︎ Power Plate Pathways
Designing Visual Wayfinding for Healthier School Eating
By Minza Shahid ︎ & Hitanshi Vaidya ︎
Hypothesis
By redesigning the school cafeteria as a living classroom that integrates simple graphics, playful wayfinding, and inclusive nutrition cues, students can be guided toward making balanced meal choices. This environment will enable children with diabetes to discreetly manage their sugar intake while fostering food literacy among all students turning everyday mealtime into a habit-forming practice that supports lifelong health.
By redesigning the school cafeteria as a living classroom that integrates simple graphics, playful wayfinding, and inclusive nutrition cues, students can be guided toward making balanced meal choices. This environment will enable children with diabetes to discreetly manage their sugar intake while fostering food literacy among all students turning everyday mealtime into a habit-forming practice that supports lifelong health.
- Why
Childhood eating habits shape lifelong health, yet cafeterias are confusing environments where unbalanced foods are the easiest choices. For children with diabetes, unclear labels and portion sizes make self-management stressful and isolating. The aim is to create an environment that nudges all students toward healthier eating.
- How
Applying principles of visual communication, and inclusive design, we can turn the cafeteria into a supportive learning environment. Instead of confusing text we use icons, colors, wayfinding, graphics to make information actionable and accessible.
- What
Visual Plate System: Posters, tray liners, and menus showing a simple 3-part balanced plate. Wayfinding & Flow Cues: Floor decals, arrows, and color-coded stations guiding students
- So What
Increased selection of fruits/veggies, reduced sugary drink uptake, easier carb counting for diabetic students.
Students internalize plate-building and carb-recognition skills.
Healthier lifelong dietary habits, improved self-regulation for students with diabetes, and a shift where balanced eating feels fun and easy.
The Link Between Design and Outcomes
By restructuring the cafeteria experience with playful wayfinding, clear plate-building graphics, and simple nutrition icons, design directly shapes healthier habits. Floor arrows and food station sequencing guide students to encounter vegetables and proteins first, nudging them toward balanced plates. The “Power Plate” visual on trays and posters turns nutrition into a repeatable formula, while carb icons make sugar content instantly visible, empowering diabetic students to manage intake and helping all kids build sugar awareness. Positive, inclusive messaging normalizes healthy eating as fun and universal, reducing stigma and encouraging peer reinforcement. Together, these interventions transform lunch from a routine transaction into a habit-building system, producing immediate improvements in food choice and long-term gains in food literacy and self-care.
︎︎︎Download PowerPlate Poster