Exploratory UX Reseacrh
Conducting exploratory UX research to bridge the gap between children's meal preferences and parents' nutritional goals, fostering healthier eating habits for kids.
Role
UX Researcher
Timeline
4 weeks - 2023
Tools
FigJAm
Miro
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Exploratory
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Generative
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Semantic Analysis
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Cognitive Walkthrough
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Conversational Mining
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Vision & Mission
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Dark Side
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Dot Voting
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Possible Scenario
Background
Problem Statement
Many parents are concerned about their children's diet and want both the food to be healthy and the child to enjoy it.
Research Goals
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Understanding children's needs and preferences in food selection.
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Gathering insights on parents' priorities for their children’s nutritional health.
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Exploring how artificial intelligence can engage children and support healthy meal planning.
Key Insights
Impact of Childhood Dietary Habits on Health
Some participants who faced strict dietary restrictions during childhood developed heightened cravings on those restricted foods in later life.
Cultural and Social Influences on Eating Behaviors
Cultural, social, and parental influences shape children’s food preferences, often mirroring parents' eating habits.
Preference Development and Appreciation for Healthy Food
Home-cooked meals and fresh, homegrown foods foster healthier choices, with children 24% more likely to meet daily fruit and vegetable recommendations.
Decoding the problem
Semantic Analysis
Hyposesis
All parents want their children to eat healthily, but children often prefer junk food. Strictly prohibiting certain foods can lead to mental health challenges and future compensatory behaviors.
Trendscape
An overview of current and emerging trends that address the problem.
Mindful Eating
Encouraging a deeper connection with food, reducing stress-related eating, and fostering a more positive relationship with nutrition.
Functional Foods
Foods with added health benefits, like probiotics, prebiotics, fortified items, and ingredients such as turmeric or matcha.
Nutritional Education
Increased awareness about the impact of certain nutrients on mental health has led to educational initiatives promoting balanced diets for better emotional and cognitive health.
Sustainable Eating
This encompasses not just what you eat but also how it's sourced and produced, considering factors like local, seasonal, and organic foods, as well as reducing food waste.
Plant-based Diet
Vegetarianism, pescatarian, flexitarian
Personalised Nutrition
Diets based on individual genetics, microbiome, health goals, and dietary preferences. This trend involves using technology and data to create customised nutrition plans.
Future Cone
Here are some future-oriented approaches that may be relevant to this concept:
Personalised Nutrition Assistants
AI-powered nutrition assistants tailored to each family member's preferences and health needs.
Food Education Platforms
Enhanced virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) platforms provide highly immersive and interactive experiences.
Gamified Health Tracking and Rewards
Advanced health tracking apps or wearables employ gamification techniques that sync with children's interests.
Genetic and microbiome-based personalised diets
As technology advances, genetic analysis and microbiome testing become more accessible.
Research Question
How can we leverage technology to bridge the gap between children's preferences for certain foods and their parents' desire to encourage healthy eating habits?
Research Vision
I developed my research vision using the Lean Canvas model, enabling a focused approach to identifying core user needs, challenges, and opportunities for impactful solutions. This framework helped me refine strategic goals and design pathways aligned with user-centered insights.
Vision & Mission
In order to alter intergenerational eating habits and behaviours, we want are passed down through generations, we want parents to change eating rules by offering them educational service about mental health and healthy eating habits.
Methodology
Cognitive Walkthrough (Conversational Mining)
I conducted a Cognitive Walkthrough using Conversational Mining by analyzing competitor products. This approach allowed me to dive into the conversational flows and user interactions within similar products, helping identify strengths, weaknesses, and potential areas for improvement in aligning with user needs. By studying how competitors approach similar challenges, I gained insights to refine our product's user experience and communication strategies.
Ideation
In our group ideation session for the app, I employed "dot voting" and explored the "dark side" approach to refine our ideas. "Dot voting" allowed each team member to cast votes on their preferred concepts, helping us quickly identify the most promising directions and focus on what resonated with everyone. Meanwhile, the "dark side" exercise—considering potential negative or unintended consequences of our ideas—encouraged us to think critically about user impact and potential challenges. Together, these methods enhanced our brainstorming, ensuring our concepts were both innovative and mindful of user experience.
Scenario
A busy parent wants to provide healthy meals for their children but struggles with finding the time - and in some cases lack of knowledge and skills - to plan and prepare meals. They open the AI-based Meal Box app and select the Smart Box feature.
They input their family's preferences and dietary restrictions, and the AI offers a meal plan based on food available at home/fridge. Then children can actively participate in the meal planning process and choose from the offered options.
The parent can view the nutritional information and dietary insights for each meal & save the meal plan to the physical lunch box for their children to take to school.
Learning & Next Steps
Throughout this project, I gained valuable insights into the complexities of the problem and honed my understanding of various research methods. Despite limited resources and a few challenges, I thoroughly enjoyed the process and felt we developed a strong strategy to address the issues identified through our research.
As a next step, I was collaborating with a teammate to develop the app prototype, which would allow us to bring our research insights to life and refine the solution further.