A nutrition calculator to assist healthier food production : Focusing on the usability perspective
Master thesis
Published version
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https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3100817Utgivelsesdato
2023Metadata
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Sammendrag
In today’s time, the focus on a healthy diet and nutrition has never been higher. Many new food products that enter the market is often labeled with a healthy claim to get the attention of the consumers. Some recognizable claims are, high in protein, sugar free, low on fat, low on calories, high in fiber, and so on. The manufactures and companies responsible for labeling the products, needs to follow a strict set of regulations, in order to add a claim to their label. This process can be long and complicated, especially for smaller companies. In Norway there are three main labeling schemes, the keyhole “Nøkkelhullet”, nutrition claims “Ernæringspåstander”, and health claims. To make this process easier, Fremtidsmat a Norwegian food cluster have created a calculator that will show if a product meets the requirement for “Nøkkelhullet”. The function for the keyhole was developed in an earlier study, and in this study that prototype is further developed by implementing the function for nutrition claims. The goal of this study was to evaluate the usability of this calculator. The evaluation is based on a multi-method approach, with focus on Nielsen’s heuristics, and feedback from participants. The feedback is comprised of testing tasks, questionnaires, and interviews. In addition, a SUS questionnaire is also utilized for evaluating the usability. Four iterations of the calculator have been tested by 5 participants. The findings show that there is little to no research on such calculator, and that this calculator is first of its kind. The evaluation found that the calculator has a high usability, with a SUS score on 85.5, giving the highest score possible, “Best Imaginable”. This calculator has great potential for the future, and holds a great value for every company or manufacturer within the Scandinavian food industry. In addition to the calculator, design proposals for a login page and welcoming page for Fremtidsmat is evaluated and improved based on feedback from the participants.