This looks way better on desktop ;]
đź›
mobile under construction
This looks way better on desktop ;]
đź›
mobile under construction
Mend is a brand, machine, and app that gives healthcare workers nutritious meals during their shifts at work. This product aims to provide comfort during stressful times with its colors and moving gradients.Â
Senior Project
IoT/ IOS App
Product Designer
2020
Figma, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Cinema 4D, Miro
The app allows the user to gain access to
any machine within their area, grab healthy snacks and go.
Whether there’s only one machine or several, you can easily pair to it via your building’s wifi or via bluetooth.
On a strict diet or just curious? We make it a priority to be transparent about our products to fit your dietary needs.
If you already know what you want, you needn’t spend time at the machine. Buy through your phone and use a QR code to pick up at the machine.
It all started when the nurses in my family told me about how they don’t have any healthy foods during their shifts. After further questioning, they painted a picture of a health care unit with a contrast between those who live a healthy lifstyle, and those who have health issues. To understand further, I looked around for any articles that aligned with their comments.Â
An article from abc news stated that 55% of health care workers are overweight or obese. The main contributors to this are a lack of healthy nutrition and stress on the job. Healthy food options should be assessable to healthcare workers during both day and night shifts but aren’t always available.
I wanted to find out if healthcare workers were lacking nutritionally healthy foods. Once I understood what these individuals needed, I could think of what a viable solution might be to their needs. I interviewed four nurses, one doctor, and one dietitian from different hospitals to ensure I had a well-rounded pool of information.
During my interviews, I learned about their pain points, diets, and workflows while keeping the conversation fun and light. Finding time for nurses and doctors to talk was challenging, but I'm glad they found time out of their schedules to talk. I was also lucky enough to call a Dietitian I found on google to help paint the picture of a healthy diet.
Learning how these healthcare professionals worked, I gained a well-rounded idea of their work life. With these insights, I went ahead and thought about a lot of possible solutions.
After thinking about many solutions. I had the idea of bringing the convenience and innovation of vending machines I experienced in Japan into the healthcare community to dispense healthy alternatives to candy, chips, and soda. The machine would provide healthy foods, and create a relaxing ambiance.
Create an experience that allows the audience to choose various healthy foods while also providing a calming environment.
After validating assumptions and understanding the healthcare workers, I created personas based on what I learned. I wanted the personas to help keep me on track with the healthcare individuals’ immediate needs.
To understand what meal replacements people tried, I sent out a survey asking people about the types of meal replacements they had tried. Out of the 15 responses I received, the top choices were 26.7% Soylent and 33.3% Huel, so those were the two I researched.
Huel had the most consistent flavors, affordable prices, and long shelf life. I didn't want to use their exact brand, so I rebranded my own MEND products in reflection of the Huel products
- It is possible to make affordable meal replacements.
- Products can be made with a variety of flavors.
These were the final mockups of Mends Own products based on what was realistically possible from the meal replacement research.
Now that I knew whom I was making this for, I wanted to find out who else was in the vending market. These vending machines have similar attributes. They try to seem healthy without actually selling nutritious foods. The only competition comes from Acure’s machines. They have the ability to order through an app and select Items ahead of time. Also, the machine can scan a QR code to place all the orders, but they don't particularly sell healthy snacks.
After studying what was out there, I separated what didn’t seem to work from what did. This vending machine will be modular, and it will be able to dispense snacks alongside custom drinks.
Incorporated a recycling system that showed the amount of plastic waste that you have saved from the ocean.
For the next version I decided to combined the drink machine with the snack machine to make one big machine.
For the moment, I focused on the main machine, and the idea that it might be able to reduce stress for healthcare workers. Next step is to make the UI for this device.
I started to sketch out possible ideas for the vending machines and the types of features they might offer. Creating the Information Architecture allowed me to make sure I was thinking of every possible solution for my personas. Planning out User Journeys using my personas helped solidify what kind of features I would need to make them happy and fulfilled. I wanted the transaction to be quick, easy, and relaxing.
Based on what I gathered from the healthcare providers, I created a hypothetical scenario for one user. Based on the work life of the nurse I interviewed, I used one of their description of what they feel going to their vending machine at the hospital. Using the app, they planned to buy a meal.
Using one of the personas, I drew up a potential user journey based on interview questions, and experiences of buying hospital food from a vending machine.
Now that I knew the functions that would solve the user’s pain points, I started to sketch out the possible look of the machine. Once I knew how the machine would look and operate, I sketched wireframes.
Planning out the home screen was important. Its layout would really dictate the rest of the experience. After going through many iterations, I decided on a flow that would go through buying a custom drink.
Once I was satisfied with the wireframes, I filled them in with color and assets that I made to solidify the look and feel I was going for. I chose a flow that highlighted the experience of buying a custom drink.
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IOS App works with the Mend Machine to plan ahead and order on the go.
The first flow I wanted to tackle was the flow of a user picking three items and generating a QR code so the user could pick them up at a specific machine.
After exploring different ideas for the flows, the interface started to come together.
After making the experience easy to navigate, I incorporated the style of the machine’s UI into the Mobile version.
On mobile, the user can choose which machine in their building they want to connect to.
The home page is filled with different types of food, you could even see the nutritional facts of the food that fits your diet.
An easy swipe-to-remove function makes it easy for customers to eliminate items in the cart.
Add payment method, or use previous payment as a returning customer, and generate a QR code to pick up meals.
Mends Branding system put together.
For the style and feel of this project, I wanted to offer a soothing and modern aesthetic. Healthcare environments can get stressful and hectic, and when users see this machine, I want it to offer a sense of relaxation.
The color palette I chose was taken from an image of a sunset. The moving gradients represent the feeling of serenity. These colors should provide a contrast to the environment normally experienced in healthcare facilities
If I had more time, I wish I was able to test the app with more users and get to version 2. Hopefully, down the line, in my personal time, I could arrange for that to happen.
