Artist and Designer
An app for the fit foodie, Mile Thyme was designed to be a lifestyle tool that combined running and nutrition. The integrated run tracking feature accounts for calories burned from the activity and adjusts recipes accordingly. Using an algorithm, the app uses your past activity to better predict the recipes you’ll need in the future, therefore giving you the ability to grocery shop easier and meal prep. The goal was to make something seamless and easy to use on a day to day basis, taking stress off of the user.
Skills used: UX Research, UX Design, Design Thinking
Tools used: Sketch, Illustrator, Photoshop
Mile Thyme was the product of an academic assignment. The class was split into teams of two and assigned a problem: How should we make a nutrition app for avid runners? We collected user research by interviewing and developing persona profiles from the people around us that would fit into our target marker: runners. Using this data, we worked on the brand identity together before everyone split up to finish their projects solo. My partner went with more of a granola or “crunchy” theme and I went with a more modern and athletic look because it seemed more in line with the group I researched.
The whole project took around three months. We would work on a component of our app for a week or so and then have a group critique as a class. The process consisted of brainstorming, researching, prototyping, and lots and lots of critique.
The first step was brainstorming as a class and identifying potential future users. We then spent some time collecting data on our users via interviewing. With that information, we then started ideating. We explored words, themes, viewpoints, and app design basics.
A leftover sticky note leftover from the brainstorming and ideating process. At one point, we had sticky notes spanning several feet in each direction full of ideas and critiques.
This is one of my first wireframe drafts. This is about the point where we started working individually.
Here are some more wireframe drafts. With these, I started to get a little bit more detailed.
Here are my notes from when I was coming up with names for the app. At this point, I had most of my wireframing laid out and a general idea of the branding.
Here are my initial sketches for the logo. I ended up going with a much simpler logo after a critique session, but it’s fun to look back on what ideas I had at first.
Here are the basic functions I settled on. I definitely wanted a run tracking feature, a weekly meal planning function, and a page dedicated to the recipe of the day.
Here are some details of the nutrition elements. I wanted the user to be able to pre-pick their meals for each day, then the shopping cart icon would display a customized grocery list for them. I also added a function where users could “like” recipes and save them in a folder, which is identified by the heart icon.
This project helped me learn the basics of app design, but it also introduced me to the idea of design thinking. I also learned that I value the collaborative nature of design. While I was designing solo for most of this project, I think that it might’ve been a more enjoyable and productive project had we worked in teams for longer. Nonetheless, the concepts I learned completing this project have been incredibly helpful in my design work since.