NICK HEGGESTAD

The Project:

Commuters want to make the most of their time both to and from work. My goal was to create an app that allowed them to better accomplish tasks while commuting, and increase their ability to achieve relaxation.

The Solution:

An app that encourages increased productivity on the train through these features:

• To-Do List (easily editable/flexible)

• Relaxation Feature (music, guided meditation, timed silence)

• Goal Tracker (reading, learning, special projects, incentivized)

• Notes List (instead of sending a text, emailing one’s self)

My Role:

• UX Designer (Individual Mock Project)

Tools:

• Marvel (Prototype)

• Sketch (Mockups and Wireframes)

• Pen and Paper (Wireframes, Storyboarding)

Research Methods:

To start my research journey, I interviewed my main subject (my classmate Wenhau). While not new to commuting, he was feeling the strain of a longer commute than he was accustomed to. He was frustrated at having to spend his weekend time, and the majority of his evenings completing tasks that he previously had no problem accomplishing. I started interviewing other transit commuters to get a sense of their frustrations in relation to their time spent commuting, as well as the habits they maintain while commuting.

As my problem started to take shape, I conducted two additional interviews with Wenhau, each time getting more detailed information. I also had him spend some time doing self-documentation, taking notes and pictures from his commute and his time doing tasks at home, including his Origami project. I also conducted interviews with other commuters to get a sense of their pain points, desires and goals.

Analyzing & Insights:

After collecting all of my data I started to analyze it, looking for trends. Most of what I was seeing was not a big surprise to me, but it did shock me how many people were making some attempt to relax or meditate on the train. That insight is listed along with others below.

Commuters are looking to:

• have a peaceful and productive commute to combat the lack of time in their schedules

• get tasks done on the train in order to save time later

• relax or meditate on the train, which is difficult, but rewarding if achieved

Commuters often:

• push important tasks and activities (family, chores, bills, socializing, relaxing) to the weekend due to the amount of time they spend commuting daily

Insight: Commuters want to combat the lack of time in their schedules.

Design Principles:

How might we help commuters make the most of their train time be it spent:

• Relaxing (listening to music, meditating)

• Being Productive

  • Completing Goals (Learning from Podcasts, Reading, Special Projects)

  • Quick Tasks (Email, texting, paying bills)

  • Organizing Schedules (short-term and long-term)

To move towards a solution, I created a mind map of possible train tasks, and started sketching different ideas. 

Clickable Prototype:

This prototype is the first iteration with no Calendar feature. It shows a user exploring the To-Do feature, as well as the Relax feature, showing the ability to add tasks and music to the app. Testing from this prototype revealed that task buttons were not obvious as buttons, so moving forward I knew I needed to find a way to make the buttons more clear. 

Mockups:

After making a few small tweaks, and exploring different solutions for the buttons, I landed on adding slight shadows to all of the buttons throughout the app. This certainly helped the buttons pop, and added a level of interest and crispness to the app which I really liked. 

Conclusion:

Overall I was pleased with the outcome of this project. I think it might have been more successful if I had focused more on fewer features, and the feedback I received during my presentation aligned with that thought. There was also an idea that I scrapped early on (a "Hop on Board" guided destination tracker) that I presented as a bad idea during my presentation, and everyone else seemed to think that was the idea I should have explored further. So it goes to prove that as a UX Designer, I should focus less on my thoughts and opinions, and to be more open to entertaining ideas, even if they aren't interesting to me. 

Were I to move forward with this concept I would certainly reframe and focus on fewer features. There are a lot of productivity apps and mindfulness apps out there, and in order for the concept to be something different and meaningful, I would need to do more exploration and brainstorming. But I do think I have some key ideas that could lead to something special.