MINDFULL
An app that encourages mindful eating practices for a healthier lifestyle, without the harmful diet culture and unrealistic standards.
Problem
With the growth of social media like TikTok and Instagram, the presence of diet culture and societal beauty standards is at an all-time high.
These phenomena are disproportionately detrimental to the physical and mental health of women and BIPOC folks. Nutrition companies have capitalized on this "trend" and continue to encourage unhealthy relationships with food.
Opportunity
A mobile app is a perfect platform to inform those trying to develop a healthy relationship with food about mindful eating and support them as they work towards a more positive view of their body and the energy they are receiving from food.
3 weeks
Studio
What is mindful eating?
Mindful eating is an approach to food that focuses on individuals’ sensual awareness of the food and their experience of the food.
The purpose of mindful eating is not to lose weight, although it is highly likely that those who adopt this style of eating will lose weight. The intention is to help individuals savor the moment and the food and encourage their full presence for the eating experience.
The problem with diet (and “anti-diet”) culture
Diet culture promotes the use of food rules and restrictions to manipulate body size—either to make sure one doesn’t become fat or to try to make fat people thin.
Platforms like Noom and MyFitnessPal are known proponents of diet culture, causing disordered eating and relapse into eating disorders. They currently host 10 million users.
BIPOC folx are disproportionally impacted by this “fad”: eating disorders in this demographic are half as likely to be diagnosed or to receive treatment.
Eating disorders are among the deadliest mental illnesses, second only to opioid overdose.
Mindfulness training develops the skills needed to be aware of and accept thoughts and emotions without judgment
User Personas
Since disordered eating is a very diverse and common problem, I created 3 user personas to focus on.
Research Findings
From user research and market comparison, the most interesting finding applicable to this mobile app is the presence of harmful language, imagery, and features championed by industry heavyweights.
Design Criteria
After completing benchmarking and determining target users, 3 design criteria were created to inform all design decisions.
Dashboard View
The information architecture of Mindfull is bento box.
Users have bite-sized key information on the homescreen of the app, easily navigating to all features of the app.
Sitemap
Mindfull has 2 distinct users: coach and client. Each has separate features and functions.
Wireframing
Mindfull had 4 features initatially ideated on: dashboard layout, check-in form, challenge workflow, and education workflow.
Secondary users, coaches, have a separate interface. To fully understand the client-facing UI, I leaned into the basics of the coach features.
Style Guide
The overall feel of the Mindfull app is curated to be approachable and friendly, intentionally stepping away from the rigidity and structure that is associated with strict dieting.
Mindfull Features
