Since its launch in 2007, the app Asken Diet has been supporting the health of many users for 17 years. What kind of ideas and dedication are embedded in product development? We also asked about the experiences and learnings gained from expanding to North America.

Takuya Ito | Asken Inc. Product Manager

Born in 1991 in Tokyo. Engaged in web direction and digital marketing consulting at an advertising agency since 2014. Takuya joined Asken in 2019 as a product manager, responsible for the operation of the Asken Diet business.

Neicy Pilarca | Asken Inc. Product Designer

Originally from the Philippines. After graduating from university, she moved to Japan in 2019 and started a career as a developer and then transitioned fully into the world of design. She has experience with both Japanese and English versions of Asken Diet app, handling UI/UX design, UX research, and design operations using Figma.

Ayako Tada | Asken Inc. Nutritionist

After working for a cosmetics brand for 14 years, she joined as a nutritionist with a qualification from Junior College of Kagawa Nutrition University. She wants to support beauty and health from the inside and out. Involved in public relations and service development, writes Asken columns, and conducts seminars.

Asken Diet – Leading the Japanese healthcare app market for over 10 Years

── First, please tell us about Asken Diet.

Takuya: It is a meal management and diet support app where you can easily record your daily meals and receive advice supervised by a registered dietitian. Under the mission of making people healthier tomorrow than today, we have been providing services since 2007. There are over 10 million users in Japan, ranking first in both app downloads and sales for three consecutive years in the healthcare and fitness category.

── This year marks the 17th year since the service started. What do you think is the reason Asken Diet has been able to maintain its top position for so long?

Takuya: I believe one of our strengths lies in incorporating both left-brained and right-brained elements in product development. While calculating nutrition and calories and providing feedback based on numbers is essential, we also focus on transforming that into user-friendly feedback. It’s not just a calorie calculator app, and I think that plays out well overall. 

The character of “AI Nutritionist Miki” is one example of this. Instead of giving strict feedback every day, we aim to express sincerity and human touch to help users continue without feeling discouraged, like sending a message on their birthday saying, “Enjoy your favorite food today, and let’s get back on track tomorrow.”

Takuya: We still want to cherish the pleasure of eating. If it’s just about losing weight, there are other methods like fasting or cutting carbs strictly. Asken started as a new business from a comprehensive food service company that operates restaurants and hotels (now the parent company), so we always keep in mind that you can enjoy your diet while staying healthy.

From product to management: Consistent focus on food and health

── There seems to be a contradiction between valuing the pleasure of eating and the goal of user dieting. How do you balance these aspects in the design of your product?

Takuya: We have designed the system to maintain the value that users feel in Asken Diet as being able to lose weight, while also guiding them towards balancing nutrition to lose weight.

We have mechanisms that do not allow setting unrealistic goals, such as excessively low BMI, extreme weight loss pace, or imbalanced PFC ratios (protein, fat, carbohydrate intake ratios). We also set lower scores for Asken’s health score (a comprehensive score created by Asken based on meal and exercise records) in cases where calorie intake is too low.

── The service is available for free with ads. How do you handle advertisements?

Takuya: When Asken accepts projects as its advertisements, we always confirm internally, including with a registered dietitian. Since we recommend products under the name of Asken, we prioritize whether they align with our mission and if we can confidently recommend them. We aim to operate as a platform to introduce users to health-promoting products they may not be aware of.

── Expanding into fitness and other areas could have been an option, but you have not chosen to do so.

Takuya: We have decided to focus on food, and we do not want to spread ourselves too thin. While fitness is essential for maintaining health, it can be integrated with other services we excel in. We believe that focusing on food is the strength of Asken.

Noticeable change and unnoticeable change: Starting with conversations with users

── What aspects do you prioritize in design?

Takuya: Since our user base ranges from young to elderly, we consciously focus on creating designs that are easy to understand and use for everyone. We consider not only the younger generation or those with high IT literacy but also take into account the perspective of an infrastructure used by people of all ages and genders to avoid bias.

── After over 10 years of service, many users may be familiar with the existing app UI. How do you approach design changes?

Takuya: As the app is used daily and the design is frequently seen, even small changes in appearance can elicit various reactions. We are conscious of moving forward gradually, taking half steps instead of leaping ahead.

While there are suggestions for significant design changes, we assess where users find the current interface effective and convenient, as well as identify areas that pose challenges.

Neicy: In the past, there was an initiative to change the design of the meal recording screen to a modern style. We created a design following usability guidelines, but we failed to consider user journeys and use cases, resulting in the inability to create something accepted by users. Through conversations with users, I realized the importance of understanding use cases before designing.

── Do you conduct conversations with users through interviews?

Takuya: Yes, that’s right. We regularly conduct online interviews.

One insight from these interviews is that while visible changes elicit strong reactions, users may not even notice features that we take for granted. Simply adding features does not necessarily improve user experience.

