Maximize Nutrition, Minimize Waste!
Toby Beckelman
Mobile Health Design
Summer 2013
Table of Contents
Background
3
App Introduction
4
Needs Assessment
4-10
Competitive Analysis
10-16
Description of App Design
17
Evaluation Plan
17
Development Plan
18
Marketing Plan
19
Limitations
19-20
About the Author
20
References
20
2
Background
Mobile Smartphone use is rapidly expanding, with over 91 million Smartphones being used in
the US alone.i Not only do people have Smartphones but 89% are using their phones
throughout the day.i With this wide use of Smartphones, and the potential reach an app can
have, it is no surprise that app use has extended into the healthcare field. Apps range from
helping with weight loss to medication adherence and are developed by both questionable and
reputable sources. Additionally, apps are unregulated and can deliver information that is far
from evidence-based guidelines. However, developing an app that complies with evidencebased guidelines may help with credibility and provide support for it to be used in a healthcare
setting.
One of the main features of this app will be to increase fruit and vegetable consumption in the
United States. One main focus of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, is to consume
nutrient-dense foods, emphasizing the importance of vegetables and fruits.ii The guidelines
recommend that individuals increase vegetable and fruit intake in order to increase nutrient
intake, reduce risk of chronic disease and achieve and maintain a healthy weight.ii According to
a recent report generated by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, adults in the
United States consume vegetables about 1.6 times per day and fruits 1.1 times per day and
fewer than 1 in 10 Americans are eating enough fruits and vegetables.iii Determining how much
a serving size actually is, can be challenging. By creating an app that increases the convenience
and decreases the cost of eating produce, it can help to address this issue and increase fruit and
vegetable consumption.
3
App Introduction
The app I created is called Eat Ripe and has four main objectives:
1. Increase fruit and vegetable intake
2. Increase convenience of cooking nutritious meals
3. Decrease food waste and save money
4. Decrease time spent on food shopping and planning
The app will have users input information via through app or corresponding website. The app
will then generate a menu plan for the selected timeframe based on various filters like
preferred intake of f/v servings, food budget, dietary preferences and food shopping frequency.
In addition, it will organize the menu by using produce that spoils quickly in the beginning of the
week in order to reduce food waste. By collaborating with major supermarket chains, users will
be able to conveniently sync their shopping list for home delivery or choose stores based on the
sales of the week. The app will feature fun facts, tips and suggestions about different fruits and
vegetables, including how to properly store items. Lastly, the app will calculate servings of fruits
and vegetables, track consumption and provide coupons as rewards for healthy eating.
Needs Assessment
This app would target a range of populations who have access to a Smartphone. The app would
reach populations at varying demographics but would be more targeted to individuals at certain
stages of behavior change. The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) uses stages of change to illustrate
techniques to initiate and facilitate behavior change. The behavior that this app would focus on
is eating the recommended amount of servings of fruits and vegetables.iv. The app would target
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individuals in the contemplation, preparation and action stage. An individual in the
contemplation stage would be most likely to find or download the app if encouraged by an
outside source. They would probably not seek it out on their own because they are intending to
take action but only within the next 6 months.iv For example, if a healthcare worker suggested
the app and the individual realized improving their diet was an important part of being healthy,
they might be willing to try the app. Additionally, having the ability to choose the number of
servings of fruits and vegetables to eat per week is less intimidating for a person in this stage as
opposed to automatically having to choose the recommended five servings. For individuals in
the preparation stage, being able to track fruit and vegetable servings and choosing how many
servings to eat per week can facilitate movement into the action stage by serving as a
commitment to change. Lastly, the app will target individuals who are in the action stage, who
are currently eating the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables but have been doing so
for a short period of time. The app will facilitate movement into the maintenance stage by
reinforcing the positive behavior, through coupons for produce and by connecting to social
media to obtain social support. The four personas illustrate individuals at the various stages of
the TTM and demonstrate the main objectives of the app.
