Go Vase

Bento+ is a nutrition tracking system strategically designed for the elderly population. The system takes into account elderly who have underlying health conditions which are affected by malnutrition. If needed, the system allows a co-tracker to monitor any negative trends.

Interactive Product Design

Preventative Healthcare Design

What it does

The Bento+ system consists of a smart scale, a hub and a companion app. The system takes into account elderly who have underlying health conditions which are affected by malnutrition. If needed, the system allows a co-tracker to monitor any negative trends.

How it works

The Bento+ smart tray connects to the Bento+ hub and/or a user's tablet via bluetooth. Users have the option to purchase the Bento+ smart hub if they don’t have a tablet or phone that is compatible with the Bento+ app. Once connected, the smart tray seamlessly weighs the food on its five scales and uploads the data to the connected device. The device compiles the user's nutritional information and generates multiple reports. These reports are uploaded to the Bento+ Cloud which allows the user or a co-tracker to access the information remotely. On the app, the user is able to view their data, earn awards, compete with their friends and learn more about nutrition.

Design Process

Once the team discovered a meaningful problem, extensive research was gathered to better understand the eldelry malnutrition. An audit was conducted on existing food tracking services. Interviews of eldlery and soon to be eldelry were conducted and personas were generated. Research publications on nutrition and health tracking patents were reviewed. After completing the research phase, each team member developed concept sketches. From the wide variety of ideas, three concepts were further developed and presented for review. This included 3D models, renders and UX/UI mockups. The most promising concept was selected and refined until the team was happy with the end result.

How it's Different

The majority of existing nutrition tracking apps are not designed for the elderly population. Bento+ aims to be a tool that the elderly can utilize to take control of their health in a fun, intuitive and non-overwhelming manner. The system is designed to seamlessly integrate into anyones daily life. With the Bento+ app, users can track their food for the day, see their weekly and monthly trends, keep up with their friends, earn awards and learn more about nutrition as a whole.

Future Plan

The next steps would be to perform user testing of both the physical and digital system. The team plans to do further testing and continue improving the Bento+ system. A partnership with a meal delivery service to complete the Bento+ system and make it more accessible to those who cannot cook. The goal is to improve the elderly's eating experience and simplify healthy living. Ultimately we hope to make eating fun again.

Team Project

This project was a team project. The team generated the idea for this project together and each came up with a design, and the pros in each design was combined into the final design. In this project, I used critical thinking, design research, interview, human-centered design, Fusion 360, Keyshot 11, Adobe Indesign, Illustrator, After Effects, and Final Cut Pro