Team & Duration

Individual Project

16 Weeks Duration
March 2019 - August 2019

Role 

Advisors

Nathan Shedroff
Executive Director
Seed Vault Ltd.

Maria Giudice
Board Member
Cal Poly Graphic Communication

Problem

Health-conscious people often encounter Ayurvedic diet and lifestyle but have a difficult time getting more information about it. The Ayurvedic ecosystem is large and complex, which makes it difficult to adopt.

83.8 %  would like to have a digital assistant to follow Ayurveda.

94.6 %  considers Ayurveda to be an important element for a healthy living.

*Based on a survey of 37 people, who already practising Yoga or Meditation.

How might we...

create a platform/service that helps newcomers follow a healthy lifestyle and develop habits based on Ayurvedic principles.

Solution

Onboarding

The app will push notifications according to the user's custom-generated schedule, and will redirect to healthy recipes.

The user can input the health issues they are having in the app. Based on inputs, the app will recommend certain remedies which will become part of the user's schedule.

1. Interviews

3 Contextual Interviews of Ayurvedic Practitioners

Journey Map

Focus Group Engagement Findings

In order to design the whole experience and features, I did a research exercise with two young adults who are also keen to learn more about Ayurveda and adopting it in their lives. Key Takeaways:

 • Proof of authenticity is a must. From people's experience to Indian connection
 • Seamless integration to food conscious and fitness conscious lifestyle
 • Health and other variables tracking

Concept Testing

I tested a High-Quality prototype of the first app concept in order to receive feedback on infographic and colour choices along with the concept.

Testing Feedback

Users find it visually interesting and connecting
“It can be done with any with calendar app as well.”
“It feels like a planner app than an Ayurveda app.”

Expert Interview

Key Takeaways:

Seasons and weather conditions effects Vikriti and diet has to change accordingly

Pulse diagnosis is a very definitive way to determine health issues along with Vikriti, and hence needed to be part of the ecosystem

One can identify Vikriti with the help of heart rate, blood pressure, & body temperature

System Design

As confirmed by experts & secondary research, I designed a system to connect diet and lifestyle to the biometrics of the user via smartwatch. 

Concept System

User Flow

Logo Design

Future work

I am still receiving feedback on the design solution from Ayurveda doctors and experts. Pulse Diagnosis is the most popular way of identifying Prakriti and Vikriti, hence this platform would be more effective within an established Ayurveda social ecosystem. This would allow the platform to improve itself with the support of accurate diagnosis from experts and machine learning from a significant body of data.

Reflection

This project taught me to never hesitate to think wild. Giving sufficient time for brainstorming ideas and asking for feedback has helped immensely in this project.

If visuals are playing an important role, it's a good idea to create a low-fi visual guide along with the concept to test if both work well for users.

While talking to experts, I learnt you need to be very clear in presenting the concept and its working to receive proper feedback and technical input.

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