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UX DESIGN, PROTOTYPING

1. Min Overview

My role:

Solo Student Project for IM 150 Interactive Design

Responsibilities:

User Research: User Research, User Interviews

UX Design: Sketches, Wireframing, Prototyping, Usability Testing

Timeline:

November – December 2023 (2 Weeks)

Tools Used:

Figma

My role:

Solo Student Project for IM 150 Interactive Design

Responsibilities:

User Research: User Research, User Interviews

UX Design: Sketches, Wireframing, Prototyping, Usability Testing

Timeline:

November – December 2023 (2 Weeks)

Tools Used:

Figma

PROBLEM

Students struggle to manage multiple productivity tools and apps, which often leads to disorganization, missed deadlines, and a lack of focus when balancing academic goals with extracurricular activities

As a student myself, I’ve experienced and seen my fellow peers struggle with juggling multiple apps for assignments, schedules, and goals, often feeling overwhelmed by the disorganization. With deadlines, tasks, and extracurriculars piling up, it made me wonder: how can we create a platform that brings all essential tools together, making it easier for students to stay on top of their productivity and goals without the clutter?

THE SOLUTION

Streamlined Productivity Through Unified Task Management

Effortless Task & Time Management

  • View your week at a glance, integrating tasks, deadlines, and events, ensuring you stay organized and never miss a key commitment.

  • See all your assignments, deadlines, and to-dos in one place, with the ability to mark tasks as completed with a simple check-off.

  • Stay on top of important emails by having them displayed within the app, with notifications and quick access to reply or follow up.

Seamless Notification Control & Workflow Optimization

  • Put notifications to sleep or set quiet hours to minimize distractions and regain focus.

  • Easily manage tasks from your taskbar or tab for faster access and efficient organization.

  • Organize tasks by category (school, work, meetings) and track your progress to measure productivity over time.

Comprehensive App Integration & Personalization

  • Easily integrate all essential apps (email, calendar, task managers, etc.) into one platform for a unified experience.

  • Tailor your app layout and task prioritization to fit both your professional and personal life needs.

  • Access all your tasks, events, and reminders in one place, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.

USER TESTING

Key Interview Questions to Understand How the App Can Enhance Student Productivity and Organization

Although I understood the value of seamless productivity, I conducted interviews with 5 students to understand their experiences with other task management and productivity apps. I asked about their most-used features, pain points, and what they felt was missing in existing platforms. This feedback allowed me to design our app with user needs in mind, ensuring it integrates familiar tools and functions for a more intuitive and efficient workflow.

User Questions: 

  1. What has your experience been with the current task management/organization app options?
  2. How many hours a week do you spend studying, working on assignments and projects or work?
  3. What kind of tasks do you complete in your day-to-day life that would be helpful to have listed out to complete?
  4. What features or apps would you like to connect and see incorporated into a task management app?
  5. What is the most difficult part about staying on track with tasks and utilizing organization/task management apps?
  6. Which tasks take up more time than you think they should?
  7. Which tasks do you put off or procrastinate on?
  8. What has been your experience with being organized and on schedule for deadlines, how have you done this?
  9. When you think about “time management” and meeting goals, what comes to mind?
  10. How do you define ideal forms of time management?
 

THE MAIN INSIGHT

Key Insights on User Needs for Task Management App Design

From the user interviews, a few critical themes emerged around the integration, UI, and design of an effective productivity app:

  • Unified App Integration: Users consistently expressed the desire for multiple apps to be integrated into a single platform. Key apps mentioned include Gmail, calendar apps, and school or work-related apps, which would help consolidate tasks, emails, and schedules in one place.

  • Task and Goal Organization: Many users indicated the importance of clearly listing tasks, with specific requests for features like priority tasks, reminders, and the ability to easily check off completed items.

  • Simplicity & Usability: Users prefer an intuitive, easy-to-use design that allows them to organize tasks without feeling overwhelmed. Overly complex apps with too many features were cited as a barrier to consistent use.

  • Personalization and Flexibility: The ability to personalize the app, set reminders, and manage tasks related to both professional and personal life (e.g., schoolwork, chores, personal goals) was seen as crucial for maintaining productivity.

FAVORABLE TASK

Sketches

THE FINAL SCREENS

Final Prototype

Link to my full Figma work file HERE

FIGMA

Clickable Prototype

Click around the prototype here >>

CONCLUSION + LESSONS LEARNED

Key Takeaways and Future Improvements

This project was an invaluable experience as my first-ever prototype, and it allowed me to apply UX principles to design a task management app for students. Working through the design process helped me understand the intricacies of user-centered design and the challenges of creating an efficient and easy-to-use platform. I learned a lot about the importance of seamless user flows and making sure every feature contributes to a cohesive experience.

Here are a few key takeaways:

  • Iterate and Test Early: Continuous testing and gathering user feedback is vital to ensure the app functions smoothly and addresses pain points before finalizing the design.

  • Focus on User Flows: Simplifying user journeys and ensuring smooth transitions between app features would improve the app’s functionality, helping users to navigate more intuitively.

  • Prioritize Simplicity: Ensuring that features like task creation, calendar view, and notifications are easily accessible and understandable will enhance usability, especially for users who are not as familiar with productivity apps.

  • Optimize Layouts for Efficiency: Streamlining the layout, such as better organization of task categories, can help users quickly access the information they need without feeling overwhelmed by too many options.

  • Integrate Seamless App Connections: Improving app integrations (e.g., Gmail, calendars, and to-do lists) will offer users more convenience and a central hub for managing all their tasks and notifications.

For future improvements, I plan to work on refining the UI/UX to ensure a more consistent and seamless user flow, especially between task management, calendar integration, and notifications. I would also explore enhancing the mobile experience and adding features like smart task prioritization or AI-driven reminders to increase user engagement.

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More Projects:

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