ReduCaf
Overview -
ReduCaf is an application which monitors users' caffeine intake and makes them aware regarding the safe caffeine limit which they need to follow in order to avoid or cut down on caffeine addiction.
Role -
sole researcher + designer
Project duration -
10 weeks
Tasks performed -
observations, interviews, ideation, prototyping, user evaluations
Project Background
"Caffeine is the most widely used drug in the world !!"
When consumed in larger amounts it can lead to insomnia, nervousness, restlessness, irritability, increased heart rate, and muscle tremors. Additionally, consumers can develop symptoms of withdrawal if they stop consuming caffeine. These symptoms include headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, and moodiness. One such participant from our study faced side effects like shaky hands while others mentioned they developed headaches after drinking excess of caffeine.
How big is the problem?
85%
Adults and Children regularly consume caffeine
65%
Percentage of Caffeine consumed during breakfast hours
9/10
High school students say that they have trouble sleeping because of the amount of coffee that they drink
The Challenge
How might we design a solution that helps people in reducing their caffeine intake?
Main Features
Track Daily Caffeine Intake
The users can track their daily intake and view the beverages they had in the past two days. The beverage cards provide the users with quick access to their most recent caffeine consumption activity.
Add Drink
The users can add the caffeinated beverage they are having to track their daily intake. Users are provided with their most consumed beverages and are also given the option to search other beverages.
Help With Withdrawal
People who try to cut down on caffeine often experience withdrawal symptoms. Using the app, users can find solutions on how to cope with their withdrawal symptoms.
Process
Research
To understand the problem space, we conducted literature review and competitive analysis. Conducting field observations and user interviews provided us with great insights and using them we brainstormed the design solution.
Observations
To understand the behaviors and insights of people, we practiced field observations where we went to coffee shops and gas stations to learn about the behaviors of potential users of our product. We conducted interviews of people who consume caffeine to gain valuable insights.
User Interviews
To gather insights of people, we conducted 6 interviews. The key insights we identified were:​
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90%
of the participants did were not aware about the amount of caffeine they were consuming everyday
80%
of the participants mentioned they consume caffeine to stay alert and productive
50%
of the participants felt withdrawal symptoms
Personas
Who are we helping?
James Anderson
21 years, Student
James is a student at IUPUI, Indianapolis and has class 4 days a week. He tries to stay actively involved on campus and is a part of Student Activities Board Committee. He often finds himself keeping very busy with all his schoolwork and extracurricular activities. Because of his busy schedule, James does not have much time to prepare food and usually resorts to eating fast food. He has found himself consuming soda with nearly every meal and occasionally having a coffee or energy drink in the morning. He would like to cut back on caffeine and start consuming more water.
Goals
-
Decrease caffeine consumption
-
Develop healthier eating habits
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Drink more water
Frustrations
-
Lack of personal time
-
Unplanned events
-
Health issues
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Stress due to workload
Jane Scott
21 years, Student
Jane is a Business Analyst working in Indianapolis. She leads a busy 9-5 life Monday through Friday. She is a single mother of two kids and generally finds herself exhausted most of the days handling the workload and her kids. The first thing Jane does after waking up is brew herself two cups of coffee to make her get started for the day. While working, Jane consumes a cup of coffee every two hours. She realizes that she is very much reliant on caffeine and and experiences withdrawal symptoms if she does not consume caffeine. She wants to gradually decrease her caffeine consumption.
Goals
-
Decrease caffeine consumption over time
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Eventually drink only one cup of coffee a day
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Get more sound sleep at night
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Less reliant on coffee to get work done
Frustrations
-
Lack of personal time
-
Unplanned events
-
Health issues
-
Stress due to workload
Storyboarding
Ideate
Keeping in mind key insights identified during the research phase, we began to brainstorm the possible design solutions that would eliminate the user problems. Certain solutions that we ideated were
The first idea was a smart coffee machine that dissipates a certain amount of coffee in a day. Once the user has consumed a certain amount of caffeine and the limit is reached eg. 4 cups, the machine will stop dispensing anymore caffeine for that day.
