Uber Eats: Diet Mode

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To quote George Jones, “it’s finally Friday.”

Some of us will be going out for dinner. Others will stay in and order with Doordash or Uber Eats. Some will eat ramen because of their stock trading decisions in 2022.

I digress… Uber Eats is a life saver. It’s what kept me going when I had the flu and was stuck in a hotel in SF a few months back. I’m amazed food can arrive at my door with a few taps of my phone, and not sure what I would have done without it.

It has never been easier to live a sedentary lifestyle while consuming unhealthy food. Though there are pros to this access, there are also cons. This ease of access likely contributes to the fact that America is the most obese high-income country in the world.

So how might we design a solution for this?

Introducing Uber Eats: Diet Mode.

By default, the app would align with guidelines set by HHS / USDA and limit daily calories ordered. In a future version you could sync with Apple Health to get more accurate caloric restrictions.

This is an insane and paternalistic solution that doesn’t actually solve the underlying problem. Rather than guiding people towards a better action (eating healthier food), punishing people by throttling their calories would likely just push people to another app. Regardless, got a kick out of designing this one.

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