How might I create a MyFitnessPal application feature addition that will allow users users to reliably log menu items from large and small chain restaurants?

The proposed addition adds a new feature that allows the user to find restaurants by location, popularity and previously set favourites. There is also an option to filter restaurants by dietary preference or search by restaurant.

Once the user has chosen their preferred restaurant the entire menu is then available to them to customize and add into their personal food log.

Throughout the entire process the usability of the feature addition was kept at top priority. The majority of the project was spent conceptualizing and fully understanding the users needs and figuring out how to enhance the already successful application.

The foremost step of the research phase was information gathering and synthesizing. A survey was created and posted on Facebook and on several relevant Reddit pages calling MyFitnessPal users to participate. Overall, 165 surveys were collected and reviewed.

The survey questions were designed to determine MyFitnessPal/technology specific qualitative information and also more general quantitative lifestyle information.

The collected information was then used to create behavioural variables and context scenarios. This information helped form the image of an average user. The survey became very useful because there was a factual basis to build personas from; arbitrary personas have always felt biased and incomplete.

I also studied the app itself by personally using it for many weeks beforehand. This allowed me to become very familiar with its functionality.

Once all the user information was reviewed the most interesting area to explore was the issue that 

“Many users complain that mainstream and non-mainstream restaurants don’t make their menu easily available for myfitnesspal users to track." 

The restaurant guide addition will focus on creating a hub to enable easy adding of restaurant menu items to personal food logs.

Sketches and keypath scenarios that were used to develop the User Interface.

This was one of the first times I had visually designed an app so it took me a few tries and lasted much longer than the initial time period of the project. I still am re-iterating these designs to this day.

This first iteration of design shows where I started as a designer. This project was started in 2015 and I was in my second year of my program. Once I graduated I revisited this project and updated the visual design highly focusing on making it feel like an actual app as these screens feel like my first Microsoft paint file in 2005. 

I would still make updates to the visual design now in 2020 but I think that this project shows my progression and the level of detail I put into my work.