Introduction

Nuni is an educational case study conducted during my time at DesignLab.

Restricted freedom. Autonomy from the get go.

Health. What it means, how to achieve it and, more importantly, how to maintain it. Nuni attempts to solve the problem of improving one's health achieved by weight reduction & lifestyle changes.

Discover

Objective

I wanted to discover what prevented people from becoming the best version of themselves by their definition, in terms of health.

Methodology

User Interview's
Competitve Analysis
Secondary Research

User Interview's

As far as approach to nutrition, everyone had their own beliefs, preferences, goals, circumstances, and so on, but 4 common themes emerged from the interview's.

AFFORDABILITY

Having tried various products, user’s didn’t want to dish out money for something that wouldn't last.

SUSTAINABILITY

To be able to maintain progress was key. To put in so much effort only to gain it all back was feared.

FLEXIBILITY

All user’s were reluctant to start any program that was too restrictive because they knew they wouldn’t be able to maintain that kind of regiment.

JUDGMENT

There was also fear of judgement. Fear of failure. Fear of having to go to the gym. Some felt the gym was an uninviting place for people out of shape.

Health & wellness platforms are risky! I don’t believe in them and they don’t work. I don’t think I can succeed on one because I’ve tried and failed so many times.

There’s a purpose for diets, even fad diets, but they are not sustainable.

Competitive Analysis

As far as approach to nutrition, everyone had their own beliefs, preferences, goals, circumstances, and so on, but 4 common themes emerged from the interview's.

Noom

Backed by a team of experts
Includes 1:1 coaching
Changing relationship with food using psychology.
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Cons

Noom is on the pricier side compared to other programs.
Very calorie restrictive.

MyFitnessPal

Basic plan is free.
Features include ability to scan barcodes of various food items or find them in the app's large pre-existing database.
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Cons

Little to no guidance.
No structured weight loss plan.
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Weight Watcher's

Simplified calorie-counting system that is personalized based on your age, weight, height and sex to help you lose weight.
No food restrictions.
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Cons

Counting points can be tedious.
Membership can be pricey.
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View Results

Secondary Research

I wanted to know where people get their health-related information and a quick search revealed that roughly two-thirds of American’s get this information from Google, social media, friends & acquaintances.

Outcome

I've discovered that there are emotional, mental & financial barrier's that prevent people from improving their health. Whether these are real or imagined limitations, I had to take into account that, either way, the barrier existed.

The probability of misinformation or incomplete information was high.

I concluded that every circumstance is manifested through a series of decisions. Whatever factors that fueled those decisions could be replaced and because everything stems from our mind, having the correct information is crucial.

Define

Objective

Identify the primary user; their needs, pain points & frustrations and answer the question, why can't they solve this problem on their own? What kind of product can help them along their journey.

Methodology

Persona
POV & HMW

Persona

Meet Lucy! She has tried every diet under the sun and have yo-yo dieted all her life. She feels she is always on a diet. Lucy finds food to be comforting and pleasurable.

POV Statement

Individuals who want to improve their health through weight loss and lifestyle changes need to make better informed decisions about their nutrition because they are susceptible to misinformation or incomplete information.

How Might We...

How might we provide accurate, complete nutritional information so user's can make better choices.

Outcome

Getting the correct and complete information in front of the audience will empower them to make informed choices.

Ideate

Objective

Brainstorm ideas of what the product needs to serve the user's and how it will flow. Also consider how the user will expect or best understand terms used within the product.

Methodology

Feature Set
Card Sorting
Information Architecture

Feature Set, Card Sorting & Information Architecture

I brainstormed and created a product feature set and used these feature terms to conduct a card sorting exercise.

Card sorting revealed that out of 31 cards and 6 categories, there were 5 naming conventions that had 50% of the participant’s confused. This is good to know before I begin building the site.

Creating a sitemap was necessary to organize and visualize where everything will be arranged.

Card sorting chart that show terms participant's found confusing.

Outcome

Brainstorming a product roadmap, ensuring there is no confusion with terms used in the product and structuring the site will guide me as I create the wireframes.

Prototype

Objective

Create the look and feel of the product.

Methodology

Low Fidelity Wireframes
High Fidelity Wireframes
Branding & Style Guide

Low Fidelity Wireframes

High Fidelity Wireframes

3 desktop images of homepage, dashboard & video lesson page.

UI Branding & Style Guide

I designed the logo with the holy trinity of wellness as the inspiration... mind, body & spirit, shown by 3 fluid shapes which flows into one another, to reveal a “play” icon at the center. I took inspiration from colors of the earth seen from a far distance.

Prototype

Outcome

Group crits revealed there are too many features. As a result, I will need to eliminate and focus on the main product, but before I make those changes I will conduct a usability test.

Test & Analyze

Objective

Test the first version of the product and analyze the results in preparation for the next iteration.

Methodology

Usability Testing
Usability Test Chart & Analysis
Iteration 1.0

Usability Testing & Analysis

To get an overview of the test results, I gathered all the feedback and created a chart. This made it easier to analyze the results.

What worked

All 5 participants had “0” errors navigating to the lesson page.
The color scheme, layout and features were found to be attractive and appropriate.

Key takeaways

Some UI elements are distracting and inconsistent and needs updating. For example, the glow behind logo and glowing neon effect behind video.
Very simple design, but a safe start.

Iteration 1.0

Taking into consideration the feedback from group crits and usability testing, I made some changes to the wireframes. Namely, I removed most of features. I also removed the chat icon and placed an icon that led to the course intent.

BEFORE

AFTER

Outcome

Affordability

User's will learn all the most aspects of nutrition at a fraction of the cost & time. They will gain a strong foundation and know how to apply what they have learned for the rest of their life.

Flexibility

As user's will be learning, applying, creating their own meal plans, fitness regime and dietary needs, They will have full control, allowing as much flexibility as needed.

Sustainability

With better knowledge, better choices

Judgement

As this is a learning environment, it will be a judgment-free zone where they will have the opportunity for trial-and-error.

Measure Success

Sign-up's
Lesson Completion
Low Cancellation Rate

Conclusion

Nuni is an educational case study designed during my time at DesignLab.

Executed

MVP for a Nutrition EdTech.

Challenges

During the Discovery phase, peeling the layers to get to the heart of the user's pain points was a challenge. In retrospect, I can see that a different method would have yielded better results, which I mention below.

Learned

What I would have done differently…If I had more time and resources, I would have conducted a focus group, encouraging deeper levels of discussion may have produced more insights given the nature of the topic.

What's Next

Explore ways to keep user's motivated and inspired. Perhaps a buddy-buddy system pairing veteran user's with newcomers. Explore ways to provide a community for user's.

NUNI

Team

My Role

Tools

Timeline

AFFORDABILITY

SUSTAINABILITY

FLEXIBILITY

JUDGMENT

Noom

Cons

MyFitnessPal

Cons

Weight Watcher's

Cons

What worked

Key takeaways