1. Young Adult
Katie is a 28 year old, living with roommates in
Somerville, MA. As a Pilates instructor her schedule varies
weekly, making it difficult to plan meals. She often ends
up picking up dinner on her way home from work. Katie is
5
an active person but wishes she could eat healthier. She frequently buys fresh produce
but gets frustrated when she ends up throwing out much of her produce. She finds it
challenging to cook for one person and doesn’t like spending a lot of time at the grocery
store.
Today Katie wakes up at 4:30am in order to make it to work by 6. After a quick meal of
oatmeal and blueberries she heads out the door. She has a three hour break in the
middle of the day in between clients. Katie remembers she needed some things at the
grocery store and decides to use this time to shop. At the store Katie grabs some fruit
that is on sale and a few other items. When Katie goes to unpack her food at home, she
realizes she already had half a container of strawberries. After tossing spoiled lettuce
and a half eaten pepper, she decides to search the internet to see if there is an app that
could help her shop more efficiently so she doesn’t end up wasting food. Katie finds Eat
Ripe in the app store and based on the description and reviews she downloads it. Katie
uses it to create the perfect shopping list for her next trip to the grocery store.
2. College Student
Ian is a 21 year old, senior at Union College living
in an off-campus apartment with 4 other guys.
This is his second year living off-campus without
a meal plan. As an athlete he is very active and
eats many meals throughout the day. He has
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trouble trying to stay within his budget and decides he should cut back on ordering
food. However, between rugby practice and studying he has limited time to go to
the grocery store. He likes meals that are quick and easy but also wants to eat
healthily.
Today Ian starts his day with a bowl of cereal, toast and a banana before early
morning practice. His realizes he is almost out of milk and a few other items and
decides he should probably go grocery shopping soon. After practice, Ian has a few
hours before class. Since he doesn’t have a car and is short on time he usually uses
Stop & Shop’s Peapod home delivery service. He goes to their website and notices
an advertisement for a new app that can make eating and cooking nutritious meals
more convenient. He figures it’s worth a shot and downloads the app. He quickly
creates an account and decides to use the corresponding website to input his
information. He finds the app easy to use and likes that the website syncs with the
app and stores his food preferences. After choosing his meals for the week he
seamlessly places his order with the Peapod service and has his food delivered that
day. Later that evening he grabs his iPad, puts on some music, opens the app and
follows the recipe for his chosen meal of the night, grilled chicken and vegetable
fajitas. Ian likes that he can track how many servings of fruits and vegetables he is
eating per week and doesn’t have to spend time trying to calculate how many
servings of vegetables is in his complete meal.
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3. Busy Mother
Michelle is a 37 year old, busy mother of 3. Her
children range from 6-10 years old. They live on a
quiet street in Rockville Centre, NY. Michelle’s
husband, Mark commutes to Manhattan everyday
for work and often arrives home around 8.
Michelle is primarily a homemaker but also works
part-time as an administrative assistant at a medical office. Her family’s health is
very important to her, so she tries to cook as often as possible. However, she finds it
challenging to come up with different ways to incorporate fruits and vegetables into
her family’s diet.
Michelle starts her day by getting her children fed and ready for school. She waits
with them by the bus stop down the block and then heads to work. During her lunch
break she chats with a coworker about new recipes and trying to get her family to
eat more fruits and vegetables. Her coworker tells Michelle about an app that she
has that helps her incorporate and track her intake of fruit and vegetable servings.
She discovered the app from a flyer she received at her last trip to the grocery store.
She says the app does all the food planning for her, making it easier to cook more
often. Intrigued, Michelle downloads the app and starts to input her information.
She likes that she can decide how many fruits and vegetable servings her family will
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eat for the week. After work, Michelle heads to the grocery store and uses the app
to quickly shop for everything on the list. At home, she uses the corresponding
website to print out her recipes for the week and hangs them on the fridge. After a
couple of weeks Michelle continued to increase the amount of fruit and vegetable
servings until her family was consistently eating 4-5/day. Michelle was encouraged
to continue this trend when she received coupons for fresh produce after tracking
one week of 5 serving/day.
