We eat few varieties, and it shows in our diet
The project was born from a Microsoft challenge: use Artificial Intelligence to create a positive impact on people's quality of life. Instead of starting from the technology, we started from the underlying problem: in Argentina, most people eat only a few varieties of fruits and vegetables. Together with Narda Lepes, a renowned chef and food entrepreneur, we teamed up to understand, ideate and build a solution.
A tool that lets you recognize and learn about vegetables and fruits quickly and easily, with practical tips to eat and cook them.
The underlying need: reconnect people with natural foods and their seasons, and encourage creativity in the kitchen, so they can bring variety into their daily diet and live healthier.
Narda Lepes, and the starting question: what if your phone told you the best time of year to eat a fruit or vegetable and what it pairs best with?
Point the camera, and the vegetable tells you its story
The result was Come+Plantas: an app that uses object recognition to identify fruits, vegetables and legumes, directly with the phone's camera.
Behind the simplicity there's joint work: we defined the solution with Narda's and Microsoft's teams, at the same table, testing and adjusting with real users.
Working sessions with the Narda Lepes and Microsoft teams.
"We like to simplify the complex and improve people's lives through innovative solutions. Comé+Plantas is a faithful reflection of that commitment."
A living digital product
Before defining features we ran an active-listening process: understanding users' real behaviors, needs and frictions. That learning turned into concrete improvements shipped across successive versions: usability, a new onboarding, seasonality and by-month filters, short content that encourages recurring use. Listen, improve, measure again: that cycle is what raised the users' rating.
Awarded, downloaded and in the media
Winner in the Mobile App category of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, among the best food apps worldwide.
The initial launch target of 10,000 downloads was met within two days; the first month closed with more than 50,000. Top of its category on the App Store for over three consecutive months.
4.5 stars on the stores, after incorporating the improvements that came from user feedback.
AI and Machine Learning with Microsoft Azure to identify more than 90 vegetables from 30 botanical families.
Narda Lepes, Microsoft and SHIFTA: culinary, technological and design expertise in a single solution.
Featured in multiple national and international media for promoting more conscious eating.
Beyond the metrics, the biggest indicator was seeing the app become a useful tool at the moment of deciding which vegetables to buy, and start spreading through word-of-mouth among users. Our way to make SHIFT happen.
This process is replicable in any industry: start from the problem and not from the technology, validate with real users before investing in development and iterate with measured feedback. That's how we build products people adopt, with risk under control at every stage.
- /iOS app
- /Android app
- /Store publishing
- /React Native (Android and iOS)
- /.Net Core
- /Microsoft Custom Vision
- /Project Lead
- /Tech Lead
- /Developers
- /UX Specialist
