MealPilot 🍋
For busy working professionals looking to eat healthier without the stress, MealPilot is an all-in-one nutrition planning app that streamlines meal prep and grocery shopping.
This project was completed as part of the University of Washington UX & Visual Design certificate, spanning three courses: UX Design Thinking, Applied UX Design, and Integrating UX with Interactive Visual Design.
Process Overview
As part of the University of Washington’s UX & Visual Design certificate, we were tasked to pick a topic to focus on throughout the program. In the beginning of the course, we worked in groups of 4 to conduct user research, develop our user personas, and conduct concept testing.
Afterwards, I worked independently to apply UX design principles such as creating sitemaps and user flows, conduct usability testing, and ultimately creating a high fidelity prototype of the solution.
Project Overview
UX Design
User Research
My Role
Timeframe
7 months
Tools
Figma, Balsamiq
Problem Statement
As part of the program, we were given a broad challenge and tasked to focus it through research.
Challenge - “America is one of the least healthy nations in the world. Who doesn't love burgers, our special Starbucks drinks, and indulging in decadent desserts?
Most of the food we eat are packed with empty calories that make us crave more instead of consuming nutrient-rich foods that our bodies recognize when we have eaten enough.
The benefits of eating whole foods instead of vitamins and supplements is clear, but which foods and how much?”
How might we help people get 100% of their daily nutritional needs met through whole foods every day?
User Research
To better understand the initial broad problem statement, our group conducted 16 user interviews between October 26 - November 1, 2024.
To learn about the user’s experience, goals, needs, and pain points as they pertain to healthy eating habits.
To understand the factors surrounding a user’s decision to eat the foods they eat.
To learn the challenges users face in meeting their daily nutritional requirements.
Research Goals
43%
of users attempted to create some kind of tracking system for their meals but was unable continue do to time constraints
Findings
18%
of users have been notified by a doctor to form healthy eating habits
56%
of users have noted difficulty to find time to prepare meals
“A lot of people when they eat healthy, are trying to look a certain way. So there’s a lot of anxiety.”
“It’s important to me that I feel steady throughout the day. Food choices really impact that.”
Preparing meals can be time consuming and overwhelming
Deciding what to eat can be a source of stress or guilt.
Take out provides a convenient way to get meals quickly, but compromises health goals
The Main Problems
Competitive/Comparative Analysis
To get a better understanding of what is currently offered in the market, our group started forming collections of digital and non-digital products and services related to our problem statement.
We researched both digital and non-digital experiences to inspire new opportunities for products and services. In total, 3 primary sources, 5 secondary sources, and 6 tertiary sources were investigated in this exercise.
Behavioral Archetypes
Based on our extensive research, our group created two behavioral archetypes to help us explain the needs, values, goals, frustrations, and desires for a collection of users. This helped serve as a foundation for developing more detailed personas.
The Time Saver
The Time Saver is a busy person who is actively balancing work, family, and healthy choices. They do not have much time to prepare meals before or after work, and often resort to unhealthy fast food. They want to eat better for their health, but also spend more time with family and other priorities.
Goals
Plan meals that meet their health goals
Prepare meals weekly
Choose budget-friendly options
Save time for other activities
Actions
Prepare grab-and-go meals
Purchase ingredients quickly
Research meal services
Prioritize healthy food options frequently
Set schedule for the week
Needs
Increase productivity during the work day
Increase the amount of time for other priorities
Reduce the amount of time searching for food
Thoughts & Feelings
Feel more prepared for the week
Create more memories with loved ones
Have a sense of accomplishment
Have peace of mind
The Risk Mitigator
The Risk Mitigator is concerned about their health, and wants to minimize the risk of medical issues. They want to lower health risks by improving dietary habits, so they can live a long, healthy life.
Goals
Monitor health regularly
Track food intake daily
Stay physically active 3-5 times a week
Limit processed foods from diet
Maintain a consistent meal schedule
Actions
Get medical check-up yearly
Record food consumption and nutrition daily
Find substitutes for unhealthy foods
Needs
Minimize concerns during a doctor’s appointment
Maximize likelihood of choosing healthier foods
Increase amount of knowledge for improving personal health
Decrease consumption of processed foods
Reduce calorie intake in restaurant meals to better align with health goals
Thoughts & Feelings
Feel refreshed after eating a meal
Feel comfortable in one’s own body
Feel validated by medical professionals
Journey Map
After creating our two behavioral archetypes, our group then aimed to create a shared understanding of the mindsets, thoughts, and emotions of these archetypes. We created a journey map to help visualize the chronological journey of these users’ needs.