The second idea was a mobile application that tracks the users caffeine consumption. The app will have features such as give out alert when the user has consumed a certain amount of caffeine, consumption history to track their consumption over time, withdrawal guide, and achievement badges. With the help of the app, the user will be able to monitor their caffeine intake and gradually decrease their caffeine consumption.
The third idea was to create a smart mug. The mug will have a digital display and in-built sensors that will calculate the amount of caffeine filled inside the mug over the day. Once the safe caffeine intake limit is reached, the lid of the mug will close and not open until the next day.
The Solution
After taking into consideration the plus and minuses of each idea, we narrowed down the final design solution to a mobile application which the users can easily install on their devices. The main design goal was to create a solution that enables individuals to monitor and decrease caffeine consumption in order to avoid or eliminate the negative effects.
Redu-Caf provides the user with timely tracking of their caffeine intake.
Users can monitor their consumption history over days, weeks, and months.
Timely alerts of reaching the safe consumption limit along with alternate beverage suggestions.
Favorite beverages feature for easy and quick process of adding the drink.
Withdrawal guide for easy access to guidance for ways to cope with withdrawal symptoms.
Virtual assistant that will provide with relevant feedback to caffeine and user consumption related questions.
Task Scenario
Jenna is a student at University of Arizona. She realized one month ago that she consumes excessive caffeinated beverages in her daily schedule. After realizing that, she is trying to cut down on her daily consumption and is using the ReduCaf app to monitor her daily intake.
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Today, Jenna is having coffee while studying for her mid-terms and wants to add it to her daily consumption. She also wants to view her consumption history in the app.
Solution Overview
After creating low-fidelity screens/wireframes, we started to design the final hi-fidelity prototype. Our aim was to make the people using the application be able to track their daily caffeine intake and add the beverages that they are having during the day.
Monitor Intake
User will add the beverage they are consuming using "Add Drink" button. They can also view some of their last consumed beverages and navigate their way through different menu items.
Add New Drink
Using the different beverage options provided, the users can type and search their beverage of select from one of the most common consumed drinks. Amount of the beverage or size of the cup can also be selected and also the option of adding that particular beverage to favorites is provided.
Consumption History
The history tab provides the user with their consumption history over different periods of time and prompts them with their most consumed beverage, and average daily consumption
Help With Withdrawal
People who consume caffeine regularly often experience withdrawal symptoms when they try to retract from it. Using our app, they will be able to access articles on how to cope up with withdrawal symptoms.
Favorite List
Using the "Favorite List", the user can quickly add their beverages and not have to search for the beverage every time they consume one. The user also has the option to remove any drinks from the list and add new ones.
Future Scope
A possible solution is to look into the use of a Bluetooth mug. A Bluetooth mug could help reduce the number of steps a user would need to take in order to input drink information. A Bluetooth mug may also help users stay focused on their goals by providing an extra initiative for users to stick to their personal goals and receive points/rewards for doing so.
Automatic Tracking of Beverages
Using the smart mug, the app would be able to update the caffeine intake based on what was inside the mug.
Rewards
To encourage users to reduce their caffeine intake, based on their reduction in usage, users would receive reward points which will encourage them to further reduce their caffeine intake.
Evaluation
To test the product, we conducted several usability tests to determine if the user needs were addressed. After testing the application for two main functionalities - adding a drink to their daily consumption & getting help with withdrawal symptoms.
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The users overall liked the idea of having an app to monitor their daily caffeine intake where they can add the beverages they are having throughout the day as well as getting the help when they are cutting down their consumption and experience withdrawal symptoms. The users though wished there was something like a reward feature if they kept their consumption below a certain level for a long period of time.
Learnings
Addressing the issue of caffeine addiction was quite challenging as most of the people do not view it as a problem. After performing research, we learnt how big of a problem caffeine addiction really is. Learning insights about people during interviews and observations who believe they are not addicted but experience withdrawal symptoms on days they do not consume caffeine helped us in framing the key pain points and areas we needed to address. Overall, the process of framing the problem and designing a solution was enriching and I learned a lot about how to address the user needs.
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