A bespoke app for my colleague Zein:

Distractless/The TaskMaster 

Solo project

Timescale: 1 week user research and concept development

1 week on visual design and iteration

Brief

The brief was to come up with an app to assist my project partner, Zein. To do so, I would have to really get to know Zein, understand his daily life and interest, as well as sticking points, so as to come up with an app that could really help him.

DELIVERED

An app designed around the needs of my colleague, Zein, a busy, stressed-out part-time social media manager and full-time UX student. It aimed to help him reduce stress by helping him complete his daily work tasks. Originally it aimed to switch off distractions on his mobile phone and allow him access only during timed work breaks, further user interviews added further features and re-orientated the tone of the app. While still a task management app at heart using the classic pomodoro method, it took on a fantasy genre gamification spin, while integrating stress-busting methods in the breaks. This case study chronicles how I reached my solution.

finding the problem

Following interviews with Zein, I used concept mapping to come up with areas with which I thought an app could help Zein, and discovered that stress was a big part of his life, partly due to workload and an urge to use distractions as a way of delaying the work he has to do. Further questioning revealed that he used social media as a way of distracting himself from completing the work, as the storyboard below demonstrates, he was using social media as soon as he woke up.

initial solutions

My initial solution was to have a task management app that switches off distractions on his mobile phone and allow him access only during timed work breaks. The idea would be to allow him to set the tasks the night before, so that distractions are switched off until he completes his first task of the day. 

In envisaging how that would look, I sketched out some initial designs, and after discussing with Zein, the design evolved to become the Distractless app.

prototype

In order to prototype, I worked mapped out the page flow to ensure I had all the screens I needed, which I then drew out [sample key screens below] and created a clickable prototype with POP. You can review it here: http://bit.ly/1PbqSZL. I then tested it with Zein to see if it met his needs.

further user interviews

Zein's response to the initial idea was positive, but he already used a task management app that largely worked for him but whose design he disliked for its garish colouring. As I got to know Zein better, and observe his ways and habits, I felt that it would be more useful to shift the emphasis of the app to help manage and target his stress around work.

From further questioning, Zein revealed that he was least stressed when he played computer games, and that his favourite games were of the fantasy genre. This became key to the design of the app, which I wanted to incorporate the focussed feel of a task busting app, while also being calming with the fantasy / gamification elements.