1. Summarize the problem you set out to solve. What was the challenge posed to you? Did it get you excited and why?

The primary problem our team set out to resolve involved simplifying a pre-existing calorie management system with mobile integration, thereby enabling weight-management in real time. The bodybuggSP mobile application pairs with a high-tech arm band, used with the bodybugg Personal Calorie Management online system, to retrieve and assess data with user calorie biometrics. The key challenge posed to our team was making the client’s vision of a comprehensive food database concrete.

2. What point of view did you bring to the challenge? Was there anything additional that you wanted to achieve with this project or bring to this project that was not part of the original brief?

Information and data compilation are the most powerful allies in weight management. BodybuggSP cuts through some of the clutter generated by information-overload, especially when the sheer amount of weight-loss techniques available online are overwhelming. Our team essentially designed the application’s entire comprehensive food database. The need for mobile integration in this venture was brought on by the client’s desire to eliminate data entry. Because our team developed the entire food database - a task that can easily be daunting due to the multitudinous possibilities, we dedicated an immense amount of time to data compilation so that users would have the most comprehensive choices possible. With this design in particular, we pride ourselves on enabling quick access and copious amounts of data in an easy to read format.

3. When designing this project, whose interests did you consider? (Discuss various stakeholders, audiences, retailing, manufacturing, assembly, distribution, etc., for example.)

Our design firm’s approach towards mobile App development merges creative elements with engineering, both of which generate a user-friendly and client-approved digital experience. At the initial stage of development our team produces a comprehensive deliverable document that collaborates a definitive plan for development between the client and our team.

This particular App contends with a variety of other weight-loss applications. To set this App apart, it behooved us to consider appeal from a key audience perspective. The App was already at an advantage, working with the armband - a smart algorithm that pulls data based on the body’s biometric functions and pre-entered data. The only missing element to creating a unique and superior application was was a foolproof user interface.

4. Describe the rigor that informed your design. (Research, ethnography, subject matter experts, materials exploration, technology, iteration, testing, etc., as applicable.) If this was a strictly research or strategy project, please provide more detail here.

Notably, one of the more intricate challenges brought to our team involved pairing this multi-platform fitness tracker App with Bluetooth integration. The low-grade bluetooth/iOS connectivity quality is no secret, and the difficulty of working with Apple’s bluetooth driver continues to challenge our team. Another difficulty was carrying out the development, design, engineering, and publishing processes as a worldwide operation, with teams consulting across Germany, India, Texas, and New York. The security and sanctity of client data was of the utmost importance when it came to executing this operation on a worldwide basis. After all, the individuals’ biometric data that informed the design was highly personal in nature and required the utmost respect.

5. What is the social value of your design? (Gladdening, educational, economic, paradigm-shifting, sustainable, labor-mindful, environmental, cultural, etc.) How does it earn its keep in the world?

This design is paradigm-shifting and educational. There are a variety of weight-loss applications on the market; however, none of these pair with a pedometer-stylized arm band. This pairing of technologies provides for unprecedented accuracy in weight-loss management. The primary obstacle to weight-loss management and maintenance is time. bodybuggSP maintains its relevancy and permanence in the marketplace because mobile access simplifies the chore of weight-loss and diet optimization.

6. If you could have done one thing differently with the project, what would you have changed?

Our team would have preferred to offer In-App purchasing opportunities for bodybuggSP users. This could range anywhere from a purchasable point system to deals with local health food vendors. We are huge proponents of In-App purchasing features when designing Apps because of the added revenue and opportunity for developmental longevity.