Donit:
Prompting task management and social bonding for college students
Timeline
July 2022 -- Oct 2022
Tools
Figma, Miro
Role
Passion UX project
The Problem
The increasing case of college students' depression and cumulating stress post-panemic
between 42 and 56 percent of study participants were at risk for clinical depression—compared to about 35 percent of participants prior to the pandemic
Preliminary research finding
Inadequate management of clustered, rapidly changing workloads and a perfectionist mindset contribute to increasing depression
By distributing over 40 questionnaires and conducting interviews with six participants, I aimed to directly grasp college students' pain points, identifying the key factors behind the surge in stress and depression cases
Research method 1 : Questionnaire
64% participants claimed they experienced intense stress with school work
I gathered insights into students' current stress levels and their coping mechanisms, to help me target m contributors to stress level.
Research method 2 : User interview
“I think I might be the only one who are struggling with the mounting schoolwork, feeling as though my entire days are consumed by academic obligations..."
During the interview, 4 out of 6 participants mentioned experiencing difficulties in coordinating various tasks and dealing with a perfectionist mindset towards their work. 5 out of 6 mentioned about feeling isolated when working.
Research method 3 : Emapthy map
How Might We?
How might we reduce task-related stress, diminish perfectionist tendencies, and make working a less tedium and painful process?
Task Management + Collective Bonding is the KEY!
Social Connectedness is proven to be the strongest protector against depression, while Collective Bonding in group activities is proven to be more effective for mental well-being than one-on-one connection. Meanwhile, improved Time Management can help to cope with the stress of academic failure (Nobel et al., 2014).
Design Decision
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​Handiness & portability
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Ease of using
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Timely notification of task/ event
Mobile-first approach
Ideation - SiteMap
Wireframe
Incorporating my sitemap, I proceeded in making lo-fi and hi-fi wireframes that set the base for future prototyping. Currently, I'm still in my wire-frame improvising phase and planning to run a few more rounds of usability tests with my fellow participants in 2 weeks.
Visual Identity
Warm
Reliable
Determined
EC701D
BA510C
453830
Combining UX with Psychology
To boost engagement in task-tracking, I employed gamification and added a circular progress bar that allows users to track their progress and experience a sense of accomplishment. Based on psychological principles, this design decision taps into users' innate desire for mastery, autonomy, and relatedness.
By integrating this feature into my UX design, I not only enhance the user experience but also promote user engagement. A circular progress bar is a powerful tool for motivating users and creating an emotional connection with the product.
Sneak peek at hi-fi wireframe......
Usability Testing
​In order to identify potential usability problems in my design, including potential presentation errors and navigation difficulty on the home page (planner page), I led two rounds of usability testing among 6 different college students who have intensive workloads and stress.
Test Objectives
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Test users’ understanding of each screen’s functionality
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Determine design inconsistency and usability problems lying within the user Interface
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Establish baseline user performance on the current prototype for future usability testing
Design Iteration
Difficulty in differentiating to-do and task
S: Dropdown to-do-list
By using the dropdown function, the user better categorize small to-do-task with a big tasks and thus break big overwhelming task to baby step
Distraction at work
S: Highlight event info and reduce visual loading
By moving away profile photo and the secondary
information, the user can better focused on their task without distraction from un-related elements
Final Product
Reflection
As the first solo UX project I conducted, I really appreciate the opportunity to go through the entire UX design process, from research to ideation and resolution, which greatly sharpened my research and design skillsets.
A few things to note for myself in future development are:
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Design processes are not linear: the resolution might take rounds of research and testing to finalize. If I had more time, I would conduct more rounds of usability tests, add in A/B testing on my prototype, and iterate as much as possible.
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Always keep users in the center: To better emphasize with users and come up with solutions that target their pain points, more user interviews might be needed to better understand how they interact with the product.
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Mix methods are essential: Most of the research methods I've applied throughout this project are primarily qualitative, which set some limitations when trying to discover a generalized pattern in how users interact with my prototype. In the future, I could incorporate quantitative research tools such as Google Analytics to help shape more comprehensive research findings.
​Other works...
Groc
DreamLux
