EatIQ: Making Food Labels Understandable - Case Study
Claudiu Rentea
EatIQ: Making Food Labels Understandable
EatIQ started with a simple question: How can we make it easier for people to understand what they’re eating?
The answer was a mobile app that scans food labels and breaks down nutritional content, allergens, and additives in a way that feels intuitive, friendly, and easy to digest.
At Cluxio, I led the entire design journey, from branding and interface design to a responsive website and Play Store assets, ensuring a cohesive, polished experience at every touchpoint.
Turning Complexity into Clarity
Food label scanning apps aren’t new and apps like Yuka and Fig have been doing it for a while. But they often feel clinical and data-heavy.
EatIQ wanted to stand out by being more approachable and user-centric, making complex data easier to understand without overwhelming users with numbers and jargon.
From Overwhelming Data to Actionable Insights
I faced a few key challenges:
Dense Data: Nutritional data can feel overwhelming and unapproachable. How could I simplify it?
User Education: Many users don’t know what ingredients like "sodium benzoate" are. How do I break it down in a way that’s clear without being condescending?
Consistency Across Platforms: The experience had to feel cohesive from app to website to Play Store, maintaining a consistent visual style and tone.
Designing a Cohesive Experience
The design process was a blend of user testing, competitive analysis, and iterative refinement:
Early Wireframes: Focused on simplifying the scanning flow and visual hierarchy.
Visual Language: Created a consistent icon set and color scheme to keep the experience visually engaging and accessible.
Play Store Assets: Developed Play Store graphics that clearly conveyed EatIQ’s value proposition in a visually striking way.
The Screens That Make EatIQ Click
Onboarding
A welcoming introduction to EatIQ, guiding users through the core features, from scanning a label to understanding ingredient warnings.
Scan
The Scans screen shows the user a history of past scanned food products and a quick preview of their quality
Dictionary
Not everyone knows what sodium benzoate or xanthan gum actually are, and that’s where the Dictionary feature steps in.
On this screen users see a list of health benefits, health concerns, and risks with quick visual indicators for potential allergens or additives.
The goal is to empower users with the knowledge they need to make informed food choices without feeling overwhelmed by scientific jargon.
Results
Once a scan is complete, users land on the Results screen, the heart of EatIQ’s mission to simplify food label data.
Screen One: A clean, visual breakdown of the product’s nutritional content, with key elements like calories, sugars, and allergens prominently displayed using color-coded graphics.
Screen Two: A comparison screen that takes things further, suggesting healthier alternatives based on the scanned product’s nutritional profile.
Building the Web Experience from Scratch
After defining the core mobile app experience, it was time to extend EatIQ’s reach to the web. Starting from a blank canvas, I designed and built a fully responsive website using React and Next.js.
The website was crafted to maintain the brand’s clean, approachable feel while providing essential information about the app:
How EatIQ works and why it matters
Feature highlights and user benefits
Direct download links for both iOS and Android
From Concept to Reality
Building EatIQ wasn’t just about creating another food scanning app, it was about transforming a complex, data-heavy experience into something approachable and easy to navigate.
Here’s what I focused on:
Reduced Cognitive Load: Streamlined the scanning flow from five steps to three, minimizing friction.
Consistent Branding: Established a visual language that connects the app, website, and Play Store assets.
User Education: Developed the Dictionary feature to break down ingredient jargon into simple, digestible language.
Making Food Choices Clear and Simple
With EatIQ, users can now make informed decisions without second-guessing ingredient lists or nutritional labels.
The app successfully launched with a cohesive ecosystem that guides users from scan to actionable insights in a matter of seconds.
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Posted May 28, 2024
Streamlined food scanning into three steps, unified branding across app and site, and built features that turn jargon into clarity.
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