4. Older Adult
Jack is a 59 year old accountant. He lives with
his Golden Retriever, Max in a condo in
Hoboken, NJ. Jack used to be active but over
the years he and Max have been getting less
and less exercise. Concerned about his weight
gain, Jack recently scheduled an appointment with his primary care physician. He
found out that he has high cholesterol and was advised to alter his diet. Having
eaten the same way for years, Jack asked his doctor from suggestions on how to eat
better. His doctor told him about an app, Eat Ripe, that would be useful to him.
Jack decided to give it a try and downloaded the app. He found it straightforward
and easy to use. Seeing as Jack currently didn’t eat many fruits or vegetables he was
9
pleased to be able to choose the amount he wanted to eat and decided to start easy
and eat 2 servings daily. Jack had heard that eating fruits and vegetables was an
important part of a healthy diet but never really understood how much a serving
really was equal to. He liked that the app calculated the servings for him and that he
could track his progress. He also liked the ability to choose meals that were low in
saturated fat to help lower his cholesterol. Jack still likes to order pizza every once in
a while but also realized that he enjoyed cooking most of the time.
Competitive Analysis
I choose these apps by using search words in the app store (“food waste” “meal planner”
“budget meals” “fruits and vegetables”) that reflect the different functions of Eat Ripe and
would be used by target users. I selected the apps based on similarity of function to Eat Ripe
and that appeared in the top 10 apps. Based on the competitive analysis, some features that I
would want to include would be a sleek, simple, clear and attractive design. All of the apps I
looked at met this criteria and in order to be competitive, I believe my app would have to
achieve the same level of professionalism. In addition, one feature that I found particularly
appealing was the organization of food shopping lists by grocery store aisle. This allows for even
greater convenience to the user by decreasing shopping time and I would use this feature in my
app.
On the other hand, there were a few features that I would want to avoid. Firstly, were
impractical features, for example calling for the use of food scales to measure out portion sizes.
10
I want my app to make eating fruits and vegetables extremely easy and for it to calculate for
the user. Secondly, I found that some apps did not have intuitive navigation. I would design my
app to be straightforward and similar in function to popular operating systems such as the
iPhone. Lastly, when dealing with apps that relate to food, there were often long lists of items. I
would make sure to have a search function in my app, to avoid having to scroll through such
comprehensive lists.
The main thing I would do to distinguish my app would be to partner with a popular
supermarket chain, such as Stop & Shop. This would help with advertisement, offering coupons
to attract users and increase convenience by syncing to the delivery service. However, I would
also have to make it distinguishable from the store’s own app and perhaps partner with more
than one supermarket. In addition, my app would be superior to its competitors because of its
ability to combine increasing fruit and vegetable servings, food planning and shopping, budget,
and reducing food waste all into one app.
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App 1
1. App name, logo, url
2. Objective at a glance
What is the objective,
problem, or
challenge the app
seems to be
addressing?
3. Purpose and Goals
How clear are the
purpose and goals of
the app at a glance
from name, tagline,
and imagery? Does it
match the objective
at a glance?
App 2
App 3
App 4
Love Food Hate
Waste
https://itunes.app
le.com/us/app/lov
e-food-hatewaste/id57827400
9?mt=8
Spinning Meals:
Smart Meal
Planner
Reduce food
waste, save
money
Plan meals and
generate shopping
list
Provides healthy,
easy, and
affordable recipes
Learn about
produce
Developed by UK
company
Easily keep track
of food planning,
shopping, cooking
meals and making
the most of
leftovers.
Automatically
plans your weekly
meal schedule for
you, based on your
own recipes and
preferences.
Enjoy healthy
meals at home
with your family
without breaking
the bank
Descriptions of the
fruit and
vegetables with
instructions on
how to pick
produce
Recipe ideas and
tips for using
forgotten foods
and leftovers to
make great tasting
meals.
