Hello there, I am back with a Project Case study. In this article, I will be writing about my entire process from start to finish. So let us take a look.
Introduction
Project Wizard is an application concept that helps users to keep track of their tasks and their goals. I designed the entire flow of the app keeping in mind of what is important to the user. The app is designed to be simple and elegant and not have any gimmicks that could distract or confuse the user on what needs to be done.
Ideation
I decided to ask a few of my peers on what they would want in a goals and tasks app and then made a list of all the features they wanted. After listing down all the features, I added a few other useful features. I made the final feature list and again got on a call to understand what they thought of the features and whether they would useful.
After summarizing all of the different opinions, I formulated a list of features that the app should have and decided on proceeding with the app concept design. The entire design process will be explained in the next section.
A lot of my peers liked the idea of persistent reminders that, I had put forth. As the name suggests, these reminders will continuously remind the user about the task until it is complete. This will help reduce procrastination among the users albeit a bit annoying.
Process
Now that all the features required were summarized, I needed to start work on the wire/user flows in order to decide on how best to approach each of the requested features. I also needed to figure out a simple way to set up persistent reminders for tasks.
I started working on the wire-flows with each flow having a user flow. This allowed me to focus on achieving the said user goal in the least number of steps possible. While designing this flow, I used my learning from Steve Krug’s “Don’t Make Me Think”. If you are interested in UX then it is a must read.
In order to tackle the persistent reminder, I decided to go with a priority tag which will determine how important a task is and will automatically provide persistent reminders.
This method allows for a simple way to set up persistent reminders without having to worry about the time between reminders etc.
The settings in the priority drop down are, High priority means a persistent reminder will be sent out every 1 hour after the allotted time, Medium priority sets the persistent reminders to every 4 hours after the allotted time, Low priority will set the reminders to every 8 hours after the allotted time. There is an additional Nil setting for users who do not want persistent reminders.
I designed the goals to just be groups of tasks/sub goals with each task/sub-goal being a part of goal group. Each goal group will have a timer on when the goal must be achieved and you can set sub-goals which have to be completed. Sub-goals can also be set to recur like for example: Goal: “To get fit”, Sub-goal: “Exercise for 30 mins” which can be repeated everyday at a specific time. The sub-goals will also have persistent reminders built in.
Design
I designed the app concept in monochrome first to differentiate the different visual elements. I then proceeded to experiment with different color palettes and finally made a first concept which is on the left side of the image below.
I asked a few potential users on what they thought of the app concept and made some changes based on out conversation.
The first iteration though not fully complete, was scrapped in favor of the second iteration. The first iteration had a number of flaws and had to be scrapped. I then went back to the drawing board and made the following changes, 1. Go with a single color instead of mesh-mashing the different colors, 2. To go with a better card design in order to encourage the user to complete their goals. After few more tweaks here and there, I was satisfied with the design.
The efficiency and completion indicator encourages users to complete their tasks to achieve their goals. That combined with the persistent reminders helps to deal with procrastination. The “Today” card on the top also helps gives a high level overview on what needs to be done for the day and how efficient they are at completing the goals.
Note: The efficiency used in the concept are all mocks and their calculation is based on the priority of the subtasks.
Conclusion
This project taught me a lot. I also learnt about my weaknesses especially when it comes to presenting my findings and presenting my design. I will have to work hard to improve on that front. This project also taught me on how to better manage my time when prototyping an application. Not to mention the numerous tips and tricks that, I discovered.
Special thanks to my peers for helping me along the way. I plan to continue this project and get it coded one day. In the mean time, I plan to improve my skills as a UX designer and will work on many more projects to come.
Also check out my Behance post for this project here, Looking forward to seeing you there: https://www.behance.net/gallery/125924965/Project-Wizard.
Thanks for reading
Signing off,
Aarohan
