SHARKO
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What you put in your cart defines what you eat. It sounds obvious, yet grocery shopping remains the most fragile point of any nutrition plan.
Sharko starts here: it turns the shopping list into an active tool that adapts to your habits, understands what you want to cook, and takes care of the rest, even when you only have a dish in mind but haven’t yet thought about what you need to prepare it.
Over 50 people were interviewed through quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews. I wasn’t looking for opinions about nutrition, but for real patterns: how people decide what to buy, where they lose control, why a healthy eating intention falls apart in front of the shelf, and where the frustration associated with grocery shopping originates.
One finding stood out clearly: 100% of respondents associate grocery shopping with some form of frustration. But the most critical point is another: grocery shopping is the moment when a balanced nutrition plan either materializes or fails, and most people arrive at it unprepared.
The research therefore focused on two main objectives: understanding users’ real needs when they have to do their grocery shopping and identifying which moments of the experience generate the most frustration, by analyzing their habits, both in product selection and in how frequently they shop.
75% of people buy the same items every week. 80% go shopping without a list. Their diet suffers and so does their stress level.
Insights emerged from the research
The paradox: almost everyone claims that preparing a list “is not demanding,” yet admits to going to the supermarket without one. The result is a repetitive, poorly varied diet driven by impulse rather than conscious choice. This gap between intention and behavior became the starting point of the design process.
Through detailed experience maps, I traced users’ real flows, from the moment they think about what to cook to when they leave the supermarket. Every step of the app is based on observed behavior, not assumptions. Usability tests on the first prototype confirmed the alignment between the designed service and real user needs.
Sharko bridges the gap between the idea of a dish and the grocery shopping needed to make it. Have a carbonara in mind for tonight but haven’t checked what you’re missing? Sharko translates recipes and intentions into a complete, balanced, ready to use shopping list.
But it doesn’t stop there. The system learns your habits, tastes, and dietary preferences, suggesting alternatives to encourage variety and balance in your daily nutrition. The result is a nutrition plan that doesn’t live only in a spreadsheet or a tracking app, but takes shape where it truly matters: in your shopping cart.
Fewer last minute decisions. And when they happen, Sharko is the prepared ally that takes care of it for you. More control, more awareness, at every meal.