Goals are clear
and match the
Cooking Matters
Produce GuideFruits, Vegetables,
http://cookingmatt Flashcards and
ers.org/app/
Nutrition
http://spinningme
als.com/#Home
https://itunes.appl
e.com/us/app/pro
duce-guide-fruitsvegetables/id3051
55106?mt=8
Filter recipes by
categories like 30minute meals,
diabetes friendly,
one-dish meal,
seasonal and kidapproved.
Using a patentpending planning
engine, Spinning
Meals considers
your food
preferences and
the seasonal
variations which go Name and imagery
along with your
convey objective
Nutritional
information
Ability to look up a
list of what’s in
season
Instructions on if
you should
12
tagline/imagery
family’s favorite
meals.
refrigerate and
how to store your
produce
Name doesn’t
really match
objective, don’t
see the
relationship with
“spinning” until
you use the app
4. Users
Is there any
information about
users through
descriptions, images,
stories, testimonials,
or usage data?
5. Ratings and reviews
What are the ratings,
reviews, and
feedback?
6. Downloads and use
How many
users/downloads are
there? Is there data
about retention?
7. Research
Was there any
research, evidencebased guidelines, or
experts involved?
Suggestions for
how long you
should keep each
item with a log of
when you’ve
purchased the
item and when you
should discard the
item
No user info
No usage data
No usage data
No
ratings/reviews
Launched 2/14/13
Fairly new app,
4/23/13
Seen in the New
York Times, and
featured in eHow’s
12 Great Apps For
Moms
No data
4.5/5, 68 reviews
No data
No
No
Imagery/tagline
indicate app is
about produce
No data
3/5, 35 reviews are
mixed
4.5/5, 39 reviews
No data
No data
Developed by the
chefs and nutrition
experts at Share
Our Strength’s
Cooking Matters,
which has 20 years
of experience
helping families
No information on
how the nutritional
info is generated
13
cook healthy meals
on a tight budget
8. Design
How professional is
the design?
Characterize it
(modern, simple,
crisp…) and if the
design works given
the app purpose.
9. Layout and
navigation
What sections does
the app have and are
they delineated by
content type, roles,
or user needs? How
usable and organized
are the layout and
navigation (including
labels and menus)?
Do they make
options apparent?
10. Branding and
external affiliations
Who created the app
and why? Is there
organizational
branding,
accreditation,
sponsorship, or
advertising?
11. Expert content
What are the expertgenerated
components
Professional,
simple, no many
options
Attractive pictures,
large font, simple
Professional
design, simple,
colorful appealing
pictures
Simple design,
looks professional
Use is not
intuitive, navigate
by recipes,
portions, planner,
my kitchen or
shopping list but
not very clear,
hard to scroll
through so many
food options, also
advises on using a
scale to measure
out portion sizes,
not very practical
WRAP, non-profit
organization in the
UK focused on
waste reduction.
Advertising on
their website for
the app
Could not
download but from
screenshots/revie
ws seems easy to
navigate, options
are at the
bottom/clear,
adding recipes at
first seems to be
time consuming
but they are then
stored
Clear menu at the
bottom on screen:
recipes, favorites,
tips, connect
Clear menu on
bottom, few
options
Ryan Smith, a
family cooking
blogger and the
creator of the
Spinning Meals
app.
Cooking Matters
plays a critical role
in Share Our
Strength’s No Kid
Hungry
Tyson Foods for
donating $1 per
download to the
No Kid Hungry
campaign for the
first 5,000
downloads.
Walmart and
ConAgra
Healthy meals, tips
on whole
grains/fruits/veg
Unclear
None
None
Nutritional facts
14
(including text,
graphics, audio,
video, blogs,
directions, ask the
expert, glossary, quiz,
chat with an expert)?
12. Authors and
N/A
oversight
Does expert content
identify the author
and date written and
reviewed? Is there an
advisory board or
clinician
involvement?
