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Mobile App

Productivity

Loop

This project sought to explore how technology and AI can be used in order streamline tasks and reduce the stress of daily life planning while enhancing overall quality of life. My involvement in this project includes conducting structured interviews, guiding product direction, designing interfaces, prototyping the MVP, and testing user flows.

In the end, the proposed mobile app integrates the functionality of a daily planning app and habit tracker with the power of an AI-driven personal assistant to optimize and create a tailored schedule.

Live Preview

Dec 2023 to Feb 2024

Timeline

Product Designer

Role

Desktop prototype

Output

Average SEQ score of 4.7/5

Impact

Dec 2023 to Feb 2024

Timeline

Product Designer

Role

Desktop prototype

Output

Average SEQ score of 4.7/5

Impact

Background

Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed and frustrated by the challenges of managing daily tasks and routines? Or maybe you find yourself struggling with decision fatigue, procrastination, or lack of motivation. You aren't alone!

Research has shown that having an irregular routine can be incredibly energy draining and stressful on the mind and body. Factors such as work commitments, social engagements, and procrastination can be major barriers to optimizing and building a better routine.

Having a routine and carrying out routine activities can hep to reduce stress by making the situation appear more controllable and predictable.

Together, with a product manager and two other developers, I created a mobile app that aimed to help users manage the stress of daily life by helping users to build a personalized routine.

Having a routine and carrying out routine activities can hep to reduce stress by making the situation appear more controllable and predictable.

Together, with a product manager and two other developers, I created a mobile app that aimed to help users manage the stress of daily life by helping users to build a personalized routine.

Discovery

👥

The participants

We decided to target three different groups of people: students, working professionals, and parents/caregivers.

We conducted a total of 5 user interviews along with 16 surveys to get an understanding of how our users were currently managing their schedules and planning out their days.

👥

The participants

We decided to target three different groups of people: students, working professionals, and parents/caregivers.

We conducted a total of 5 user interviews along with 16 surveys to get an understanding of how our users were currently managing their schedules and planning out their days.

👥

The participants

We decided to target three different groups of people: students, working professionals, and parents/caregivers.

We conducted a total of 5 user interviews along with 16 surveys to get an understanding of how our users were currently managing their schedules and planning out their days.

👥

The participants

We decided to target three different groups of people: students, working professionals, and parents/caregivers.

We conducted a total of 5 user interviews along with 16 surveys to get an understanding of how our users were currently managing their schedules and planning out their days.

👥

The participants

We decided to target three different groups of people: students, working professionals, and parents/caregivers.

We conducted a total of 5 user interviews along with 16 surveys to get an understanding of how our users were currently managing their schedules and planning out their days.

❓

Asking the right questions

Our research was centered around exploring some of the challenges and emotional aspects associated with optimizing tasks. This involved asking questions such as:

What are the primary pain points and challenges that individuals face in managing routine tasks?
What are some preferences, habits, and behaviours of individuals when it comes to optimizing their daily tasks and planning routines?
What motivates individuals to optimize their daily routines, and what are the barriers to motivation?

❓

Asking the right questions

Our research was centered around exploring some of the challenges and emotional aspects associated with optimizing tasks. This involved asking questions such as:

What are the primary pain points and challenges that individuals face in managing routine tasks?
What are some preferences, habits, and behaviours of individuals when it comes to optimizing their daily tasks and planning routines?
What motivates individuals to optimize their daily routines, and what are the barriers to motivation?

❓

Asking the right questions

Our research was centered around exploring some of the challenges and emotional aspects associated with optimizing tasks. This involved asking questions such as:

What are the primary pain points and challenges that individuals face in managing routine tasks?
What are some preferences, habits, and behaviours of individuals when it comes to optimizing their daily tasks and planning routines?
What motivates individuals to optimize their daily routines, and what are the barriers to motivation?

❓

Asking the right questions

Our research was centered around exploring some of the challenges and emotional aspects associated with optimizing tasks. This involved asking questions such as:

What are the primary pain points and challenges that individuals face in managing routine tasks?
What are some preferences, habits, and behaviours of individuals when it comes to optimizing their daily tasks and planning routines?
What motivates individuals to optimize their daily routines, and what are the barriers to motivation?

❓

Asking the right questions

Our research was centered around exploring some of the challenges and emotional aspects associated with optimizing tasks. This involved asking questions such as:

What are the primary pain points and challenges that individuals face in managing routine tasks?
What are some preferences, habits, and behaviours of individuals when it comes to optimizing their daily tasks and planning routines?
What motivates individuals to optimize their daily routines, and what are the barriers to motivation?

“The problem with my routine is that I don’t have a plan. I get really frustrated or stressed when my environment feels chaotic.”

RESEARCH FINDINGS

From the user interviews, we discovered that there were quite a few barriers to planning and tracking tasks. Users reported feeling overwhelmed by large tasks, frustrated by a lack of routine, and burdened by having to juggle multiple commitments.

