NutriPal
Personalized nutrition, without strict dieting
Project Type
Academic
Timeline
Two weeks (October 2024)
Team
Solo Product Designer
Responsibilities
User Research, Prototyping
BACKGROUND
How it all started
Eating is fun, a celebration of flavors and memories.
I'm a food lover too, and I love eating meat. But recently, my growing belly starts to worry my mom. 🫠 She keeps telling me to eat healthier. But, I have no idea where to start. 🤷♂️
PROBLEM
Flaws in current solutions
Current diet apps on the market focus too heavily on calorie counting rather than promoting a balanced diet. Their strict diet plans can be frustrating and difficult for people to follow.
SOLUTION
Crafting an app that promotes a balanced and stress-free diet
NutriPal is your chill companion for flexible and stress-free nutrition. It offers personalized guidance to help you maintain a balanced and varied diet without the pressure of strict dieting, making healthy eating simple and enjoyable.
RESEARCH
Understanding the challenges in diet and nutrition tracking
I conducted secondary research to gather data and better understand the widespread issues people encounter with dieting and nutritional awareness.
63%
of U.S. adults used a health app last year, showing their broad adoption. 🧐
58%
of people want to eat healthy but aren’t sure what a balanced diet really looks like. 🤔
95%
of diets fail, due to the difficulty of sustaining rigid eating plans. 😮💨
47%
of food logs in diet apps lack accuracy for reliable calorie counts. 🤨
RESEARCH
Identifying gaps in diet and nutrition apps
To refine NutriPal's approach I compared existing apps. Many offer calorie tracking or meal planning but lack flexibility and personalization. NutriPal focuses on these gaps.
RESEARCH
Understanding user needs through persona
To design solutions that resonate with real user needs, I created a persona based on common dieting frustrations and preferences identified through my research.
Nicole
Age: 29
Education: Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts
Location: Austin
Occupation: Graphic Designer
Nicole is a graphic designer in Austin with a busy job and an active social life. She often eats out with friends. Nicole wants to eat healthier without following strict diet plans, despite her packed schedule.
Needs
Nicole needs to ensure she's getting balanced nutrition, especially on her busiest days.
She looks for dietary advice that can adapt to her spontaneous eating habits and locations.
She prefers tools that are straightforward and integrate easily into her daily routine.
Frustrations
Nicole is frustrated by diet apps that require strict adherence to specific meal plans or calorie counts, which don't fit her unpredictable schedule.
She finds manually logging every meal detail tedious and unsustainable.
She often feels overwhelmed by complex nutritional information and unsure how to apply it when dining out.
"I need an app that fits my unpredictable lifestyle, making healthy choices simple and guilt-free."
Like many of us, Nicole wants to eat healthier but hates strict diet plans. NutriPal is designed for people like Nicole who are busy, social, and looking for flexibility.
IDEATION
Design opportunity
How might we make personalized nutrition simple and adaptable without strict diet plans?
IDEATION
Generating key features to shape NutriPal
After conducting thorough research, understanding user needs, and engaging in competitive analysis, I ideated on several key features to enhance the functionality and user experience of NutriPal.
Food Tips
Many users find rigid diet plans challenging and demotivating. NutriPal introduces adaptable food tips to encourage sustainable eating habits without overwhelming users. These tips act as gentle nudges back towards healthier choices, making the dietary advice feel personalized and less restrictive.
Scan to Log Food
Users expressed the need for an effortless way to track meals and nutrients. By integrating advanced scanning technology, NutriPal simplifies food logging, improving accuracy over time and reducing the hassle associated with manual entries.
AI-Generated Food List
Responding to the need for personalized dietary suggestions, NutriPal uses AI to generate food lists tailored to the user’s specific nutritional preferences and needs. This feature leverages prompts from users to provide customized food recommendations that align with individual health goals.
DESIGN
Making NutriPal’s voice more friendly
In this project, I updated NutriPal's communication style from formal to friendly, aiming to make the app's voice feel like a supportive friend 🤗 rather than a clinical advisor 🏥.
❌
Before: Formal and Reserved
“Consider balancing your meal with additional vegetables or protein sources.”
“Adding more protein could help enhance this meal’s nutritional balance."
"Consider balancing high-calorie meals with lighter options throughout the day."
✅
After: Friendly and Inviting
"Maybe add some veggies or protein to jazz up your meal?"
"How about more protein to boost your meal?"
"Mixing lighter meals with the hearty ones could help balance your day!"
DESIGN
Capturing NutriPal’s identity through visual inspiration
This moodboard captures the modern and inclusive identity of NutriPal, reflecting its broad appeal through selected visual inspirations.
DESIGN
A style guide ensures clarity and consistency
I used DM Sans for its clarity and modern feel, paired with a vibrant color palette to enhance the app's friendly vibe. This consistent design approach simplifies the user experience.
DESIGN
Refining NutriPal’s design through iteration
I showcase the progression of NutriPal's design, focusing on iterative improvements based on user feedback to enhance functionality and visual engagement.
For the 'Get Started' screen, the initial version was simple and functional. Subsequent versions introduced vibrant food imagery to enhance visual appeal and readability, creating a more cohesive user experience.
For the 'Home' screen, the first design focused on basic metrics. Later iterations enhanced clarity and maintained essential features. The final design introduces a balance score with a clear ring chart, boosting readability and interaction with concise food tips.
For the 'Food List' feature, the original design had separate sections for creating and managing food lists, which led to user disconnection. After feedback, these functions were unified, simplifying interaction and boosting engagement.
FINAL DESIGNS
Effortless onboarding for tailored health
NutriPal streamlines user onboarding, starting with a vibrant welcome screen. Users quickly input dietary preferences and health goals, ending with a tailored health plan, emphasizing ease and personalization.
A smarter way to track meals and nutrients
The NutriPal home screen features a daily nutritional dashboard, showing balance scores for calories and nutrients with actionable food tips. The integrated "Scan Food" function allows quick meal logging, promoting ease of use and consistent dietary tracking.
AI-powered food list creation for personalized nutrition
In NutriPal, users have the flexibility to manually select foods from a comprehensive catalog or use the AI-driven feature to generate personalized food lists. By inputting specific dietary goals or preferences into the prompt, the AI evaluates and suggests tailored food options that align with the user’s nutritional needs.
REFLECTION
My primary takeaway from this project is the importance of identifying and emphasizing a brand's unique aspects. For example, in the personalized nutrition market, there are unmet needs that inspired the creation of this app. This project taught me to ensure that every aspect of a brand, from its design to its narrative, connects deeply with the audience and genuinely represents its uniqueness. Adopting this perspective has profoundly changed how I approach my design work.
Thanks for reading! 😊
© 2025 Chang Mou. Crafted with 💪 and ❤️
As a product designer, I create solutions that simplify complexity, enhance efficiency, and bring delight to everyday experiences.
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