Reading level is
13. Literacy and
average, mainly
readability
food items,
Is the content clear
however you do
and easy to
need to be able to
understand? What
read
reading level is it?
measurements
14. User-generated
Can log in with
content and sharing facebook and
What are the usershare recipes
generated
components
Can “like” website
(including discussion and follow on
forums, blogs, videos, Twitter
“likes”, comments,
ratings, and
reviews)? Which, if
any, social media is
used? Can content be
shared?
15. Policies
No
Are there explicit
privacy policies or
ones for how
information is used?
Can sync with
16. Registration
Do users register and, Facebook or
create an account,
if so, what can they
N/A
No
No
Food items,
knowledge of
cooking
techniques/tools
and measurements
Food items,
knowledge of
cooking
techniques/tools
and measurements
Website has blog,
“like” on FB, follow
on Twitter
“Connect” option
on menu allows
user to connect to
blog and twitter
Average reading
level, some words
decribing produce
like “hue”
“fragrant” might
not be as
understandable
Website describing
the app
No
No
No
Unclear
First asked to take
the No Kid Hungry
pledge
Unclear
15
do before and after
registering? What
information is
tracked or displayed?
How is personal
information used?
17. Cost
Is there a cost for the
app or for premier
features?
limited access
until an account is
created
No
Yes,
18. Devices and websites
corresponding
Does the app tie into
website on
any others apps,
reducing food
devices, or websites?
waste
19. Support and
Yes, can contact
feedback
and FAQ on
Is there a website or website
support forum for
users? Is there a way
to provide feedback?
Is there a feedback
survey?
Best: attractive,
clean design
20. Overall assessment
What are the overall
best and worst
features of the app?
$2.99
No
$1.99
Yes, corresponding
website describing
the app, featuring
a blog, FAQs
Website describing
app and purpose
of campaign and
organization
Website
Yes, users can
provide feedback
on the website and
comment
Website provides
email for contact
Website provides
email for contact
Best: uncluttered,
not overwhelmed
with recipe choices
Best: can filter
recipes by many
things ex: kidapproved,
diabetes-friendly
Best: large font
and attractive
pictures
Worst: practicality
(use of scales), not Worst: organizes
intuitive on how
recipes by season,
to use it
personally that
seems irrelevant,
what I cook
doesn’t vary that
much by season
Worst: Only a few
tips are given, not
sure if they change
Worst: hard to
scroll through
items, no search
function
16
Description of App Design
The app does comply with evidence-based guidelines surrounding fruit and vegetable
consumption by allowing users to choose their preferred serving, in addition to promoting and
rewarding high intake. As mentioned previously, the app would be successfully used by the
personas, by targeting individuals at different stages of behavior change. Also, the app appeals
to a wide range of people because of its multiple objectives. Lastly, the app would be useful in
multiple mobile contexts. For instance, it would be used in the grocery store where users can
follow their generated shopping list, on the subway to plan a menu for the week, or in the
kitchen viewing recipes. Overall, the app would be convenient, appealing and easy to use.
Evaluation Plan
It will be important to conduct formative evaluations throughout the design and development
stage as well as the launch phase in order to continue improving the app. The evaluation will
focus on appeal, usability, and effectiveness. I would conduct focus groups that consist of
potential target users. During the beginning phases of design, feedback on the app logo, name
and tagline would be gathered. Making sure that the purpose and objectives are clear and
appealing will be important in attracting users and getting downloads. As development
continues, input from the focus groups will be incorporated. Testing of the prototype will
provide valuable insight into users’ perception of usability and effectiveness of the app.
Additionally, conducting evaluations before the finished product is complete will not only help
in development but will also save money by addressing issues early on in the process. However,
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improvements will continue to be made in updated versions based on users’ comments and
reviews.
Development Plan
This app will be aim to collaborate with multiple major supermarket chains to support its
development. In return the app will feature supporting supermarkets and allow users to make
home delivery purchases or direct them to the nearest store. In addition, the app will reward
healthy eating, and attract customers by providing users with coupons to their preferred store.
