Overview

I’ve been a Principal Product Designer at Ziff Davis, working within their Everyday Health Group. This division stands at the forefront of modern digital health and wellness, offering resources that empower people worldwide to take control of their health journeys. I’m very grateful for this role in my career because it aligns with my values of mindful consumption. About half a year before I joined, the company acquired Lose It!, a leading calorie-tracking app. My design work has spanned Lose It! on both iOS and Android, in addition to a new app we launched in 2024—the Cleveland Clinic Diet app—and the Challenges app.

I am fortunate to have Patrick Rills, the smartest and kindest manager, and two outstanding Product Managers, Sarah Molhan and Taylor Smyrnos, who have been instrumental in shipping amazing products with me.

Lose It! Courses project

Since its launch in 2008, the Lose It! app has become a go-to for anyone looking to manage their weight through careful tracking of their meals and exercise routines. Over the years, it's evolved into a feature-rich platform, constantly adding new layers of functionality to enhance user experience. In 2023, we took a bold step beyond our usual updates; we introduced our first-ever collection of courses focused on mindful eating and nutrition. This exciting addition allows users to purchase any of the four carefully curated courses from our library, accessible with or without a Premium subscription. This not only provides valuable resources to our users but also opens up a new revenue stream for us.

We put a lot of thought into making the UI and UX for accessing these courses as seamless and intuitive as possible, ensuring a smooth experience across both iOS and Android platforms. Our design approach included a simple yet effective design system that uses color coding to distinguish between the courses, along with unique banners and artwork for each course, making them visually appealing and easy to navigate. This system is not just about aesthetics; it's designed to facilitate quick design adaptations as we expand our course offerings.

Our collaboration with real users and well-known nutrition podcasters in creating the course content was a game-changer. This partnership allowed us to produce content that's not only informative but also resonates with our audience's needs and preferences. By aligning the course banners with the authors' branding, we've managed to create a cohesive and attractive package that stands out in our app. This move towards educational content marks a significant milestone in our journey, offering our users a more holistic approach to weight management and wellness.

The Cleveland Clinic Diet app

In 2023, Everyday Health partnered with the Cleveland Clinic, a renowned academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio, known worldwide for its significant contributions to healthcare. This collaboration involved working closely with their product and design team, using the Lose It! app as a foundation, to develop the Cleveland Clinic Diet app. This innovative app offers users more than just calorie tracking; it provides customized health plans and expert advice from nutrition professionals, helping people take their health journey to the next level.

Teaming up with the creative minds at Cleveland Clinic, we embarked on a journey to craft a design system and branding guide that brings a whole new level of cohesion and excitement to the user experience, regardless of the platform. Together, we delved into the worlds of typography and colors, meticulously selecting the perfect palettes and fonts for iOS, Android, and the Web to ensure everything felt just right. And, to put the cherry on top, we created a fresh, new app logo that embodies our vision.

A key part of my role involved designing screens and user experiences for both iOS and Android platforms. This included reskinning the existing Lose It! screens, crafting a new onboarding flow, and introducing a Courses feature. I also designed the web landing page and several other web pages for this project. 

A feature I'm particularly excited to highlight is the Voice Logging feature in the Cleveland Clinic Diet app. This innovative tool enables users to log meals using our in-house built AI voice recognition and food matching technology. Impressively, this feature earned us awards at Ziff & Davis! I'm hopeful our users will value it as much as we do, not only for its cutting-edge technology but also for how much time it saves them.

Mindful challenges & the Challenges app

Diving into the world of health and fitness apps, Ziff Davis made a strategic move by acquiring the Challenges app, a sibling in the Lose It! family, back in 2021. Known for turning health goals into a fun and competitive adventure, Challenges amps up the game by syncing up smoothly with Apple Health for a truly immersive experience.

Fast forward to late 2023, and we've taken things up a notch. In an exciting collaboration with Apple, we launched the Mindful Eatwell challenge, initially rolled out exclusively for Apple employees. This innovative feature is a game-changer, teaching users to hone their savor, sense, and satisfy skills to foster healthier eating habits. Plus, it rewards you for munching on fruits and veggies and staying active—how cool is that?

As a UX designer, I had the fantastic opportunity to shape the Mindful Eatwell challenge for the Apple Watch. Our mission was to create an engaging, intuitive design that makes healthy living feel like second nature. We didn't stop there, though; we also polished up the onboarding experience and challenge landing screens for iOS, ensuring a seamless journey from start to finish. It's been a thrilling ride, designing ways to make wellness not just a goal, but a lifestyle.

Key insights

The day I stepped into my interview at Lose It!, fresh from the sting of being laid off, was one I'll never forget. I was on the hunt for something that would marry my love for sustainable fashion with a new career path. Despite the uncertainty swirling around job security in the US, I was thankful for the chance to interview. Yet, there was this nagging voice of perfectionism in my head—I nicknamed her "Anna Wintour." She skeptically whispered, "Calorie tracking and eco fashion are worlds apart, darling." But I pushed that doubt aside and poured my heart out about my journey in sustainable fashion to the team.

Then, like a lightbulb moment, the connection clicked: Mindful consumption.

It's all about making choices with awareness, understanding the ripple effect of our decisions. At Lose It!, I've found a unique platform where I can blend my passion for mindful living with the tech world, helping to craft digital products that educate and inspire others towards healthier, more conscious lifestyles. This realization felt like finding a hidden thread that tied everything together. Dive deeper into this journey in my latest post.