However, amongst all of the barriers, there were some key motivators that kept popping up:

Tracking progress

Being able to see progress and how much of the task has been completed provided a sense of accomplishment and motivation.

Accountability

The fear of disappointing someone or facing the consequences of not completing a task were good external motivators to start a task.

Visual reminder

Having a visual reminder of the tasks that needed to be done helped to relieve the mental load of remembering and made users feel less overwhelmed.

SURVEY RESPONSES

The survey responses also demonstrated that a majority of users were already using technology in some shape or form to track tasks or plan their day.

Many users had issues with the sheer number of apps that they needed to use to track different aspects of their day (i.e. to-do lists, calendars, habit trackers).

This is what we tried to improve with our product - creating an app that could consolidate the functionality of all these different apps into an "all-in-one" planner.

The survey responses also demonstrated that a majority of users were already using technology in some shape or form to track tasks or plan their day.

Many users had issues with the sheer number of apps that they needed to use to track different aspects of their day (i.e. to-do lists, calendars, habit trackers).

This is what we tried to improve with our product - creating an app that could consolidate the functionality of all these different apps into an "all-in-one" planner.

How Might We

optimize daily tasks and daily planning for individuals dealing with the challenges of decision fatigue, procrastination, and lack of motivation so that they alleviate stress, save time, and enhance overall well-being?

Ideation

⭐

MVP goals

Based on the research, here were the goals we were hoping to help users achieve with our MVP:

Frictionless scheduling of new and pre-existing items to a planner
Straightforward visual layout with essential information highlighted
Efficient schedule optimization and planning

⭐

MVP goals

Based on the research, here were the goals we were hoping to help users achieve with our MVP:

Frictionless scheduling of new and pre-existing items to a planner
Straightforward visual layout with essential information highlighted
Efficient schedule optimization and planning

⭐

MVP goals

Based on the research, here were the goals we were hoping to help users achieve with our MVP:

Frictionless scheduling of new and pre-existing items to a planner
Straightforward visual layout with essential information highlighted
Efficient schedule optimization and planning

⭐

MVP goals

Based on the research, here were the goals we were hoping to help users achieve with our MVP:

Frictionless scheduling of new and pre-existing items to a planner
Straightforward visual layout with essential information highlighted
Efficient schedule optimization and planning

⭐

MVP goals

Based on the research, here were the goals we were hoping to help users achieve with our MVP:

Frictionless scheduling of new and pre-existing items to a planner
Straightforward visual layout with essential information highlighted
Efficient schedule optimization and planning

🚀

Product direction

To guide the product design, we also discussed what we wanted our product to eventually look like and what our goals were.

Creating a community

Including a space where users could form and build their own communities was important. Users could share their results and ideas, which would not only encourage user engagement, but also provide a sense of accountability.

Gamify the routine

Habit streaks would help to create a sense of motivation, accomplishment, and reward. The interface and copy were purposefully designed to be fun, engaging, and friendly to leave room for future gamification of the app.

🚀

Product direction

To guide the product design, we also discussed what we wanted our product to eventually look like and what our goals were.

Creating a community

Including a space where users could form and build their own communities was important. Users could share their results and ideas, which would not only encourage user engagement, but also provide a sense of accountability.

Gamify the routine

Habit streaks would help to create a sense of motivation, accomplishment, and reward. The interface and copy were purposefully designed to be fun, engaging, and friendly to leave room for future gamification of the app.

🚀

Product direction

To guide the product design, we also discussed what we wanted our product to eventually look like and what our goals were.

Creating a community

Including a space where users could form and build their own communities was important. Users could share their results and ideas, which would not only encourage user engagement, but also provide a sense of accountability.

Gamify the routine

Habit streaks would help to create a sense of motivation, accomplishment, and reward. The interface and copy were purposefully designed to be fun, engaging, and friendly to leave room for future gamification of the app.

🚀

Product direction

To guide the product design, we also discussed what we wanted our product to eventually look like and what our goals were.

Creating a community

Including a space where users could form and build their own communities was important. Users could share their results and ideas, which would not only encourage user engagement, but also provide a sense of accountability.

Gamify the routine

Habit streaks would help to create a sense of motivation, accomplishment, and reward. The interface and copy were purposefully designed to be fun, engaging, and friendly to leave room for future gamification of the app.

🚀

Product direction

To guide the product design, we also discussed what we wanted our product to eventually look like and what our goals were.

Creating a community

Including a space where users could form and build their own communities was important. Users could share their results and ideas, which would not only encourage user engagement, but also provide a sense of accountability.

Gamify the routine

Habit streaks would help to create a sense of motivation, accomplishment, and reward. The interface and copy were purposefully designed to be fun, engaging, and friendly to leave room for future gamification of the app.