This app allows users to generate very personalized information based on their inputs,
therefore the development will be intricate. However, the app will be able to pull from
information already available. For example, the app can use menus from online sources as well
as weekly deals and price information from supermarket websites. I perceive one challenge to
be creating an algorithm that could convert measurements of fruits and vegetables into
servings from existing menus, in addition to converting measurements of recipes that serve 4 to
serve 1 and accounting for what produce should be eaten first to decrease food waste.
The cost of developing the app will be greater with the addition of compatibility through
multiple devices and platforms. At first I would develop the app from IOS operating system
because it is less fragmented than the Andriod system. Since 93% of apple users have the same
version operating system it would be less costly than developing for the Andriod platforms,
which has three different versions of operating systems that each account for about 30% of
users.v Eventually, if successful, I would develop a version usable on all devices. Ideally, if
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supermarkets collaborate with the development of the app, then the cost of the app to users
would be free. If not, there would be a cost to the app ranging from $0.99-$2.99, based on the
competitive analysis, in order to achieve the professional design and function of the app.
Lastly, in addition to developing the app, a corresponding website would need to be created.
This website would need to have the capability to sync seamlessly with the app by use of a user
account. The website would also serve as a way to back up users’ stored preferences.
Marketing Plan
The marketing plan will depend largely on collaboration from the supermarkets. If the app can
be marketed to the supermarkets as a way to generate more customers then they would be a
major venue for marketing. Ideally, supermarkets would feature the app on their website, store
circulars and flyers. Additionally, the app would be introduced to healthcare workers as a useful
tool to help patients eat a healthy diet and could be beneficial for patients dealing with any
diet-related issue. If providers see it as an effective tool, they could recommend it to patients.
Another venue would be through colleges and universities’. Many academic institutions have
some outlet for health and wellness information, having the app comply with evidence-based
guidelines can increase its credibility and justify its use and promotion by the school. The app
would also rely on word-of-mouth to gain popularity as well as reviews and ratings on the app
store. I would also seek out opportunities for recognition on related websites, blogs and
magazines.
Limitations
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All apps come with the limitation that the user must have a device to use the app. This creates a
large barrier for people who do not have access to a device, which in many cases might be a
high risk population that you would want to reach. Another limitation, is that this app would
not target individuals in the precontemplation stage of change because they have no intention
of changing, therefore is would be extremely challenging to reach them to download the app.
Also, I have based the app on the US population and would not necessarily translate into other
countries. Lastly, cost would be a limitation to low-income population.
About the Author
Toby Beckelman is currently pursing a dual degree, a M.S. in Nutrition and MPH from Tufts
University. After graduation, Toby’s plans to use her skills to work on nutritional interventions
focused on childhood obesity prevention. Although she has lived in Boston for the past two
years, Toby is originally from Long Island, NY and is still a NY sports fan. In addition to routing
for the Knicks, she likes to spend her time being active, traveling and loves spending summers
at the beach.
References
i
Go-Gulf. "Smartphone Users Around the World." Go-Gulf.com. N.p., 02 Jan. 2012. Web. July
2013. <http://www.go-gulf.com/blog/smartphone/>.
ii
U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. 7th Edition, Washington, DC: U.S.
Government
Printing Ofice, December 2010
iii
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State Indicator Report on Fruits and Vegetables,
2013. Atlanta, GA:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services;
2013.
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iv
Glanz, K., Rimer, B., and Viswanath, K. Health Behavior and Health Education. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2008.
v
Slivka, Eric. "Apple Highlights Low Fragmentation Among IOS Devices in Direct Jab at
Android." Mac Rumors. N.p., 21 June 2013. Web. July 2013.
<http://www.macrumors.com/2013/06/21/apple-highlights-low-fragmentation-among-iosdevices-in-direct-jab-at-android/>.
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