WORK ABOUT CONTACT

kcaltrax.

A mobile app to help promote
a healthy lifestyle.

Introduction
From brainstorming an idea to completing a full app development cycle.

The process started with having to identify a problem which could be solved, or at least helped, through the use of a mobile application. This idea was then researched to discover the problem areas and provide the basis of the app requirements.

The app was then designed, developed and tested with the overall intention being a product which can successfully aid the original problem.

The problem
Over 58% of men and 68% of women in the UK are overweight or obese.

Such statistics put a large portion of the nation at risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and more. The two main factors which have contributed to the UK's obesity problem are inactivity and overeating. According to the NHS, the key to a healthy life is largely due to your diet, and it's here where kcaltrax aims to help.

Developing a persona
Ensuring the final product reflects the end user.

Isaac is a 36 year old male who lives in London. He works a 9-5 corporate office job as a business analyst.

Isaac often works late hours and therefore rarely has the time or motivation to cook healthy meals. Therefore, a large portion of his diet consists of premade meals and fast food which he grabs on his commute. This busy lifestyle has led to Isaac falling into the category of overweight.

Isaac has had some limited experience with calorie tracking services but generally found them tedious and unmotivating to complete for every meal he ate.

Need statements
Extracting user needs to create relevant objectives.

Using the persona, need statements were created to capture the important/main objectives of the app. In terms of development, these statements helped ensure work sprints were on track and the deliverables were relevant and necessary.

"As a user I need to be able to log a meal without having to input the details everytime I eat that meal."

"As a user I need to be able to store recipes so I can quickly use them when I want to cook a healthy meal."

"As a user I need to be able to create shopping lists based on my recipes in order to save me time and ensure I buy healthy food."

"As a user I need a calorie tracking experience which is simple, easy and fun to manage so that I feel motivated to use it."

Wireframing
Designing the look and flow of the app.

Wireframes

First lo-fi wireframes were created to get initial ideas down on paper and explore what views/pages would be required.

Once the lo-fi wireframe process had been completed, I then produced slightly higher fidelity wireframes to clearly demonstrate each screen and the information within.

User Flows

Using the above wireframes, I then produced user flows to show how a user would use the app to achieve the tasks outlined in the need statements. Below are two examples, in the context of the defined persona Isaac.

Background: Isaac has just prepared and eaten a meal which is a regular part of his diet. He now needs to log the calories in the app.

The first thing that Isaac sees when opening the app is the ‘progress plate’, which immediately indicates his progress to meeting his calorie goal and a list showing what meals have been logged that day. He presses the hamburger icon to open the menu and navigate to his recipe list.

On the second screen all of the recipe’s which Isaac has input to the app are visible. Each recipe has a title, brief description, picture and clearly shows the calorie information. Isaac selects the meal he wants to log.

From the recipe details page Isaac is able to see more comprehensive information about the selected meal and the option to log the meal. He presses the ‘log this meal’ button and his calorie total for the day updates.

Background: Isaac is planning a shopping trip and wants to quickly produce a list to ensure he buys only what he needs.

From the recipe list, Isaac navigates to the recipe which he wishes to buy the ingredients for.

From the recipe details screen Isaac can view all of the ingredients required and also has the option to add all of the ingredients to his shopping list by pressing the 'add to shopping list' button, which he does.

All of the ingredients and the appropriate quantities have now been added to Isaac’s shopping list.

The solution
A manageable, yet fun, way to maintain a healthy diet.

"kcaltrax is a multi-feature mobile app which is designed to give users a manageable, yet fun, way to maintain a healthy diet."

The app is composed of three main aspects which work together to provide a seamless and efficient workflow to an often-cumbersome task.

The main focus is to track and display calorie intake so the user can immediately see progress or recognise concerns. The other two features, a recipe book and shopping list, are fully integrated to make achieving the goal more manageable; for example, when the user is viewing a recipe they can choose to add all ingredients to their shopping list with a single button press.

There are a number of other small features in the app such as personalised goal calculation, statistical history, and notification reminders.