KEY FEATURES

Collaborating with my PM, we settled on the key features that we wanted for our MVP as well as the eventual product direction. The key features would fulfill our goal of combining the functionality of various productivity applications into one.

Since we only had 8 weeks to create a functional prototype, a lot of the features that would address our goal of automating schedule optimization and planning had to be de-prioritized.

MAPPING IT OUT

Right from the start, I incorporated the developers during the brainstorming process. We needed to determine early on if our ideas were technically feasible within the short time frame that we had.

I sketched some low-fidelity screens and created corresponding visual walkthroughs of various user flows to bring the developers onto the same page as the designs. This was a great launchpad for productive discussions between myself and the developers. This allowed them to comfortably relay feedback on where to scale down and what designs needed to be changed since they could see exactly what ideas I had in mind.

Right from the start, I incorporated the developers during the brainstorming process. We needed to determine early on if our ideas were technically feasible within the short time frame that we had.

Testing & Iteration

🧪

Making sure it works

Once the high-fidelity wireframes were set, I did two rounds of testing to make sure that our MVP was almost bullet-proof once we launched our demo.

We tested two of our more complicated user flows along with our AI-related flows to gauge user interest and prepare for future iterations of our app.

🧪

Making sure it works

Once the high-fidelity wireframes were set, I did two rounds of testing to make sure that our MVP was almost bullet-proof once we launched our demo.

We tested two of our more complicated user flows along with our AI-related flows to gauge user interest and prepare for future iterations of our app.

🧪

Making sure it works

Once the high-fidelity wireframes were set, I did two rounds of testing to make sure that our MVP was almost bullet-proof once we launched our demo.

We tested two of our more complicated user flows along with our AI-related flows to gauge user interest and prepare for future iterations of our app.

🧪

Making sure it works

Once the high-fidelity wireframes were set, I did two rounds of testing to make sure that our MVP was almost bullet-proof once we launched our demo.

We tested two of our more complicated user flows along with our AI-related flows to gauge user interest and prepare for future iterations of our app.

🧪

Making sure it works

Once the high-fidelity wireframes were set, I did two rounds of testing to make sure that our MVP was almost bullet-proof once we launched our demo.

We tested two of our more complicated user flows along with our AI-related flows to gauge user interest and prepare for future iterations of our app.

V1

Homescreen

Users can see their schedule and add items.

Users wanted the option to choose the date that they wanted to view.

Adding a new event

Users can input all relevant event details on this screen.

Once an event is created, users wanted to be able to receive confirmation that the event was created.

Creating a new habit

Users can input all relevant habit details on this screen.

There was confusion around what “Any Time” meant for a reminder.

V2

Users now had the option for a monthly overview with the ability to select a date.

However, the overview failed to display which dates had events scheduled.

Users now had a visual cue and a modal to alert the user when a new card had been created an added to their planner.

With the All Day toggle on, users felt it was unnecessary to select an end date again

Although the toggle wording was clearer than before, user feedback suggested further improvements could be made.

V3 (Final Version)

The monthly overview now displayed with dates had events scheduled.

When All Day is toggled on, users no longer need to select an end date.

When Set Reminder is toggled on, the option to select a time appears. The option to select a time disappears when toggled off.

Final Designs

One stop shop

Final thoughts

With a simple but fun interface, I arrived at the final design for the Loop app. Users can add and create events, tasks, to-do lists, and habits at the touch of a button

The design follows intuitive selection structures along with eye-catching visual cues so that users can minimize the time spent learning how to use the app and dive right in and start planning their day.

IMPACT

This app is still in development, however, feedback from the last usability testing was incredibly promising. After each task, users were asked to rate how easy or difficult it was to complete the task.

Users consistently gave an SEQ score of 4.4/5 or higher.

Users loved the interface of the app and enjoyed the simplicity and flow of learning how to use the app. Many commented that once they had gone through the task of adding an event once, they felt comfortable with all future interactions when it came to adding a new habit or adding a new task.

Reflection

Final thoughts

This project gave me the opportunity to take more of a leadership role when it came to guiding the brainstorming sessions and guiding the product MVP and direction. It was also a great experience for me to practice communicating with and looping in the developers throughout the project.

Due to the time crunch, I incorporated component libraries for the first time into my design process. We specifically used component libraries that were compatible with React (Joy and Material UI) to minimize the amount of work our developers would need to do. Since our team was working asynchronously, I realized the importance of leaving clear notes to label components and describe interactions while designing so that our developers could make comments regarding feasibility early on.

Next steps

Our team will continue to develop our app. We hope to further refine the app once the MVP is launched using user feedback and analytics on user engagement. KPI's such as monthly active users, retention rate, and session intervals to see if users are returning and using our app daily. On the other end of the spectrum, analyzing the churn rate and monitoring user behaviors can help us to identify potential issues with the user experience.

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