Week 4

This week I really got down to business. First, after deciding how much we liked the way the application Fooducate rated their food I was assigned to look further into the exact methods and criteria used to grade food. They used four categories: nutrients, ingredients, category of the food item, and processing. All of which mainly focused around the idea encouraged nutrients, natural ingredients, and minimal processing were key to making a healthy food in the eyes of Fooducate.

Next, I was asked to think about our users' capabilities and how we were going to present the information, how much information, and what information. I came up with three ideas so far.

1. Using the "Go, Slow, Woah" method. Rating a restaurants food with green, yellow, and red colors is an easy way for someone with no nutritional background to make not only healthy choices but easy choices.
2. "Eat This, Not That". Comparing similar menu items and showing the more healthful option, this could also go farther and provide alternatives to 'slow' foods to make them 'go' foods (opting for whole grain bread instead of white or the croissant that the sandwich comes on and asking for mustard instead of mayo, etc.)
3. Because we are considering making this a location based application we could also use this to our advantage by suggesting to walk or ride bikes to closer restaurants rather than driving. We could also help push this healthful decision by providing a "calories burned" meter to motivate families.