantial client base to earn enough money to quit his job at the gym. He dreams to become a professional athlete and take part in athletic competitions. He struggles with asthma which is an obstacle on his way to success.

In order to fulfil his dreams, Bart will be using kcalPal very often. The main functionality he will be availing of is the option to record consumed foods. This will allow him to control his calorie intake, macronutrients, as well as dairy consumption. Bart will also be updating his profile with the up-to-date progress.

Group persona: “Fit Amy”

“To keep the body in good health is a duty, otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.”

– Amy Kavanagh.

Name

Amy Kavanagh

Job/Role

College student and part-time retail worker

Background

Age: 23

Status: Single

Education: in progress

Location: South Dublin

Income: 16,000e

Values

• Social life
• Time
• Self-improvement
• Recognition

Goals

• Getting as fit as possible
• Becoming an inspiration for others
• Improving the condition of her skin

Needs

• Tracking consumed macronutrients to maintain muscle mass
• Monitoring her weight trends
• Consuming less sugar

Pain points

• Consuming too much takeouts
• Difficulties with keeping the weight off
• Bad skin

Skills

Usage: frequent

Tech savvy: experienced

Professional: somewhat experienced

Likes/Dislikes

Likes: social media, cooking, takeouts, alcohol, running

Dislikes: vegetables, dairy, gluten, overeating, cardio

Group persona scenario

Amy Kavanagh is a college student living in South Dublin. Most of the time she is trying to lead a healthy lifestyle. Her passion for fitness motivates her to exercise and maintain a balanced diet. In her free time, she likes to film and post cooking videos and get her pictures taken. Amy frequently posts new photoes to her social media profile to gain followers.

Just like her friends and other people her age, Amy spends a lot of time online. She visits Instagram on a daily basis to view motivational videos and pictures posted by fitness gurus. She wants to follow them and become a role model for others in the future. To achieve that, she wants to lose excess weight and have a desired body shape. As well as that, Amy wants to improve her skin condition, mainly by consuming less sugar.

Amy will be using the application quite often, for a few reasons. First of all, tracking her daily calorie expenditure and consumed macronutrients will help her maintain her desired body fat percentage. Secondly, viewing weight trends statistics will be a crucial tool allowing her to track progress. Finally, as she likes to cook, she will be updating the database with her own favourite recipes.

For this assignment, we have done several tasks as a team while some of them have been completed individually. My teammate and I have developed one Persona and one Scenario each. We have both discussed and came up with the wireframe design for the application. I have chosen the colour scheme, whereas my partner has picked main fonts.

We have encountered a few issues while working on this project. The main issue seemed to be poor communication on both ends and not enough team meetings. It was a result of bad organisation skills and workload we both had over the weeks preceding the deadline. Insufficient communication between me and my partner has made it difficult to achieve all our goals at a specified time.

Working on this project has taught me how to effectively resolve problems. My team has managed to improve communication by using tools that were easily accessible for both teammates. Moreover, we have attended a few meetings at a date suitable for both of us. Going forward, we will be putting more focus on sticking to a clear and detailed schedule with preassigned tasks and deadlines to enable more effective work in the future.

This project has showed me a lot about the importance of teamwork. I have learned that working in a team has many benefits. First of all, team members often have different skills and abilities that they can combine and create great things together. I realised that brainstorming and sharing ideas benefits the creativity of a project. Working in a team has also taught me how to build trust and understanding for my partner.

In conclusion, I will definitely continue to improve my teamwork skills while working on future assignments to ensure their quality and on-time delivery as this ability is essential in a work environment.