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. 2019 Nov 4;3(4):e12966. doi: 10.2196/12966

Table 1.

MoSCoW (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have) requirements for the app.

MoSCoW Requirementsa
Must have
  • Provide detailed and accurate dish information as supplied by the manufacturer, including ingredients and allergens;

  • Include nutrient information (calories, sugar, fat, saturated fat, and salt);

  • Include information allowing dietary classifications;

  • Include price per dish, allowing assessments of “value for money”;

  • Provide the information in an easily accessible format;

  • Enable quick information access, eg, via a QR (quick response) code;

  • Allow users to store personal preferences about dietary needs and requirements, for example, religion, vegetarian, and vegan;

  • Tailor menu presentation based on user profile;

  • Warn users for certain dishes based on user preferences, for example, allergens and religious dietary needs

Should have
  • Adopt a traffic light type coding system for the nutritional information;

  • Provide additional detailed information if required;

  • Provide a calorie calculator allowing assessment of a whole meal composed of several dishes;

  • Allow users to set a desired calorie limit per dish;

  • Allow presentation of all dishes to retain free choice for the consumer while retaining a tailored presentation based on the user profile

Could have
  • Provide information about ingredient provenance and organic nature;

  • Provide information about animal welfare, environmental impact, and fair trade nature of all ingredients;

  • Allow users to set favorite food region;

  • Allow users to set favorite dish or specific food items;

  • Enable recommendations based on user preferences;

  • Store previous purchase history; Enable recommendations based on previous consumption;

  • Provide warnings of over or excess consumption;

  • Provide personalized food messages for each user;

  • Allow sharing via social media;

  • Allow users to take photos of dishes/meals chosen;

  • Allow users to search for dishes;

  • Allow users to access menus in advance; Include functionality to preorder meals;

  • Include functionality to feedback dish choices to a canteen;

  • Include functionality to feedback comments/suggestions to a canteen;

Won’t have
  • Provide generic dish information;

  • Limit consumer choice;

  • Provide information on allergen traces;

  • Provide advertisements;

  • Support push notifications, for example, for special offers;

  • Include functionality to allow users to pay via the app;

  • Include functionality to feedback sales to a canteen

aDefinitions: a) Dish: can be made up of several food items, for example, lasagna with side salad; b) Food item: something a consumer can buy, which has nutritional facts and can fit a food classification; c) Nutritional fact: a fact about the nutritional values of a food item (eg, salt level or sugar level); d) Food classification: information about food items in relation to dietary classifications such as vegetarian, vegan, kosher, or halal.