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INTRODUCTION
VitaMe helps users to assess health problems and set health goals according to their food supplement consumption, with constant visibility on their progress.
This is a personal project with a fictitious digital product, designed to solve a problem through the design thinking process and explore whether it would be beneficial to invest more resources developing it in the future.
ROLE
User Research
Product Design
DELIVERABLE
iOS Mobile App
YEAR
2020
THE PROBLEM
Excessive ambiguity
As more people become aware of the importance of a healthy lifestyle, there has been a significant increase in the growth of the food supplement market in recent years. However, many consumers self-diagnose their health problems through superficial symptoms, choosing products based on non-specific information that is targeted at the general consumer. Additionally, most people seem to take supplements as a force of habit, with some finding it hard to take them consistently. Since it's hard to track their progress, they don't know if these products are making any difference.
KEY PAIN POINTS
01
Users take food supplements without a particular motivation in mind.
02
Users don't find it easy to research the right information about food supplements.
03
Users don't notice if supplements are making any difference to their health or wellbeing.
04
Users don’t find it easy to take supplements regularly.
THE CHALLENGE
Give more visibilities
In the situation where there is excessive ambiguity on food supplement consumption, the challenge was to reduce the ambiguity and give more visibilities.
"How might we give users more visibility on food supplement consumption and help them to achieve their health goals?"
THE GOALS
01
Help users to identify their health concerns
02
Encourage users to take suitable supplements
03
Support users in achieving their health and wellbeing goals
KEY SOLUTIONS
HEALTH ASSESSMENT
No more confusion when it comes to your health
30 health-related questions help you to assess your health status. The results show you which areas you should focus on improving.
GOAL SETTING
Set easy, achievable health goals
Follow the recommended advice based on your health assessment or adjust however you wish to customise your health journey.
TRACKING PROGRESS
View your progress at a glance
Daily notifications remind you to take your supplements at the pre-set time. By tapping the notification, you can easily log your daily consumption and see your progress as you work towards your goals.
RESEARCH & KEY INSIGHTS
How do users currently take food supplements?
To answer this question and learn more about further pain points, I conducted the below user research.
DESK RESEARCH
I found a credible report 'Food Supplements Consumer Research Report' conducted by The Food Standards Agency, 2018.
67%
take supplements for general health and wellbeing
43%
do not know if supplements are making any difference to their health and wellbeing
TARGETED AUDIENCE
Adult Females
According to this research, adult females take more supplements than men on average (5.64 compared to 5.05 supplements per day), and discuss food supplements more widely. They have various motivations for taking supplements, not only for general health but also for beauty, sports performance, pregnancy and menopause.
ONLINE SURVEY
I conducted an online survey to gather more data from my target audience of adult females. The survey was conducted over 3 weeks and received 140 responses.
85%
take supplements to improve their overall health.
72%
are well aware of products before they purchase them*.
45%
have not noticed any effects.
37%
don't find it easy to take supplements regularly.
*This response conflicts with my previous assumption. This app will still provide product information but focus more on helping users identify health problems and achieve goals.)
USER INTERVIEW
I had conversations with 4 adult females that helped me have a better understanding of potential users and different use cases. One thing I noticed was that everyone struggled to take supplements regularly.
“Out of sight, out of mind. If I don’t see the products, I tend to forget to take them.”
Olivia, Copywriter, 26
“I take food supplements on and off without any particular reason.”
Mia, Graphic Designer, 33
USER PERSONAS
Who would use this app?
Based on my research, I identified 5 user personas that represent different ages, lifestyles, goals and pain points. In doing this, I identified Jessie as an MVP user, who has the most common goals and pain points. I then went on to form the basic features of the app in order to cater to this user.
STORYBOARD
How would users interact with the app?
I created a storyboard with a user case scenario with basic tasks.
Feeling the need for food supplements
Conducting a health assessment
Setting health goals
Getting a timely reminder
Logging consumption
Tracking progress
Experiencing improvements
DESIGN & ITERATION
Create, listen, iterate
I included key features in the navigation bar and laid out additional features in order of importance on each screen. Each user interview session was conducted after high-fidelity wireframing and prototyping, with feedback incorporated into the iterative design process.
