Independent project · September 2026
An in-aisle allergen substitution product. Scan what your child picked up; if it's unsafe, get safe alternatives stocked in this store — or a recipe with an allergen-checked shopping list you can buy on the same trip.
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The one-line thesis — and the correction. Every allergy app answers "can he have this?" and then leaves you standing in the aisle. My first draft said nobody answers "then what instead?" That was wrong — Sifter does. What survives is narrower: nobody ranks substitutes by what the child actually pointed at. See §4.
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He picks something up off the shelf. I'm squinting at six-point type trying to find the allergen line. Sometimes it's fine. Sometimes it isn't — and now I'm standing in an aisle with a disappointed kid, hunting for something else he'd actually want, and that takes a long time.
And if we don't find a sub, I end up making it for him at home in a way I can, so that he feels happy and not restricted.
That is the founding account — my own, as a parent of a 6-year-old with peanut and tree nut allergies. It is marked as n=1 insider evidence throughout the project rather than dressed up as user research.
| Beat | What happens | Duration | Where the product intervenes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Want | Child picks a product off the shelf. The desire is his, and specific to that item. | instant | — |
| 2. Read | Parent hunts for the allergen statement in small print. | 20–60s | Replace with a scan |
| 3. Verdict | Often "no." | instant | Make it unambiguous |
| 4. Void | Disappointed child, parent searching the aisle unaided. | minutes | This is the product |
| 5. Resolve | A substitute is found, or the parent commits to making it at home. | — | Close in seconds, both ways |
Beat 4 is the entire opportunity. Every competitor optimises beats 2–3 and stops dead at beat 4.
My first framing was the birthday party — occasional, unpackaged, someone else's food. The real moment is the grocery aisle, which changes it from an occasion product into a habit one, and means there is a barcode to scan rather than a photo to guess from.
Primary — the in-aisle parent. Shops weekly with the allergic child present. Already expert on the allergy; does not need education. The constraint is time and emotional load in a specific three-minute window, not knowledge.
Explicit non-user — the medically anxious. Anyone wanting a definitive safety ruling. The product refuses to give one, by design.