AI Alternative Diet Feature

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Success Metrics

• +30% recipe engagement (time spent, saves, shares).

• 25% of users explored at least one alternative diet per session (First 2 weeks)

• 70% less manual work for recipe tagging via AI-driven substitutions.

• 35% of recipe viewers clicked “Shop Ingredients”, with 20% cart conversion.

• 20% cart conversion rate (vs. ~8–10% industry benchmark for recipe → grocery flows).

Overview

Heartland Cooking is one of the 8 recipe cooking brands I’m working on. Each of our cooking brands targets different types of users’ lifestyles. But the problem is that these 8 cooking brands provide the same content and recipes daily. There were no personalized recipe feeds based on the lifestyle of each brand. Heartland Cooking aims to offer and promote healthy recipe meals while allowing people to indulge in their food cravings without sacrificing taste.

The Problem

Many users with dietary restrictions struggle to find recipes that suit their needs, leading to frustration and missed opportunities for our site to showcase the recipes we offer. As people pursue healthier lifestyles, we can stand out by helping users discover suitable ingredients and recipes. Our data shows that 65% of Heartland Cooking users want to adopt a healthier lifestyle. These users often look for a plant-based diet or healthier eating habits, but find it hard to locate the right recipes. The data indicates that many users click more on the “Soups and Salads” tags and categories on Heartland Cooking’s website. However, Heartland Cooking offers much more than that—a wide variety of recipes, from indulgent treats and healthy indulgent options to plant-based and nutritious meals. Unfortunately, the website’s mixed feed makes it difficult for users to easily find information on healthy food choices. Our goal is to provide our users with exactly what they want—top-quality recipes to enjoy without excessive scrolling, switching to other sites, or wasting time.

Research

• Over 70 percent of Americans are more health-conscious post-pandemic.

• According to a poll of 2,000 U.S. adults aged 30 and above, just as many said weight loss is a “top health goal” for them over the next year. (survey by Nutrisystem)

• $19B is spent on specialty foods each year in the United States to avoid one of the top nine allergies(Food Allergy Research & Foundation (FARE), 2020)

• 48% said they developed at least one new food allergy as an adult that they didn't have as a child. About one in four adults said they developed an allergy is an adult and never had a food allergy as a child. — Ruchi S. Gupta, MD, MPH

• 34% consumers changed their diets since the onset of Covid-19 to feel healthier

• Health not wealth: consumers are prioritizing wellness in 2024

  
  

AI Feature Documentation: Defining Data and Information Flow, Sourcing, and Creating Data 

The collaboration process with the Engineers and PMs

Before starting the design and sketching phases, we developed User mapping, AI, and Data documentation to bridge the gap between design and technology. This effort was a collaborative process involving our engineers and product manager. 

Design

AI Alternative Diet Recipe Feature to generate alternative recipes or substitute ingredients for popular dietary considerations. These options allow users to modify recipes for dietary needs by swapping meat-based dishes for plant-based or healthier alternatives and then swapping them back.

Design Flow

Monitization - Grocery & Commerce Integration

The Outcome

The daily email and your landing page will have a developed page based on the input gathered from the restricted diets, Dietary preferences, Food Allergies, and Intolerances. As well as what is “Recently viewed”, “What was left off”, and “What others’s been cooking”