To get a sense of the problem I needed to research current and past nutrition trends , as well as what nutrition really means when it comes to improving ones health. I also needed to know how competitors build their clients trust with their websites. I accomplished this by conducting secondary research, competitive analysis, and surveys.

Research Goals:

How can a nutritionist build their clients trust with their website.

What is the reason someone would want to seek a nutritional coach? 

Identify what people think about when it comes to their health and wellbeing.

What is the most difficult part about improving nutrition and eating habits? 

Methodologies:

Secondary research - Review nutrition trends and how nutrition contributes to health

Competitive analysis - Research other competitive websites for nutritional specialist, doctors, and other small business 

Surveys - Answer what services are most desired or seem most interesting to a potential client  

Participants:

Adults who are wanting to better their eating habits and overall wellness. They will be people of various incomes and backgrounds. 

Timeline: 

Secondary research

Competitive analysis  

Surveys

I will start with reviewing competitors for growing trends and review articles on what type of services and programs people look for when trying to eat better. Then after that I will conduct the surveys to get a deeper dive into how people think about their nutrition and what type of services they deem more important. Based off those results I will do interviews for any unanswered questions I might have. Then I will do competitive analysis again and do further research of competitor websites to get an idea of how a website of this nature would be displayed. 

In 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined health with a phrase that modern authorities still apply.“Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

In 1986, the WHO made further clarifications:“A resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities.”

Currently the WHO defines health as ““complete physical, mental, and social well-being - and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” 

In 2009, researchers publishing in The Lance Trusted Source defined health as “the ability of a body to adapt to new threats and infirmities.” 

While the term for health is always evolving Nutrients will always be chemical compounds in food that are used by the body to function properly and maintain health. Carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, water and fibre are the main groups of nutrients which together, but in variable amounts, make up a balanced diet. A healthy diet throughout life promotes healthy pregnancy outcomes, supports normal growth, development and ageing, helps to maintain a healthy body weight, and reduces the risk of chronic disease leading to overall health and well-being. 

The best way to maintain health is to preserve it through a healthful lifestyle rather than waiting until sickness or infirmity to address health problems. People use the name wellness to describe this continuous state of enhanced well-being. Steps to improve wellness includes a balanced diet, weekly exercise, managing stress, and engaging activities. The WHO define wellness as follows:

“Wellness is the optimal state of health of individuals and groups. There are two focal concerns: the realization of the fullest potential of an individual physically, psychologically, socially, spiritually, and economically, and the fulfillment of one’s roles and expectations in the family, community, place of worship, and other settings.”

Nutritionists develop meals plans, educate on portion control and are qualified to prescribe special diets for the treatment or prevention of diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes. A nutritionist can play an important role in your health by evaluating your diet and offering you personalized advice. Based on your health goals or medical needs, the nutritionist can make recommendations and put together meal plans. Nutritionists work in many settings, including hospitals, schools, health departments and private practices. The three major nutritionists are Clinical Nutritionists, Food Service Nutritionists, and Sports Nutritionists. The term "nutritionist" does not guarantee you are working with an accredited and licensed professional. A person can claim to be a nutritionist even if she has no academic or clinical background in the field. To ensure you are working with a qualified professional, seek out a registered dietitian. These professionals have completed at least a bachelor's degree approved by the Academy of Dietetics and Nutrition; finished a supervised practice program; and passed the national registration exam. Registered dietitians may use the term nutritionist, but a nutritionist without these qualifications may not use the title of a registered dietitian, designated as R.D. after the person's name.

I had 22 participants of various age ranges with 77.3% of them having average to above average knowledge of nutrition. The survey included ranking questions with a few multiple choice questions. I asked about health and nutrition to gain knowledge about what people thought was important and least important when it comes to their health. I also asked questions about how they would go about choosing a nutritionist. 

Based on the survey I found out that what people want most is to improve their overall health and wellness and not so much to just lose weight.. They know the best way to do that is by eating a balanced diet however they still need to learn about the right kinds of foods to eat. Other interests include getting new and different recipes and finding healthier replacements for the foods they love.

I found that the top concerns people have with their health is being able to stick to a plan followed by having a busy schedule. When it comes to finding the right nutritionist what they want to see first is the nutritionist’s certifications as well as what their outlook is on nutrition. However they do have a concern about how much money they would be spending on a nutritionist. I also found out that people have no interest in their nutritionist’s social media or what the latest diet trends are.

When testing I wanted to make sure that users will be able to access the information they need to know if they want to book a consultation. I wanted to find any pain points and identify areas of improvement.

Test Objective: 

To view users interaction with the desktop website

To discover any pain points that a user might have or experience while using the website

Identify areas of improvement.

Test Subject: 

Prototype of the Formulated-Nutrition desktop website. 

Methodology: 

In person testing : Users on their personal computer testing a Figma prototype 

Remote testing : While screen sharing in a zoom meeting I will observe user testing a Figma prototype.

Participants:

Age range : 30-70

Amount of participants : 3-5

Participants will be users who are interested in improving their health and nutrition. 

Recruiting:

Personal network 

Recruiting of previous participants

Usability goal:

A user reviewing the site will be able to find the information they are looking for.

The site will help encourage the user to want to do business with the nutritionist.

Procedure script:

Hello, my name is Gillian. I have created a website for Formulated-Nutrition, a nutritionist and personal chef. I will ask you to perform a few tasks. While you perform those tastes I will be observing and taking notes. Please feel free to express any emotions and share your thoughts as you go. Do you have any questions? 

Scenarios:

Scenario 1: Recently you started focusing on the unhealthy foods you eat. While talking about nutrition with a friend they refer you to Formulted-Nutrition.com. Take your time and explore the website. What service are you most interested in?

Scenario 2: You were just recently told that you have an autoimmune disorder and need to change your diet. You are looking for someone to help you through this process that you trust and will give you the help you need. In order to find out if you would want to hire her, what information would you be looking for?

Tasks:

Homepage Tasks:

Find Formulated-Nutrition's contact information.

Go to the services page. 

Services Page Tasks:

Find the 3 discounts/packages offered by Formulated-Nutrition.

Go to the about page.

About Page Task:

Find the schools that melissa attended

Go to the book appointment page. 

Book Appointment Page Tasks:

Go through process to book a consultation for Thursday at 3:00pm

Question:

What can you tell me about Melissa’s qualifications?

How would you get started with Formulate-Nutrition?

Is anything hard to understand about the services offered?

True or False: Your initial consultation cost will be credited back to you on your first session.

Summary: 

I sat down in person and observed four different participants to conduct the usability testing, two males and two females. I had them use the think out loud method to talk me through what they are doing and their thought process.  All participants found the website to be pretty easy to use and straightforward. The part of the website that seemed to draw them all in unanimously was the Navigation bar which they had no problem using. 

Scenario 1 Findings:

I found that the services that users were most interested in was coaching and meal planning. I did find that half of the users were drawn to the navigation bar using it to go to the services page and the other half stayed on the homepage. The services that had their attention was the coaching and meal planning with 2 out of 4 users picking that choice.

Scenario 2 Findings:

All participants found Formulated-Nutrition to be a trusting site and would want to hire Melissa for her services. All participants went to the certifications first with only one person also asking about wanting to see reviews.

Task Findings: 

While having the users do the tasks I found that they didn't really want to read through everything. While people were easily able to navigate throughout the website they were mostly wanting things to stand out more for them. They would first scan over everything looking for keywords then went back to read the text when they couldn’t find it.

Questions Findings: 

One of the main things I found out when going over the questions is that most people didn't read past the first line and in return missed some information. When asked the true or false question about knowing the consultation credit came back false every time.