Graduate Students
This project tackles the challenge of balancing productivity amidst procrastination tendencies and overwhelming workloads. We conducted user research to identify key pain points of our users: the stress and anxiety while facing high-density schedule, the challenge of sustaining motivation to initiate and keep focus on tasks, and the lack of confidence in making effective decisions.
I aimed to tackle this issue in a more interesting manner by deeply engage users with our game and positively influence their behavior and attitude. Our creation, Fluffy Focus, is a desktop game designed to promote a proactive approach to task management, featuring a customizable system. I contributed to both user research and game design, focusing particularly on refining wireframes and enhancing the user experience.
As a graduate student, navigating overloaded schedules and tasks is a daily challenge. How can we make effective decisions in pre-planning for multitasking? How can we ensure timely completion of all tasks? How can we maximize productivity during work sessions? To address these questions, I've recognized the need for students to have an empowering tool that guides them through the meticulous process. This project, part of a 'Persuasive Design' course at CMU, aims to leverage persuasive design techniques to induce behavioral or attitudinal changes in users.
ROLE
User Experience Designer
Researcher
TIMELINE
Oct 2023 - Dec 2023
(3 months)
SKILL
Persuasive Design • Prototyping • UX design • Lo-Fi to Hi-Fi Mockup • Usability Testing
Foster consistent self-monitoring/ regulation with increased levels of efficiency
Inspire motivation to initiate task focus promptly by using the Pomodoro Technique
Encourage structured task execution and proactive planning through organization and prioritization
Cultivate confidence in decision-making skills while scheduling work activities
Foster consistent self-monitoring/ regulation with increased levels of efficiency
Encourage structured task execution and proactive planning through organization and prioritization
Inspire motivation to initiate task focus promptly by using the Pomodoro Technique
Cultivate confidence in decision-making skills while scheduling work activities
Our aim was to guide users towards maintenance mode by visualizing their productivity patterns - decorating their virtual environments, encouraging their inclination towards consistency and commitment.
Avatar Customization
Players choose a virtual "buddy" at the start, serving as both a reflection of themselves and a supportive partner
Improve Productivity: Pomodoro
Players input tasks with start time and duration, utilizing Pomodoro technique - a focus timer for efficient work sessions (25-min) interspersed with short breaks (5-min).
The avatar provides company during focused work, employing body doubling to promote effective work and self-motivation for staying focus.
Incentivization: Task Completion Rewards
Upon tasks completion, users will receive and select reward items to decorate their own virtual spaces, while unlocking new environments at specific XP level.
Empowering Self-Affirmation through Dialogues
Self-affirmation dialogues will be delivered by the avatar, reinforcing users' positive attributes that promote sustained productivity and self-assurance for resilient and confident mindset.
Progress Tracking & Visual Achievement
XP-Value / Personalized Environment /
Statistics Visualization
Avatar Customization
Players choose a virtual "buddy" at the start, serving as both a reflection of themselves and a supportive partner
Improve Productivity: Pomodoro
Players input tasks with start time and duration, utilizing Pomodoro technique - a focus timer for efficient work sessions (25-min) interspersed with short breaks (5-min).
The avatar provides company during focused work, employing body doubling to promote effective work and self-motivation for staying focus.
Incentivization: Task Completion Rewards
Upon tasks completion, users will receive and select reward items to decorate their own virtual spaces, while unlocking new environments at specific XP level.
Empowering Self-Affirmation through Dialogues
Self-affirmation dialogues will be delivered by the avatar, reinforcing users' positive attributes that promote sustained productivity and self-assurance for resilient and confident mindset.
Progress Tracking & Visual Achievement
XP-Value / Personalized Environment / Statistics Visualization
Drawing from personal experience, students, including myself, are grappling with a common issue: the desire for more time. However, is it always the scarcity of time that prevents people from completing their tasks? For instance, the academic demands placed on students today exert immense pressure to excel while juggling multiple responsibilities. In this era driven by productivity, these challenges pose significant obstacles to achieving academic and professional success. In this project, I placed greater emphasis on exploring user needs and aimed to create solutions that are more feasible and realistic, leveraging research findings and data to validate our design.
Stress and Anxiety: Facing overwhelming workloads
Challenge of sustaining motivation: Initiate and focus on tasks
Lack of Confidence: Making effective decisions.
Our research began with a comprehensive brainstorming session, where we delved into their current behaviors and the obstacles they face in managing their daily workload. This process allowed us to gain insights into the intricacies of their experiences, including the challenges they encounter and the strategies they employ to overcome them.
User Research:
Discovering the opportunities
We conducted a metaphor analysis through focus group sessions with 12 participants (Graduate students from different background) to gain holistic insights into our target audience's pain points when confronting overwhelming workloads in different learning environment.
3
12
4
Focus Group Sessions
Participants
Concepts
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The Need to Plan Beforehand
The Sense of Control
Varied Reactions Facing Anxiety
When speaking about task and time management, most participants mentioned how they felt the need to plan for a variety of tasks which need to be completed within a fixed time frame.