User Persona
Meet Sarah, the Time Saver!
Sarah is a busy person who is actively balancing work, family, and healthy choices. She doesn’t have much time to prepare meals before or after work, and often resort to unhealthy fast food.
She wants to eat better for their health, but also spend more time with family and other priorities.
Concept Testing
Our group then each created a few low-fidelity frames of some concept solutions. We were able to test these concepts with several users, which helped us gauge ideas early on. The goal was to get some early indicators on what will and won’t work, while also seeing new perspectives and answering common questions.
Key Findings
AR Feature
Testers were excited by augmented reality and we found this to be a more engaging way to interact with grocery shopping or find nutritional content.
Suggested Recipes
Testers were excited about receiving personalized recipe suggestions tailored to their preferences, keeping their cooking experiences fresh and engaging.
Social Planning
Testers were deeply interested in social features and found this to be a way to get closer to their friends and family while also holding each other accountable.
AI Assistance
Testers rejected the idea of manual inputs, but were intrigued by the concept of AI assistance to reduce manual effort.
Budget Grocery Recommendations
Tested liked the idea of getting grocery store recommendations nearby them, sorted by budget.
Planning Ahead
Testers felt that it was easier to stay accountable with their health goals by planning meals and events ahead of time.
Sitemap
To help visualize the entire information architecture, I created a visual site map. This helped provide a blueprint for navigation and design, and also helped to display the different levels of hierarchy.
I started this exercise by first creating a listing of all planned pages, and ensured all planned features were included. I then distinguished the hierarchal level of these pages (primary, secondary, tertiary), and then labelled the sitemap accordingly. Finally I reviewed the sitemap to check for any gaps or duplicates.
User Flows
After establishing the organization of information, I created three different user flow diagrams. Each diagram represented the step-by-step approach of a user process. Mapping out the user’s tasks also helped me evaluate the different logical decisions they may have to make, and also anticipate how the user would move through the navigation system.
Task #1: Find Healthy Recipes to Cook
As Sara is getting bored of her current eating routine, she wants to explore more healthy recipe inspiration using features within MealPilot. She is looking for a variety of balanced recipes that are quick to prepare, nutritious, and easy to incorporate into my lifestyle. The goal is to make finding healthy recipes as effortless as possible, while maintaining variety and balance.
Task #2: Meal plan for the week
Sara has found some healthy recipes she wants to try for the week, but she needs to incorporate these into a dedicated meal plan. This ensures she and her family are prepared with healthy meals during the week.
Task #3: Purchase groceries for the week
Now that Sara has planned her meals for the week, she needs to go grocery shopping for the ingredients. Sara will use MealPilot to streamline her grocery lists and use grocery delivery partners to get ingredients shipped straight to her home.
Sketches
Before beginning to create a prototype of the solution, I created 7 pages of sketches to experiment with a few ideas. This helped me quickly visualize and test how features might look and feel in different ways.
Low-Fidelity Prototype
After sketching out some visual ideas, I began to create a low fidelity prototype of the three key user flows: recipe search, meal planning, and grocery shopping. I kept the design minimal and focused on structure, layout and usability, rather than the visual elements. This helped me to later quickly test and iterate on the core functionality.
Task #1: Find a budget-friendly recipe.
Find a budget-friendly cauliflower rice recipe that you can incorporate into your meals regularly. Save it to your saved recipes.
Task #2: Create a Meal Plan for the Week
Create a customized meal plan for the week with some of your favorite saved recipes, including oatmeal or yogurt, chicken and salmon.
Task #3: Create a list and shop with Instacart
Create a grocery shopping list with only the ingredients you need, and order groceries to be delivered to your home using Instacart.
Usability Testing
With the low-fidelity prototype separated into three specific user tasks, I was able to conduct usability testing on a few users. This testing process helped me to catch issues early, identify opportunities to improve the design, and learn about the user’s behaviors.
Before beginning the usability studies, I created a document to plan out the methodology and questions I would ask the user.
Research Questions:
How simple is it to plan customized meals for the week?
Does this app help users save time when planning healthy meals?
What is confusing about the process?
