Opinions on an app to teach kids healthy eating habits

[MartaDe]

Hi all,
I'm a digital designer and I've created a concept of an app to teach children healthy food choices and the idea of 5 basic food groups in a fun and engaging way!

I would appreciate your opinions and feedback about the concept.

The idea is that kids can use smartphones cameras to scan barcodes on food products to 'feed' those products to cute monsters. They have to feed them each of the basic food groups to make the monster grow to the next level.

You can see the prototype of the app here:
projects.invisionapp.com/share/7HBW8ZNZY#/screens/235822547

You can click through it to see how it works.

I would love your feedback on the following aspects:

1. do you see any benefits of using this app by kids?
   
2. do you see any disadvantages of using this app by kids?
   
3. in what context would it work? (e.g. at home, in a grocery store, while cooking etc)
   

Thanks you so much!

Marta

[KingIrving]

I think the only weakness is the barcode as usual fruit and veg don't come in a barcode or net, especially not in a farmers market. Kids should really step away from packages and eat more plant food instead of food coming from a plant.

I would also maybe use the opposite power, so a kid and a monster and every time a kid eats a fruit or a veg he grows and the monster shrinks and then for every color he eats, he receives special powers, laser eye for orange (carrots) , super muscle for green (spinach), and so on, reinforcing the idea that fruit and veg makes you strong and you fight illnesses.

Maybe also create a database of recipe based on combination, so the kid enters 2 veg and he can be directed to a cooking website for recipe.
Or suggestion for the week. If you eat green beans, you can run faster, the following week, fennel to incentivate kids (and parents) to try new veg.

[MartaDe]

Hi @KingIrving, thank you so much for your input, these are great ideas!

[MrsJamin]

I think the game needs to be really really fun in order that kids will want to play it regardless of whether their parents will encourage them to play it or not. Otherwise you'll get only kids from families with good diets already playing the app just because their parents have introduced them to it. You need to think of the market and its needs, not just how it would work technically.

[MartaDe]

Hi @MrsJamin, that's a very good point, thank you for your input!