Abstract
Current food tracking applications are largely designed to support behaviour change among users who track their food intake to meet predefined goals. As a result, individuals who are curious about food tracking but do not have specific goals remain underserved, limiting the potential of these tools for preventive care. To address this gap, we conducted a three-phase interview study using an existing food journaling application as a probe to reimagine food tracking experiences for inexperienced users. Thirty-one participants used the app for 14 days and discussed their views on healthy eating, food practices, and their tracking experiences. Our analysis identified four distinct roles that food tracking applications can play to support inexperienced users during early engagement; each is tied to different communication styles and feature needs. We offer design implications that align with inexperienced users’ values, motivations, and learning needs, advancing more inclusive and preventive approaches to food tracking applications.
Keywords
food tracking, inexperienced users, design for health and wellbeing, communication styles
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2428
Citation
Oygur, I., and Tikac Andic, S. (2026) Learning from inexperienced users’ early engagement with food tracking, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2428
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Learning from inexperienced users’ early engagement with food tracking
Current food tracking applications are largely designed to support behaviour change among users who track their food intake to meet predefined goals. As a result, individuals who are curious about food tracking but do not have specific goals remain underserved, limiting the potential of these tools for preventive care. To address this gap, we conducted a three-phase interview study using an existing food journaling application as a probe to reimagine food tracking experiences for inexperienced users. Thirty-one participants used the app for 14 days and discussed their views on healthy eating, food practices, and their tracking experiences. Our analysis identified four distinct roles that food tracking applications can play to support inexperienced users during early engagement; each is tied to different communication styles and feature needs. We offer design implications that align with inexperienced users’ values, motivations, and learning needs, advancing more inclusive and preventive approaches to food tracking applications.