HealthSum
Group UX Project
Tools: Figma, FigJam
Timeline: October 2024 to December 2024
Team: Max DeLuca (Design Systems), Ava Auffret (Wireframes), Kayla An (Illustrations)
HealthSum is a wellness app focused on helping users track nutrition, mood, and habits, prioritizing emotional wellness over numerical metrics. I designed the experience with emotional safety, intuitive tracking, and minimalist UI in mind.
The Problem
Most food trackers focus on two things when in comes to measuring health: calories and macros. What do they have in common? They are measured in numbers! Time and time again, we have seen users of such applications get stressed over these numbers and even equate that to their worth as a person. But with HealthSum, tracking food doesn’t have to be that way anymore. This program promotes the fact that not all calories or macros are created equally and that health means more than just a number on packaging.
Research
My colleagues and I interviewed two people each, asking them questions about how dieting and calorie tracking made them feel:
- Most interviewees thought about healthy eating as eating balanced food groups
- Most categorized specific food groups, like carbs, to be unhealthy some named specific ingredients, like sugar, to be unhealthy
- Most preferred to learn about healthy eating when short attention span is catered to (TikTok/short form videos, games)
- Regardless of how much people prioritized healthy eating, they categorized processed foods as unhealthy and whole or natural foods as healthy
- Negative emotions were associated with words like “calories”, but some viewed it also in a positive way when in moderation
User Persona
CHARLOTTE - 35 Y.O. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER
PAIN POINTS:
- Sometimes feels too tires to cook.
- Struggles eating vegetables and new foods.
- Hates foods with not enough flavor.
- Snacks a lot.
- Is a visual learner.
NEEDS:
- Needs a simple way to keep track of healthy eating habits without having to count calories which is confusing and and stressful.
- A way to keep track of which meals she has eaten and food groups she has checked off.
- Wants to feel healthy in her own way without the pressure of others’ opinions.
- Needs to be able to set a good example to her students.
Solution Ideation
Customizable Daily Food Group Tracking
Users check off servings of fruit, vegetables, protein, grains, and dairy—without ever seeing a calorie.
We made two versions of tracking food: a "+1" system and a pie chart system.
Playful Progress Gamification
Users receive positive feedback (like fruit characters cheering them on) when completing goals.
Learning Section with Articles
Topics like “What is Intuitive Eating?” and “5 Tips to Stay on Track” support long-term behavior change
Examples: “You’ve reached your fruit goal!” / “Keep going!” / “Your feelings matter too.”
User Flow
Design Systems
User Testing
A mid-fidelity prototype of HealthSum was tested by 6 users through informal interviews and moderated walkthroughs. Participants included college students and early-career professionals, with varying familiarity with food tracking tools.
Results and Insights
100% of testers felt the app was “less stressful than traditional health apps.”
Most participants appreciated the absence of calorie data, saying it made them feel more in control of their experience.
The progress interface was praised for its visual clarity, though some requested more detailed explanations of the “+1” tracking system.
Testers enjoyed the affirming micro-interactions (e.g., fruit characters + celebratory messages), which added positivity to their experience.
Final Screens
