User Research Process

Research Report

Our team got in contact with Dr. Deanna Ward, a nutritionist from Healthpoint, a local Washington State clinic that serves patients of various backgrounds. Although she didn’t have as much information on nutrition globally, she discussed her knowledge of nutrition and its effects at home. Backed with data from the Alliance for Advanced Patient Nutrition, she shared that many of the patients that come are in many ways malnourished and that many of those people can easily avoid malnourishment. She talked about her time when she was in a bigger hospital and many of those patients had to stay longer or were unable to handle certain treatments because of their imbalanced nutrition. Hospitals can save so much more money if people were more educated about their own nutrition but also if they had the resources to be told what can help them. Later she discussed some psychological aspects of her work and how some people want to be treated for everything, they want to hear the diagnosis from the doctor's mouth and that can transpire to almost everywhere else on the globe.

Later in the discussion, we talked about the benefits of solving this issue in other parts of the world. She told us of a time when she learned when malnutrition is solved, and the resources used against malnutrition would indirectly affect the agricultural business which would provide more support and opportunity for the struggling farmers across the world. We had read something like that earlier and this only solidified that. by solving such a problem, we can create another push in a whole economic institution.

Some of the biggest benefits from nutrition would be the benefits of the mind. Once someone has the proper nutrition, they can truly perform whatever task they need to at their optimal level. whether that be working, finding a job, or even just recovering from a treatment or the flu, performing at your best increases your chances of success and for many in situations that are difficult, they are unable to afford not being their best.

Field Research

We followed our research with an ethnographic approach and observed various candidates in and around the University of Washington campus. Students belonged to various age groups and would be able to give us an insight into what the youth is eating.

Our results showed that:

• Many students were relying on ready to eat food and items that were easily and readily available due to their busy schedules due to classes and work. These foods included ramen, pizzas, burgers and huge quantities of caffeine powered energy drinks. Sometimes this was just because of the lack of substitutes.

• But there were also some cases where students were not opting for healthier alternatives just because they were too expensive.