By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter,
On October 27, 2025, my wife, son, and in-laws ordered takeout from a local restaurant. That simple act reminded me of a neglected topic: the cues influencing our nutritional decisions when we order online or by phone after viewing digital menus.
We’ve often discussed nutritional outcomes from grocery shopping and dining out, but digital menu design—now central to how Americans eat—deserves special focus. According to Grand View Research, the U.S. online-originated food delivery and takeout market is projected to grow at a 9.6% compound annual rate from 2025 to 2030. This isn’t merely a convenience trend; it’s a profound shift in how behavioral design and algorithms shape our eating patterns.
Restaurants have long used “menu engineering”—strategic choices about layout, descriptions, and visual cues—to influence ordering behavior. When dining moves online, those levers become far more powerful.
On apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub, every image, ranking, and prompt is guided by real-time data. Our cravings and nutritional outcomes are molded by the invisible architecture of digital interfaces.
1. Visual Hierarchy and Screen Placement
In the digital environment, placement equals power. The first few items on a page receive exponentially more clicks. Most platforms highlight “Popular Items,” which are often high-calorie, usually high-profit comfort foods, creating a self-reinforcing feedback loop of indulgence.
Equally powerful are the images that accompany menu items. A glossy photo of a cheeseburger, art-directed for dopamine appeal, easily outperforms a less-vivid salad image. Eye-tracking research suggests that most users make decisions within 15 seconds of opening a menu—well before scrolling to lighter fare.
Device differences magnify these effects. On mobile screens, only one or two items appear at a time, so top-of-list positioning is even more influential. The smaller display and scrolling interface favor impulse and emotion over reflection. Laptop or desktop users, by contrast, can view multiple sections at once, compare prices and nutrition data, and make more deliberate choices. The same menu looks—and functions—differently depending on screen size and context.
2. Algorithmic Curation and Personalization
Delivery apps do not simply display menus; they rank and filter them. Algorithms prioritize profitability, popularity, and sometimes paid placement. If you frequently order pizza or wings, the system learns and promotes similar options. Nutritional diversity erodes as the algorithm reinforces your prior choices.
“Suggested pairings” and “You might also like” prompts mirror e-commerce tactics, bundling high-margin desserts or sides. Without the social friction of a waiter or the pause of a physical bill, impulse decisions rise. Dynamic pricing and “Most Popular” tags further anchor users toward high-calorie defaults. Because nutrition data often sits behind an extra click, most people never see it before ordering.
3. Language, Labeling, and the Health Halo
Even in digital form, words matter. Descriptive language—crispy, buttery, fire-grilled—consistently drives higher sales than plain text. Online character limits force restaurants to decide whether to emphasize indulgence or health. Terms like “loaded” or “cheesy” trigger reward anticipation, while “organic” or “plant-based” cue virtue. Both can mislead: a “protein-rich smoothie” may hide more sugar than a soda. The health halo effect thrives when language substitutes for real nutritional transparency.
4. Defaults, Combos, and Add-Ons
Customization screens are behavioral minefields. Burgers pre-selected with fries and soda exploit default bias—users rarely opt out. “Meal deals” appear cost-effective but inflate calories and sodium. Pop-ups for desserts or drinks remove friction entirely. Because mobile ordering compresses steps into a few taps, it amplifies these nudges: speed favors indulgence.
Laptop users have slightly more control. Larger layouts allow side-by-side comparisons and easier unbundling of unhealthy add-ons. Yet most platforms still present upsells visually louder than opt-out choices, ensuring the path of least resistance remains the most caloric.
5. Interface Design and Emotional Cues
Colors, typography, and motion all shape appetite. Red and yellow “Order Now” buttons quicken action; countdown timers and “Only 2 left!” messages create urgency. Push notifications timed to lunch or dinner reignite cravings and reinforce habitual ordering.
The frictionless flow—no waiter, no conversation, no closing ritual—means the meal is decoupled from social and sensory awareness. What once required planning and presence now happens in seconds, increasing both portion sizes and frequency of orders.
6. Information Visibility and Choice Architecture
While calorie labeling is legally required on some digital menus, the data often appears in small gray font or requires an extra click, minimizing its effect. When calorie or sodium counts are displayed clearly beside each item, average calorie intake drops by 5–10%. Color-coded “traffic light” systems—green for healthy, red for indulgent—also subtly guide better choices.
Some emerging food apps now use AI to personalize health-oriented nudges. If a user’s history skews heavily toward high-fat meals, lighter alternatives appear first. A few platforms experiment with eco-impact icons or portion-control recommendations. These are early steps toward aligning profit algorithms with public health.
7. The Ethics—and Opportunity—of Digital Menu Design
The same persuasive tools that maximize revenue can be harnessed for wellbeing. Restaurants and platforms could:
Promote balanced dishes in top-ranked slots.
Use appetizing imagery for salads and vegetables, not just comfort foods.
Default combos to smaller portions or healthier sides.
Make calorie and nutrient data visible without extra clicks.
Adjust recommendations to diversify users’ eating patterns.
Use dynamic pricing for healthy online ordering, which is not a practical option for in-person dining.
Ethical digital design can align commercial success with nutritional improvement. Just as the lighting, sound, and décor of physical restaurants influence mood and appetite, the digital interface now performs the same function—only with far greater precision and reach.
A New Frontier of Influence
Every scroll, swipe, and algorithmic prompt now shapes what ends up on our plates. On a mobile phone, where attention is narrow and decisions are rapid, menu engineering exerts its greatest power. On a laptop, where the environment allows comparison and reflection, that power weakens—but never disappears.
Used responsibly, the tools of digital persuasion can evolve from subtle profit drivers into allies of public health—guiding millions toward better nutrition, one online order at a time.