Case study · Mobile appDesigning a Mobile App for a Meal Subscription Service Catered to Athletes
A second brand, with no time to start over.
Design System Adaptation
Core is Numou’s second meal subscription service, designed specifically for athletes. While a scalable design system had already been built for Numou, enabling faster development of Core, the main challenge was adapting that system to meet the expectations of a performance focused audience. The task required careful refinement of the visual identity and specific component behaviors to cater to different user needs without compromising the shared functionality and underlying UI framework.
Research first.
Every Vitruvian project starts by understanding the people it serves. For Core, we used 4 of our methods:
- 01Interviews
- 02Market Research
- 03Wireframing
- 04Prototyping
Interviews
Conducted interviews with members of the Numou team to understand the specific nutritional goals and behavioral patterns of Core’s target audience. The focus was on identifying what athletes expect from a meal subscription service, how their needs differ from everyday users.
Market Research
Researched athlete focused meal subscription services, fitness tracking apps, and macro planning tools. Insights from this research shaped Core’s key features.
Wireframing
Wireframes were created to test Core’s unique features early on, including the multi step meal builders, macro sliders, and progress dashboards.
Prototyping
Interactive prototypes were utilized to test key features' usability and their alignment with athletic user expectations.
Tailored Design System for Active Users
Numou’s scalable design system was leveraged to accelerate Core’s development. Building on the existing framework, key components such as customizable meal builders, macro nutrient sliders, and more detailed progress metrics were introduced to support the advanced needs of performance focused users. The visual language was also refined to reflect Core’s athletic identity. Typography choices, color palette, and iconography were updated to convey energy, focus, and performance, differentiating the interface from Numou’s broader wellness tone.
