ATHLEats
Tanya Busby
The Problem
I played softball at Miami University and found that I had a difficult time balancing everything in my day. It was always important to take care of the responsibilities first and leave the fun stuff for later. Sacrifice is not something the student athlete is unfamiliar with and it can often take a toll on their physical and mental wellbeing.
Research Question
How can I make the student athlete's life easier and more manageable to leave more room for free time?
Success Statement
W.
Target Audience
Student Athletes - particularly at Miami University
Research
The best way to get into an athlete's head is to talk to them directly. I interviewed multiple Miami athletes and asked about their daily schedules, their diet and recovery habits, academics, and free and social time to see if their experiences mirrored mine at all.
Design Process
I figured the easiest way to keep up with the athlete's schedule is to bring them a solution that keeps up with them every day already: their mobile phones. From my research, i found that diet played a huge role in some of the issues. Many athletes did a good job of bringing snacks with them throughout the day, but getting in full meals was difficult to do every day, and even more difficult to prepare ahead of time.
Design Solution
From here, I decided to make an app that could be customized to tailor to a specific athlete's needs and suggest appropriate meals for their dietary restrictions/preferences and their daily schedules. I call this app ATHLEats. Features included are Recommended Recipes, Search Functionality, Goal-Setting for weight maintenance, and a Potluck feature that allows athletes to share the load in preparing food each week, helps them stay social with each other, and keeps them from eating the same meal all week long. Activity levels can be altered based on in-season or out-of-season training levels and athletes are able to rate recipes as they try them and save them to keep the good ones at the top of the list for others! With ATHLEats, it's more than just a virtual cookbook. It helps them save time, save energy, connect with each other, and live healthier, more balanced lives.
