QuickBite - AR & AI assisted nutrition tracking app

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QuickBite
Concept for an AR & AI assisted nutrition tracking app

Background

In the framework of a health design challenge, there wasn’t much opportunity to carry out direct user research, and so I decided to look at problems I came across myself, to ensure that I am designing with the user in mind.

I've come across a number of food journal style apps that help you count your calorie intake, however none of them stuck with me.

From carrying out some secondary research (including app reviews), as well as building on my personal experience of using nutrition tracking apps, I identified the main challenges:

- the tedious process of recording food

- not being able to accurately measure portion size

- creating a habit of recording meals

Proposed solution

The streamlined recording process

A combination of AR & AI powered scan to record the meals, as well as to accurately measure the portion size and nutritional information. This solution would take away the pain of having to manually weigh and enter the nutrition information, as well as provide more accuracy when estimating the values.

The 'stickiness'

Taking photos of food has become a second nature to many, so I would expect the product to seamlessly fit into a pre-existing routine, rather than asking users to learn a new behaviour. With correct motivational messages and variable rewards, I believe with time this could become a habit forming app. The AI messaging would provide highly personalised insights and add more of a human feel to the technology.

The Hooked Model

To ensure the users don’t abandon their progress, I introduced an element of gamification and an easy ability to share progress. Based on Nir Eyal’s Hooked Model, that would appeal to people via two variable reward types:

- Rewards of the Tribe - being able to share photos of your healthy food, as well as your progress

- Rewards of the Self - being encouraged to complete a challenge / goal with timely reminders (e.g. “it’s breakfast time - what are you having today?”)

Animated user flow