FIELD NOTES
Notes on
designing
for people.
Vol I 2025-2026
Janae Thomas
Learning Experience
Designer
UX Designer
UX Researcher
Systems Thinker
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PROCESS
Understand → Map → Build → Iterate
VALUES
01
02
03
Accessibility is the brief, not a footnote.
If the user has to think twice, the design
didn't think enough.
Good research means listening to the people
the data forgot.
BY THE NUMBERS
6+
500+
3
years designing experiences
learners and users served
disciplines, one through line
k-12
·
higher ed
·
freelance
courses
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digital assests
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training
education
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ID
·
UX
LEARNING DESIGN
ux research
accessibility
accessibility
accessibility
accessibility
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02
03
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UX Design Case Study
MyFitnessPal Redesign
Research and redesign, on a team
Spring 2026 · HSE 521 Methods and Tools for Human Systems Engineering
Figma
At the beginning of the course, we were tasked with choosing a digital product to focus on for the remainder of the semester, with the intention of redesigning it at the very end of the semester after conducting research cycles.
Problem
After conducting our initial research and compiling all the data, we found that the MyFitnessPal app has had consistent issues since its release on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Because it is an app that has been around for a long time, there is plenty of preliminary data on the user base's existing feelings and sentiments toward it.
This redesign research process aimed to demonstrate what the real UX process might resemble within our professional careers.
Outcome
After submitting our final redesign report, the professor scored the project with a perfect score. Additionally, we created high-fidelity prototypes that are functional and already styled with the company's branding.
We then showcase, through high-fidelity wireframes and a functional prototype, how these edits might be implemented into the application's interface.
Context
As you can tell from the evidence in the presurvey data insight screenshot, we had a demographic in which 100% had stopped logging their meals entirely, and 63% of this group quit because the app was so tedious.
By collecting data from a range of users, we identified recurring pain points and offered feedback on how to address them, along with possible ways to redesign the layout and interface to make future user interactions smoother and less friction-filled.
Research Methods
Preliminary forum and discussion-board research, a pre-survey, moderated usability observations, a post-survey, and analysis against Jakob Nielsen's ten usability heuristics.
Process
HSE 521 MyFitnessPal users' sentiments found on various forums and discussion boards. We used this research to determine MFP's audience and gain insight into their experiences in the app.
HSE 521 MyFitnessPal pre-observation survey data. This data helped determine the overall MFP audience and the types of users we should consider when discussing redesign suggestions.
High-fidelity wireframes of MyFitnessPal's redesign. In these wireframes, we included annotations indicating what changes were made and why.
Key Decisions
After collecting and sorting the data, we ultimately offered four recommendations for improving the app:
Recommendation one: Provide a way for the community and/or AI to rate entries for accuracy.
Recommendation two: Introduce standardized serving sizes.
Recommendation three: Allow users more options to filter results.
Recommendation four: Ensure users understand system accuracy.
For example, in our redesign, we rearranged a journaling feature within the app we chose. It had been moved to a different page, and although people tended to use it more frequently than other features, once it was moved, it started getting used less; it was less likely to draw attention because it was no longer on the first page.
Usability Testing
To offer data-backed suggestions for a redesign that could encourage users to be more consistent within the app, we conducted user observations, logging users as they completed two basic tasks: logging their last meal and finding the nutritional information for the food they logged. Through these observations, we gathered much more data on specific elements and their placement within the app.
We also used Jakob Nielsen's ten usability heuristics to analyze further how the app could be better designed, and we highlighted five major usability issues:
Entry deletion: Deleted entries lack intuitive user interaction points.
Components: There are inconsistent buttons, styling, and counterintuitive data visualizations. For example, on the home page, they use an odd line shaped like a smile to track your calories for the day.
Confirmation and editing flows: Entry confirmation is barely visible, and quick editing isn't available if a mistake is made.
Daily log accessibility: Users have to take more interactions than necessary to get an overview of the full day's log.
Database accuracy checking: There is no standardized, research-proven system for checking the accuracy of self-entered meals.
Accessibility
Returning to the finiteness of cognitive focus, certain elements in the pre-redesign app drew unnecessary attention to interface areas that were not important to the user, leading to pain points and roadblocks.
Overall, in this redesign, I really tried to focus on how cognitive functions influence perception and how we perceive things, and how, as a designer, I can make my designs more accessible and provide more affordances for their audiences.
Reflection
I completed this project in the semester before my final semester in my program, and by then, I felt very confident in my design skills. However, since this was an engineering class, even though I had taken HSE classes before, I felt this one really delved deeper into the cognitive aspects of design, and how our cognition and cognitive functions not only influence how much time, energy, and focus we give to a task, but also how focus and attention are a finite resource, rather than something we should think of as infinite.
After learning more about how cognitive processes influence the way we interact with and approach design, I found myself much more aware of these factors during the redesign process. After collecting our data, we used our findings to identify common frustrations and potential cognitive barriers users experienced while interacting with the app. From there, we developed redesign suggestions to address those frustrations and make the overall experience more cognitively efficient.
What I Learned
This course forced me to reconcile with the idea that design isn't purely creative. It is actually measured and grounded in well-researched human behavior and cognition.
By studying research articles and analyzing the different research methods, I developed a solid framework for determining the most necessary redesigns for a product and offering suggestions for it. By the time we were officially tasked with redesigning an entire digital product, I had enough background knowledge and expertise to approach the redesign with deliberation and care.
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