Conceptualizing a
Mindful Eating Tool
The Project
NuIntuitive is a mobile application that combines evidence-based intuitive eating courses with a reflective meal journal. The goal: help users develop a healthier relationship with food. NuIntuitive was conceptualized and designed by me with consistent feedback from my peers and professor in my Master’s program.
My Roles
- UX/UI Designer
- Visual Designer
Tools
- Figma
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Illustrator
Organization
- UCI MHCID
Project Dates
- Jan 2022 - Mar 2022
Uncovering our Relationship with Food
A literature review was conducted to understand the social landscape surrounding food and people’s relationship to food. After reviewing 12 peer-reviewed academic sources, the following insights were found:
Diets generally involved rules, restrictions, calorie counting, and consistent body checking.
Restrictive diets lead to weight gain, disturbances in body image, over and under control of eating, and extreme behaviors.
28.8 million Americans will develop an eating disorder in their lifetime.
Intuitive eating encourages people to reconnect with their body’s innate signals of hunger, fullness, and food preferences.
Intuitive eating can be an effective treatment for those with damaged relationships with food.
Researching Existing Anti-Diet Approaches
A competitive analysis was then conducted to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and design features of existing applications that help people restore their relationship with food. The analysis found that there was a major opportunity to create a free-to-use application that combined a reflective food journal and evidence-based intuitive eating courses. No existing application offered all these features in one.
Direct Competitors
InDirect Competitors
Envisioning a New Solution: NuIntuitive
A sketch concept for an application named NuIntuitive was envisioned. The concept aimed to address the findings from the literature review and take advantage of the opportunities presented by the competitive analysis.
Developing User Flows & Wireframes
Branding with Comfort in Mind
A warm color palette and modern fonts were chosen to create an environment that was supportive but not clinical.
NuIntuitive’s High-Fidelity Design
Video Walkthrough
Clickable Prototype
Challenges
Time Constraints
Time constraints within the academic schedule prevented more thorough user testing. More time would be needed to carry out an in-depth design process.
Need for Validation
The next step would be conducting more user research and tests to validate if NuIntuitive is a solution for restoring relationships with food. Design changes and iterations should be done accordingly.
Balancing branding
There appears to be opportunities to incorporate more diverse colors, shades, and design elements. For future iterations of NuIntuitive, user testing can help refine the visual design of the application.
Reflecting on NuIntuitive
As an idea born from my own interests, NuIntuitive is influenced by my preferences and design background. It reflects my design priorities at the time. I believe future iterations would benefit from being evaluated for accessibility and user-tested with a more diverse user base.
In reflection, conducting additional user research and user testing would have provided a more refined and accessible design. These are two areas that would have been addressed if not for the limitations of the academic schedule.
Throughout the process of designing NuIntuitive, I received weekly feedback from two of my academic peers. Their advice and insights were vital in helping me iterate my work. Their final feedback regarding my project have been included.
