October 2020

Yuka is an application that allows you to scan both food and cosmetic products and obtain their assessment, composition and an alternative product when necessary.

Characteristics

The application has 6 functionalities: history, alternatives, synthesis, filter, configuration and scanner.

• On Android, the first 5 are in a horizontal menu at the top of the screen. The scanner functionality is found in a button at the bottom and right of the screen.

• In IOS, all the functionalities are found in a menu at the bottom of the screen, with the exception of the configuration tab, which can be accessed from an information button (represented by an i), which is located at the top and right of the screen. It should be noted that in IOS, in addition to an icon for each tab, the meaning of each button on the main menu is also written.

-Record. In this section, the products that have been scanned will be displayed, being able to see the assessment obtained and when it was scanned. It is possible to access the product from the history to see the composition, the risk of each ingredient and the alternatives offered by the application to the product.

-Alternatives. In this tab Yuka offers you alternative products for the scanned products whose evaluation is not excellent.

-Synthesis. You can see the proportion of excellent, good, bad and mediocre products that has been analyzed. This analysis can be observed on the one hand, for food products and on the other hand, for cosmetic products, without more than selecting what you want to see.

-Filter. To access this menu and to be able to search for products without scanning it is necessary to be a premium member.

-Setting. From this tab you can access:

• Favorites: Find the products that are marked with the star as favorites. In IOS the favorites tab is outside this menu, being on the left and top of the screen.

• Account: It allows you to access the account data (name, email and password) and modify them. In addition, you can become a premium member and log out from this tab.
• Any problems?: Gives you general problems such as "scanner not working" and a possible solution to fix it.

• Premium Member: It shows you the additional options that are obtained by becoming a premium member and allows you to register as a premium member for 15 euros / year.

-Scanner button. From this button the product to be analyzed is scanned and the application shows the valuation data, composition, etc. With the multimedia sound activated and the bell button activated, a beep can be heard when the application has finished scanning the product.

When the product appears on the screen, you can upload the tab and obtain the composition, the risk of the different components of the product and the alternatives for the analyzed product. In addition, in the right area of ​​each ingredient or element that makes up the product, you can see the reasons why it has been rated as limited, moderate risk, etc. Finally, you can make the product a favorite (with the star / Favorite button) if you want to save it in the favorites tab and you can share the product on other platforms such as whatsapp, gmail, etc. from the 3-point tab (Android) or from the share button (IOS), which also indicates the method used to rate the product and if there is a problem with it, such as incorrect information, unadapted alternatives, etc.

Tests performed

In order to analyze and evaluate the application, a series of tests have been carried out to verify its operation. The tests have been carried out on a Samsung Galaxy S8 device (Android 8.0.0) with version 3.33 and an Iphone 6S (IOS 13.4.1) with version 3.32.

Functionality tests

In order to use the application on both devices, it has been necessary to install it through the respective application stores of each operating system.

Once the application is installed, when you start it for the first time, the application indicates that it is necessary to register with an email to be able to use it. It can also be accessed through Facebook.

When entering the account to be used, it is also necessary to provide a name and password (with at least 6 characters) for that account. Once you have finished filling in this data, the application shows you the scan button to start. Yuka will need to be given permission to take photos and record so she can use the camera and scan the barcodes.

Usability testing

These tests are intended to measure the possibilities of the application to be understood by the user. In this case, scan the products to get a rating.

The application is quite easy to use, since it has a simple interface. It consists of a main menu at the top and a scan button at the bottom right. The main menu buttons are easy to recognize, which means that it can be used by profiles of different ages of users. Being simple to use, if the application is uninstalled at some point, the simplicity of the interface makes it very easy to remember how it works.

Faced with effectiveness, by having a very large database, most of the products that are scanned are registered, being able to obtain their evaluation and their alternative if necessary. As noted above, the application is simple to use, so it can be said that the product has high efficiency in terms of scanning and obtaining product evaluations and alternatives.

Regarding portability, Yuka works on any type of Smartphone, both Android and IOS.

Taking into account this analysis, it can be said that the product has very good usability with respect to the objective mentioned above.

Accessibility tests

In this section, different criteria have been applied to assess whether the application can be used regardless of the capabilities of the user.

Cognitive accessibility – When you have the accessibility features of your phone active, a description of the application menu icons appears, making it easier to understand. The scan button does not have this description, although due to its image it can be easily identified. The size of the buttons can be temporarily enlarged thanks to the zoom function available in the accessibility settings of the phone.

Accessibility for people with reduced vision – The application does not have a settings section where you can change the theme. The font size cannot be changed, so depending on the screen dimensions of the device being used, it is possible that the words may be difficult to read. However, with the accessibility features that different devices usually offer, you can zoom in on the screen and/or increase the size of leyra in general, which would make it larger in the application. To complete this section, some tests have been carried out with the screen reader systems available on Android and IOS devices. These tests have focused on checking the correct labeling of the icons and buttons that Yuka has. When activating Android TalkBack and IOS Voice Over, it is found that some buttons, such as the flashlight button, are not well identified.

Accessibility for people with hearing difficulties – People with hearing difficulties can use the application without having any problem, since there is no content in the form of video or audio.

Reliability tests

These tests are intended to verify if the application has bugs that do not allow it to perform its functions.

During the days that the application was tested, no notable or critical failure was detected in its operation.

Privacy & Security

Regarding privacy and security of the application, the required data is email and a username. There is no privacy policy that needs to be accepted, although it is necessary to grant the application permission to use the camera to be able to scan items.

Conclusions

The application works correctly, no critical failure has been detected that has impaired its operation. Compared to the use that can be given to this application, its use can help to lead a more adequate diet and better select the products that are used, both food and cosmetic.

The main positive points of the application are its ease of use and its extensive database. The first makes it easy to use, and can be used by profiles of different ages. The second point, since all or almost all the products within our reach are registered, makes the use of the application effective and does not stop using.

One of its points to improve is to correct the application buttons that are not well labeled, both for Android (TalkBack) and for IOS (Voice Over), to provide greater accessibility to the application.

Note that in the free version it is necessary to scan the products for which you want to know their assessment, however, the Premium version offers to search for any product without having to scan it.

Finally, to be able to use this application in its free version, it is necessary to have an internet connection, either via WiFi or mobile data. In the Premium version, the offline mode is offered to be able to scan the articles.

Highlights

• It has a very extensive database.
• It has very good identification of the code.
• It shows the harmful elements and their risk, making a fairly detailed assessment.

Improvement points

• Not all information is true.
• Faced with accessibility, both with TalkBack and Voice Over, there are buttons that are not well identified in the application.
• When a product that is not registered is scanned, the user must enter the data, take photos of the product, the ingredients and the nutritional value, this process may not be validated if the application detects that the quality of the photo is not good. which can cause the product to not be added.