Protein Planet
App Development
Company Design at UCI
Duration 8 weeks
Role UX/UI Designer
Status Completed
Project Overview
Design at UCI team-based project to develop an app that solved an unmet need. My team designed and developed a protein tracking app, Protein Planet. We leveraged user research reports to identify user goals and then re-iterated the prototype until it met the objectives.
The Problem
Progressing in fitness is challenging, especially because it relies so heavily on nutrition and consistency. Most individuals are discouraged by the difficulty and dullness of nutrition tracking and cease their journeys prematurely.
The Challenge
How might we design an experience that allows physically active individuals to bypass the monotony of protein tracking through exciting visuals and inspire them to stay consistent in reaching new levels of fitness?
Target Users
- 18 to 44 years old
- Physically active people
- Athletes
- Weight Lifters
Project Timeline
Week 1
Meet team
+
Brainstorm/Planning
Week 2
Create Survey
+
Competitive Analysis
Week 3
Sketch
+
LoFi/MidFi Designing
Week 4
Flow Chart
+
HiFi Designing
Week 5
Brand Designing
+
User Interview
Week 6
Usability Testing
+
HiFi Prototyping
Week 7
Case Study
+
User Interviews
Week 8
Demo Day
Research
Survey Results
Through surveys, we gained quantitative data and a better understanding on how people track their protein intake and if they would find our app useful.
Sixty five respondents confirmed our theory when asked:
“Do you struggle with measuring your protein intake?”
Summarized Findings:
- 91% think visualizing their progress would help them achieve their goals
- 80% are not tracking their protein intake (mentally or physically)
- 64% don’t know how much protein they should have per day
- 58% struggle finding different sources/meals with protein
- 53% don’t currently have a specific daily protein goal
User Interviews
We conducted user interviews to collect qualitative data on how people track their protein intake and goals.
Key Takeawys:
- Generally don’t physically track their goals
- Have trouble committing and staying consistent with their goals
- Think competition can be motivating when it’s not too overwhelming
- Think a game-style format would motivate them to achieve their goals
Competitive Analysis
We took 4 existing apps with similar concepts (Water llama, Cooklist, Protein Pal, and MyFitnessPal) and compared our key features to theirs. We found that, although MyFitnessPal shared the most similar features, it didn’t have journaling, game-play, or character customization which were the main features of our app.
Design and Wireframes
Flowchart
This flowchart shows what the user’s path might look like when using our app.
Design Concept
Reaching a fitness goal doesn’t always have a set path. It is full of twists and turns and is unpredictable, just like space. We decided to use a space theme to bring a fun and engaging twist to tracking protein.
Sketches
Initial renders of brainstorming sessions to ideate layouts and user flow.
Low-Fidelity
The app wireframe displaying our vision for essential screens, components and features.
Mid-Fidelity
In this stage we made our initial sketches come to life by adding pictures and colors.
High-Fidelity
We added more pictures and finished designing our initial ideas. Here is a run-through of our high-fidelity prototype:
Usability Testing
We asked individuals to test our high-fidelity prototype to gain general feedback on navigation, ease of use and look and feel.
Key Findings:
- Most wanted a different User Interface (UI) for certain pages
- Should change ambiguous labels to something more specific
- Didn’t know what coins did; wanted a tutorial
- Wanted to be able to generate new meals
Improvements
Referencing the key findings we implemented solutions to improve our app’s user interface and experience:
Changed “Inventory” label to “Customize Character”
Made “Top Meals” “Suggested Meals”
Increased text size underneath planets
Added how the coins are earned on hover over the coin bar
Added refresh button
When refresh button is clicked, new meals pop up
Style / Design Systems
For this project, we created a logo and utilized symbols to engage users. The following guide was created to provide direction on color scheme, typefaces, and iconography usage throughout the app.
Our Solution - Protein Planet
- Immerse yourself in a captivating game that incentivizes protein tracking
- Connect with friends and compete to see who reaches their goals first
- Stay motivated by earning coins to customize your character when reaching a goal
Final Takeaways
Collaborating respectfully gets more done
Project management is essential – organize, set deadlines, execute
Important to have a growth mindset; leave behind perfectionism