What opportunities exist to improve the meal planning experience?
Methodology:
We conducted three moderated usability sessions via Zoom. In these sessions we had each person rotating through the role of (1) Facilitator (i.e. the designer), (2) Participant, and (3) Notetaker.
Participants:
We recruited 3 participants that meet the following criteria:
Range of ages
Have a mix of new to meal planning to those who have never meal planned before
None have used MealPilot before
All who have cooked a recipe in the last two weeks
Usability Study Plan
Findings
Issue #1: Filter option not visible
The user did not click on filter button to further search by cost or dietary preference.
Possible solutions:
more visible icon or text
put cost under recipe
Issue #2: Editable Fields were unclear
It was not clear to the user whether they could edit their meals by typing in the text box.
Possible solutions:
placeholder text
blinking cursor
dropdown with suggested options
save button
Issue #3: Grocery List was unintuitive
User expected the checkbox to cross out the ingredient. There was confusion if the interaction was adding the ingredient to the list, or removing.
Possible solution:
Add strikethrough interaction when user checks off ingredient.
Product Vision
To provide a clear understanding of what the product is all about, I spent some time to create a high-level statement to help guide its direction. This helped to set the foundation for a successful product development strategy.
“For busy working professionals looking to eat healthier without the stress, MealPilot is an all-in-one nutrition planning app that streamlines meal prep and grocery shopping. Unlike other solutions, MealPilot combines an extensive recipe library, AI-driven meal planning, and seamless grocery integration—saving users time while making healthy eating effortless and enjoyable.”
Audience
Who are the target customers and key users?
What are their demographics or behavioral attributes?
Age range is wide, typically between 20s-50s. Health-conscious individuals.
Likely a working professional working 40 hours a week or more. Possibly also have families or priorities
An interest in improving their health through nutrition, and increasing body confidence.
A desire to save time and effort, reduce stress on healthy eating, and decrease consumption of processed foods.
Needs
Which problem does the product solve?
Many users strive to improve their health in order to feel better both mentally and physically. Improving eating habits becomes effortless with meal planning tools that provide everything users need in one place. Success is measured by users being able to eat healthy in a sustainable way.
What benefit does it provide? Why would someone buy the product?
Figuring out what to eat can be overwhelming and time-consuming. MealPilot uses AI to ease the burden, saving users time by suggesting meal plans and grocery lists, so they can focus on enjoying their food. Success is indicated by users feeling like MealPilot has made their life easier.
What does success look like?
Time is valuable, and many users feel they do not have the time to spend on planning what to eat. MealPilot can help reduce the time spent stressing about what to eat, allowing users to focus on what matters most.
Features
Recipe library 📋
The extensive recipe library provides a wide variety of simple, healthy meals, ensuring users can easily find recipes that match their health goals or interests. These recipes are also designed to save time and reduce waste through smart portion sizing, so users can focus on what matters most.
Personalized Meal Plans 🥗
AI-powered meal plans makes meal planning more personalized and efficient, by continuously adapting based on past user preferences. These plans help save users time while also keeping meal planning exciting, through customized recipe recommendations.
Grocery Integration 🛒
Users further save time with automatically created shopping lists based on their meal plan, plus seamless grocery delivery through third party partners (Instacart, Doordash, etc.) —all within the app.
Mood Board
To help visualize and create inspiration for design styles, I spent time creating a mood board. I mixed a variety of fonts, colors, images, and textures to guide my creativity.
Adjectives: Fresh, Bold, Nutritious
UI Component Library
Before building high-fidelity screens, I created a simple UI component library to establish consistent typography, colors, buttons, recipe cards, and navigation patterns.
Typography, Color, Iconography
Components
High-Fidelity Prototype
Using these components, I designed a high-fidelity prototype to visualize the final product experience and key user flows. This helped bring the interface together and demonstrate how users would navigate key features of the product.
Recipe Library
The Recipes landing page highlights recommended recipes and includes a search bar for finding additional options.
Users can search and filter recipes by dietary preference and cost.
The recipe view allows users to save, share, and view detailed cooking instructions.
Personalized Meal Plans
The AI feature allows users to enter a prompt to generate a personalized meal plan based on their preferences.
The AI generates a suggested meal plan that users can save or refine by adjusting their prompt.
Once the meal plan is saved, the homepage updates to display a calendar view of meals for each day.