KEY LEARNINGS
01 Users need enough context and guidance on how to use the app.
→ Add more instructional and educational guidance.
02 Users expect to see detailed information throughout the app.
→ Fulfil more detailed and personalised information for various needs.
03 Users need more visual clarity on user interface.
→ Provide intuitive user interface design by using appropriate graphic elements.
USERS SAY
"I want to see the areas I'm doing well in and to improve more intuitively."
"How often am I supposed to take the health assessment to track the improvement? I think I would easily forget to take the next one."
→ Green and red icons were added to indicate different assessment results.
→ A reminder setting will enable users to easily set a notification for the next assessment. The date is set a month ahead by default.
USERS SAY
“I felt like the transition between this screen and the Home screen was a bit random.”
“What if I don't like the suggested health goals? Can I edit them?”
→ I added an explanation of the screen and what actions users need to take to give more context.
→ I created on and off buttons for each health goal so that users can adjust as they wish.
USERS SAY
“There are too many elements on the 'Home' screen. I don't know what action to take.”
“The 'Home' screen looks like a 'Profile' or a 'Dashboard' type of screen.”
→ The wireframe of this home screen suggested excessive information for new users. This layout could be implemented for more experienced users. However at this stage, it needed to be simplified. I added a welcome message and instructional content.
→ The user status feature was removed, but the name and point information remained as they are essential. Some misleading UI elements were improved. A notification icon was added so that users are informed of the app usage history.
USERS SAY
“I want to set more detailed health goals. I wouldn't know if I am doing well or not by seeing this screen itself.”
“I want to see more information about supplements, like the recommended daily dosage."
→ Indicator of the current and goal figures was added to communicate the goals clearly. The arrow icon visually indicates the target users need to achieve.
→ Recommended daily dosage and recommended products were added alongside the supplement information.
USERS SAY
“I want to see each supplement somehow distinguished so that it's easier when logging consumption.”
“It'd be good to log my period cycle in the ‘How I Feel Today’ section as it affects my health condition. I also want status options to be more related to my health goals.”
“The graph icon is not visible. I didn't notice it was there.”
→ Colour-labelled supplements are easier to distinguish while still blending in with the colour theme.
→ Users can personalise status options in the ‘More’ menu. This will enable them to add personal cycles including period and pregnancy.
→ The graph icon and the notification icon were improved or removed for a more intuitive UI experience.
USERS SAY
"I want this screen to be more intuitive. There is too much text.”
“It'd be good if the app could notify me when I need to purchase another product.”
→ Added icons help users easily understand what information to input for each criterion.
→ ‘Notify next purchase’ option was added so that users know when to repurchase supplements.
IMPACT
What would the success look like?
I defined top 3 KPIs to focus on initially if VitaMe were developed. These cover user engagement, effectiveness, and app value to measure success.
TOP 3 KPIs
User Retention Rate
If users consistently used VitaMe to manage supplement intake and track their health goals over time, this would help ensure potential monetisation from the paid subscription service.
Health Goal Achievement Rate
Measuring how many users successfully achieve their health goals provides direct insight into the app’s effectiveness, leading to greater user satisfaction and credibility.
Daily Active Users
A growing or stable DAU shows that the app is becoming part of users' daily routines, which is key for scaling and sustaining growth.
KEY LEARNING
Listening to users is vital
In every phase of the design process, I tried to listen to users by conducting interviews and usability testing. These users helped to clarify my assumptions, whether they were right or wrong, and indicated in what direction to make progress. This project showed me that listening is very important in designing a successful user experience.
NEXT STEP
More personalisation
In the final usability test, I learned that users wanted more personalised content. They also wanted to integrate other apps they were using with VitaMe to gain a better understanding of their overall health. The next step would be to create this more personalised, integrated experience.
Website design and content © 2024 Jenny Choi.