Previous Project | Next Project
Product Objective
Macrostax engaged with Guiceworks to reimagine their product, aiming to address challenges with user retention—a common issue in dieting apps where users often lose interest over time. Despite gaining initial traction with the MVP, the team sought innovative ways to make the app engaging and "sticky." The primary goal was to create a simple, user-friendly macro tracking app that empowered users to enjoy their preferred foods while staying on track with their health goals.
To tackle retention issues, strategies such as gamification and personalization were considered. Gamification could include features like progress tracking, badges, streaks, and rewards to motivate users and foster habit-forming behavior. Additionally, personalizing user experiences by tailoring recommendations to individual preferences and goals could enhance engagement as well.
UX Research & Design
User feedback highlighted key challenges: difficulty in using the platform, excessive time investment to plan meals, and a disconnect between what foods were recommended vs food in their kitchens. These issues drove the need for feature improvements. While Macrostax already had a process to calculate user macros as they added foods to their planner, simplifying and enhancing this functionality became the focus.
Design Process:
Research and Ideation: Conducted user research to distill insights into actionable features. Design sprints helped refine ideas into tangible solutions.
Job Stories and User Flows: Created empathetic job stories to frame user needs and developed detailed user flows to map out journeys through the product.
Engineering Collaboration: Engaged engineering early in the process to align on feature development and backend data modeling for accuracy.
Prototyping and Testing: Developed wireframe prototypes and conducted lightweight user testing to gather feedback, ensuring solutions were both effective and user-centric.
This iterative approach enabled the creation of valuable features that addressed user pain points while fostering alignment across stakeholders and engineering teams.
Solutions Implemented:
Contextual Onboarding: Captured common foods users typically eat or have in their kitchens. This enabled automatic meal planning for an entire week, simplifying meal preparation and helping users hit macro targets right from the start.
Shopping List Integration: Introduced a feature within the planner that allowed users to generate trackable shopping lists based on their planned meals, adding convenience and value.
“Portion for Me” Feature: Designed a tool where users could input specific foods, and Macrostax would calculate the portion sizes needed to meet daily macro goals.
Planner Enhancements: Enabled copy-and-paste functionality for meals or recipes, streamlining meal planning across multiple days.
Gamification Elements: Incorporated interaction design, animations, and goal targets within the planner to boost user engagement and enjoyment.
Visual & UI Design
The existing Macrostax logo served as the foundation for designing a cohesive brand identity. Keywords like fresh, clean, healthy, simple, and professional guided the process. Guiceworks employed brand boards to swiftly establish the visual design elements, enabling the creation of a design system in days or weeks rather than months. These brand boards are dynamic and evolve alongside the product and brand, eventually shaping the comprehensive brand style guide.
By developing these boards, a visual design language was formed, which could be seamlessly integrated into wireframe prototypes. This iterative process allowed for simultaneous UX updates as feedback was gathered. Ultimately, this approach facilitated the creation of the final design system for the product.
Outcomes
By creating a streamlined and contextual onboarding experience, we delivered immediate value to users upon account creation. This was achieved by presenting them with a fully planned week of meals that aligned with their macro targets, tailored to their preferences and the ingredients already available in their kitchen. Additionally, features like Fill My Meals, Portion For Me, and the Shopping List simplified the meal planning process, enhancing user satisfaction and driving retention. These innovations established Macrostax as a trusted authority in nutrition, making the platform more efficient and enjoyable for users while setting it apart in the industry.