For example, the barcode scanning feature initially required users to navigate through the meal photo registration screen. However, users who wanted to quickly log their meals didn’t even realize this feature existed. Based on interview results, we redesigned the app’s home screen to include a one-tap scan button. The learnings from interviews are significant in understanding and organizing user flows to enhance usability naturally through design.

Diversity embedded in health: Differences encountered in expansion overseas

── It has been expanded to North America since 2017 (currently on hold for other countries). What were the differences between the healthcare and diet markets compared to those in Japan?

Neicy: “Health” involves numerous factors. Knowledge about nutrition, types of food and restaurants available, access to healthcare, income, race, religion, and culture, all play a role. There is rich diversity in North America, and industry trends change rapidly. 

Various diet programs exist, but the focus is often on rapid weight loss. There are many ads promoting miracle diets like “Lose 5kg in 10 days and achieve your ideal body,” along with strict food labeling. While there are services that may not promote overall health effectively, many users prefer quick weight loss, making it challenging for Asken to compete in that space.

── It seems like the market environment is significantly different. Who was the target audience in North America?

Neicy: We targeted the seniors, assuming they might not be as obsessed with their appearance as young people. We found that many individuals, regardless of age, wanted to feel confident about their bodies. 

Notably, many users in North America already suffer from conditions like obesity and diabetes, impacting their quality of life beyond just meal and weight management. As Asken Diet is a diet managing tool and not a treatment for conditions like obesity or diabetes, we felt the limitations of what our product could support.

Transcending culture and environment: Human touch in product

── With those market differences, how did you localize the product?

Neicy: While we couldn’t cure diseases like obesity or diabetes, we focused on supporting habit formation through small, achievable actions. One feature we developed was related to mental health. In the United States, dieting encompasses not just food and exercise but also mental health. Collaborating with registered dietitians locally, we added features for mental health management and encouraging physical activity.

One feature is the ability to chat with the AI Nutritionist character, Miki. Alongside Miki’s advice, we provided users with small, committable steps like “Avoid drinking soda for a day” or “Take a 10-minute walk” as options for support.

Neicy: Miki’s character was well-received for its positivity. Local dietitians wrote Miki’s advice, and it was praised for its human touch, similar to feedback received in Japan.

── How was the design aspect like UI handled?

Neicy: With numerous competing services, standing out based solely on features was challenging. Therefore, we localized the design to align with the latest trends there. Simplifying information was crucial, and the design aimed to be intuitive, considering it as a new service it should be developed with naturally good design.

── Localizing the service according to the country or region of expansion is indeed necessary, isn’t it?

Ayako: Initially, we considered expanding with the same structure as Japan, but the mindset toward losing weight in North America was fundamentally different. There was a strong emphasis on improving appearance and body shaping. We also received feedback about the lack of plans to support weight gain, highlighting the need for localization tailored to the local market.

I’ve heard that localizing the database was particularly challenging. As Asken only had a database of Japanese food, advising something like “Let’s eat tofu next” would lead to responses like “It’s not as common here as in Japan!”… creating such gaps.

── We would love to hear about the insights gained from localizing the service based on your experience.

Neicy: It may sound obvious, but I realized the importance of talking to users. Most of our team members were Japanese and had never lived in the US, so there was a sense of distance geographically and culturally from the users. However, by utilizing research support services and tools, we were able to regularly engage with local users and gain valuable insights. This allowed us to empathize with users and bridge the gap.

Takuya: When expanding overseas, it is common for Japanese teams in Japan to handle the operations, but I felt that having local team members involved was a crucial point. Apart from dietitians, we also included individuals residing there for user support. This helped convey nuances that machine translation couldn’t capture, and through these interactions, I realized the effectiveness of the human touch in the product.

To become happy and healthy

── What are your future goals for expansion?

Takuya: I still consider managing meals through smartphones to be a rare behavior. Even with guidance from a face-to-face dietitian, it’s challenging to see improvements, let alone motivate users to continue on their own.

In the future, I want to make meal management easier and more common, even anyone with low motivation can engage. Besides the ease of recording what one eats, it’s also crucial to spark interest and enjoyment in deciding “what to eat next.” We refer to this as “meal selection skills” at Asken, and we are constantly thinking about how to enhance these skills.

Currently, some users not only record what they eat but also register ingredients they plan to buy or dishes they intend to prepare, engaging in a practice of “recording and simulating before eating.” Moving forward, we aim to enable users to record their future meal plans to support simulation and planning.

Additionally, we place importance on catering to the diverse needs of individuals facing health challenges beyond just losing weight, such as those wanting to build muscle or pregnant individuals. We have already started launching specialized courses for these specific needs. Looking ahead to the next 10 years, we hope to find what we can do and act towards our goals.

Related Links
Asken Inc.

Asken Diet