Bad Vegan App
The Challenge was to design an app that will help people to cut meat consumption. While I transitioning towards vegan diet I discovered that it is harder than I thought. Despite the fact that I was vegetarian for 20 years I felt some discomfort and came across some difficulties in social situations. Even though wanted to stay true to my commitment I kept balancing out being socially demanding every time I wanted to eat out with friends (had to check if a place has vegan options and if not then ask my colleagues to change the spot), it was constant. At work at some point I was asked everyday if today is a good or bad vegan day so we can plan our lunch accordingly. I figured that I can’t be the only one that faces the issue.
Competitive Analysis
Based on available apps I attempted creation of competitive profiles (in terms of marketing strategy, content) with SWOT analysis I managed to pin some opportunities. There’s a lot of apps that try to help people move towards plant based diet, but most of them are focusing on one aspect of an issue.
There are apps with recipes only, some of them are dedicated to cosmetic market, some are focusing on saved animals numbers. But there are few apps that go beyond one area. And those apps with more holistic approach are dedicated to specific audience: Yoga Tribe or are created for people who can effort 10 pound subscription a month for exclusive content. Non of those is targeting young audience.
Opportunities and Challenges
Opportunities
•Bring awareness to healthy vegan/vegetarian diet.
•Make an impact and help people easier combat difficulties in the process of changing their eating habits.
• Non of specific Apps that I found is aiming to grab attention from young generation.
•Non of the apps has a more holistic approach. Most of them are focusing on recipes only. Or are dedicated to specific groups.
•Non of the apps is inclusive enough to serve to small communities. Small towns do not have restaurants and fancy ingredients available on a spot.
Challenges
•Content needs to be balanced so young people have guidance in healthy vegan/vegetarian diet and wouldn’t feel pressured.
•Tried to make this process as easy as possible for users.
•Provide the right content like tips and share stories that will make users feel more as part of community.
Generally
SWOT analysis shows a big gap in the market. Apps with recipes are using expensive ingredients. More content oriented apps provides PDF to read which are uncomfortable on your phone specially when they were design for print. Non of the existing apps is targeting young audience.
Interviews
With experience from my journey to become vegan and SWOT analysis I decided to conduct interviews with 12 people that are currently vegan and 2 people that are vegetarian(of witch one has a lot of allergies and going vegan would cut a lot of ingredients from her already restricted diet)
Goals:
Find out is switching to plant based diet is a process for everyone?
Find out if there are any common steps or patterns for interviewees?
Locate their Pain Points and hear how they dealt with it.
Listen how they find their life now and if they are still struggling with any areas?
Based on the responses received, I formulated questions for an online survey that was answered so far by 57 people in young age from different parts of Poland.
Findings from interviews and surveys
Interview Insight 1
Young people struggle the most with convincing their parents to let them swing towards plant based lifestyle. It is a process, parents are weary about letting their kids eliminate meat consumptions. App could focus on aspect how to provide healthy guide to eating well and how to monitor your health, so vegetarian/vegan diet is introduced in a safe way. Some tips how to communicate with their guardians.
Interview Insight 2
Providing recipes with simple, everyday ingredients that can be sourced in stores around the country. In case of more specific products (e.g.: inactive yeast flakes) info how to get those for e.g. on-line. Focusing on inclusivity, make it easy to source all parts of your meal easily, no matter where you from, if you live in small village or a big city.
Interview Insight 3
Some more aware users would need more information not only about food and healthy diet but also recommendations on vegan friendly brands, climate change tips for holidays etc.
Building empathy
After analysing gathered data from interviews and survey results, I defined the two target group profiles Liz and Luck. I visualise all insights in empathy maps and customer journey so I can better empathise with main user groups and prioritise their goals and needs.
After gaining insight in to Customer Journey I was able to identify pain points and challenges.
•Users do not know where to look for information at the beginning.
•Big part of the journey are recipes, ingredients, cooking.
•Getting simple enough recipes with simple ingredients that are available in most places, but keep it entertaining and interesting
•Get support from your peers
•Know how to communicate with your peers and colleagues and get them on board with your new choice.
•In social dining situations how to communicate about veganism.
•Feeling of doubt in social situations “feeling pressure for being difficult”
•Finding out vegan brands for shoes, clothes etc…
Information Architecture
Based on the insights gained from the initial content audits, competitor analyses and Card Sorts with potential users, I defined the sitemap for Bad Vegan and then evaluated it via tree tests with potential users.
Wireframing, Prototyping & Usability-Testing
Paper-Prototypes
After tests with low-fidelity paper prototypes with content and the general structure of the application. I discovered some gaps that could be easily adjusted in digital wireframes.
Clickable prototypes
After some paper prototype tests and implementation of all adjustments I created low-fidelity prototypes in Figma. Again, user tests revealed some vulnerabilities in the structure of the user interface. In addition added few notes and questions that led to further improvements.
Gamification
Bad Vegan app will have 5 main segments: Feed, Food, Activity, Market and Profile.
Gamification aspect sparked the idea in my head for this app to begin with, as it can motivate users to accomplish tasks in in this particular case reduce meat or animal products in their diet, eat healthy and sustainable.
•User will be able to participate in challenges and gather badges. I used gamification mechanics as a tool to increase interactions and help users engage and motivate them better.
•Users will be able to collect badges from weekly, monthly challenges but also they will be able to produce their own challenges that they will be able to share with their friends.
•Users will be able to check leaderboards for specific Challenges, Friends profiles with their badges and share their accomplishments on social media.
Conclusion
•Again having a game plan with realistic timeline helps with task and time management.
•In this particular case all interviews proved to bring new ideas, revealed new challenges also brought suggestion for solutions or tips. At the beginning i had a strong idea in my head how this app should look like and as I started interview people they all brought new angles. Then i realised that bias is strong with me. So i need to listen and analyse carefully.
•Design Thinking process sparked new conclusions every step of the way. When i realised how stained I was by my own experience I started to be more open on the process and it worked. On every stage i discover new potential pain points or features that might help users to overcome those.
