Awarel – Milla Dovgal ‒ UX UI Designer

ABOUT

This is my first individual project for the Ironhack UX/UI Bootcamp. This project is based on a design thinking process and includes UX and UI design.
My area of research is wellness, and I decided to focus on eating habits. I have researched people’s relationships with food, and I have seen the possibility to create something new in this area — mindful eating app.

The project is based on an implementation intention strategy; it is a simple way to follow through with our intentions and do what is necessary to attain our desired results.

TEAM
Individual Project

ROLE
UX/UI Designer

PROJECT DURATION
2 weeks, Feb 2019

TOOLS
Sketch, Principle, Illustrator, Photoshop, RealTimeBorder, Pen & Paper

UX PROCESS

UX Process

CHALLENGE

Develop a digital product for the wellness industry, that makes a user’s relationship with mental, physical, or emotional well-being better. The tool should track the user’s progress and pushes them to commit to a healthier lifestyle.

USER RESEARCH

For the survey, I prepared questions about eating habits and related feelings. I used Lean Survey canvas for it. The primary goal of the survey was to find the pain points and to see the patterns in people’s eating behavior. I got 74 responses, and here is one of the most important findings — 88% of people eat when they are not hungry.

The key findings from the interviews and the survey:

DEFINITION

PROBLEM

People eat when they are not really hungry because they confuse physical hunger and emotional hunger. The emotional hunger cannot be satisfied with food. As a result, people have negative emotions — frustration, discomfort, stress, guilt, regret, shame after eating with no physical hunger. It affects their self-esteem and self-confidence.

SOLUTION

Create an app for people who want to be more aware of their food-related habits by asking users questions, if they have any signs of a physical hunger with some further suggestions to help users learn, develop their awareness skills. I have chosen to focus on three ways to help users — before, during and after the eating process.

Before — ask a user questions, if she/he has any signs of a physical hunger with some further suggestions.
During — a guided meditation while eating for increasing mindfulness or an apple watch app with reminders during the meal time.
After — Self-monitoring a daily journal to log feelings, emotions and food intake (without counting calories), that will help users to see the patterns in their behavior.

For my MVP I decided to choose the “before” part — ask the user questions about hunger to help users learn, develop their awareness skills.