Metaphors like the Over-boiling Pot and Snowball Down a Cliff conveyed limited control over external factors. A sense of control was sought after, aiding participants in confronting overwhelming situations.
From actively seeking change to feeling helpless, they show either a passive or active attitude towards their problems based on personalities, indicating the needs for flexibility to tailor to user’s varying situations.
The Need to Plan Beforehand
When speaking about task and time management, most participants mentioned how they felt the need to plan for a variety of tasks which need to be completed within a fixed time frame.
The Sense of Control
Metaphors like the Over-boiling Pot and Snowball Down a Cliff conveyed limited control over external factors. A sense of control was sought after, aiding participants in confronting overwhelming situations.
Varied Reactions Facing Anxiety
From actively seeking change to feeling helpless, they show either a passive or active attitude towards their problems based on personalities, indicating the needs for flexibility to tailor to user’s varying situations.
Following initial ideation sketches, I developed wireframes using Figma to prototype interactions and flows for usability testing with teammates. My emphasis was on crafting an experience that empowered users, considering how they would perceive each feature and interaction.
Challenges for this design
Differentiating from existing applications (e.g., Forest, Habitica, etc.) by introducing unique and more complete, innovative features, enhancing user experience and functionality.
We had to think about how the workflow and user journey would look like by prioritizing user needs, making our design more empathetic and impactful.
Brainstorm the kind of product features and utilize psychological insights to encourage favorable user behaviors and attitudes.
1st User Testing Results
🧠 NEED for ENHANCED MOTIVATION
- Preview of locked rewards or environments
- Overview of current progress and XP levels to improve goal-setting and motivation
🕹 INSUFFICIENT CUSTOMIZABILITY
- Users want the ability to set due dates, task start times, and reminders for better task management
- Incorporation of the Pomodoro technique for managing longer tasks
- Option to reschedule unfinished tasks
🤔 AMBIGUITY in the INTERFACE
- Lack of clear instructions for proceeding to the next step
- Icons with vague or unclear meanings
Conversation Dialogues 👏
Consistently reminding users of their progress, effort, and capabilities to tell users how they are ‘good enough’ or capable of completing their tasks, rather simple or complete tasks.
Conversation Dialogues 👏
Consistently reminding users of their progress, effort, and capabilities to tell users how they are ‘good enough’ or capable of completing their tasks, rather simple or complete tasks.
Simulation Gaming Aspect ⛳️
Distracting users from real-life pressure and incentivizing them to complete tasks to get rewards
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Offer a safe barrier between users and serious themes 😬
Separating users from their real-life barriers of ‘Procrastination, anxiety, or mental health while facing failure', aiming to decrease their anxiety and resistance
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Virtual avatar and working environment 🐱
Provide a companionship by having someone working alongside the user, enhancing focus and motivation, delivering encouragement, assistance to relief them from feeling isolated.
Design Consideration: What should we do to bring it to life?
ANIMAL AVATAR
Users now have the option to choose an animal avatar, fostering personalization and engagement within the game's virtual world.
VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
The virtual learning environment has been reimagined to promote immersive and interactive educational experiences, enriching users' learning journeys.
ANIMAL AVATAR
VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Users now have the option to choose an animal avatar, fostering personalization and engagement within the game's virtual world.
The virtual learning environment has been reimagined to promote immersive and interactive educational experiences, enriching users' learning journeys.
BRANDING
A soothing blend of neutral pastels with warm hues is chosen to create a tranquil atmosphere and help ease users' stress levels.
ICONOGRAPHY & TYPOGRAPHY
The visuals are designed with "soft and friendly" characteristics to consistently convey a sense of serenity for users facing high stress and intense academic workloads.
BRANDING
ICONOGRAPHY & TYPOGRAPHY
A soothing blend of neutral pastels with warm hues is chosen to create a tranquil atmosphere and help ease users' stress levels.
The visuals are designed with "soft and friendly" characteristics to consistently convey a sense of serenity for users facing high stress and intense academic workloads.
💡 CUSTOMIZABILITY
Increased customizability of task list- daily/weekly/monthly view, prioritizing task, drag-and-drop task reordering
🔎 SIDEBAR NAVIGATION
A streamlined sidebar navigation system can optimize user accessibility and ease of exploration throughout the game interface.
⏱ POMODORO TECHINIQUE
The integration of the Pomodoro technique offers users a structured approach to managing tasks, enhancing productivity within the game environment.
✅ ONBOARDING TUTORIAL
The onboarding tutorial has been revamped to provide clearer instructions and intuitive iconography, addressing previous issues of interface ambiguity.
💡 CUSTOMIZABILITY
🔎 SIDEBAR NAVIGATION
Increased customizability of task list- daily/weekly/monthly view, prioritizing task, drag-and-drop task reordering
A streamlined sidebar navigation system can optimize user accessibility and ease of exploration throughout the game interface.
⏱ POMODORO TECHINIQUE
✅ ONBOARDING TUTORIAL
The integration of the Pomodoro technique offers users a structured approach to managing tasks, enhancing productivity within the game environment.
The onboarding tutorial has been revamped to provide clearer instructions and intuitive iconography, addressing previous issues of interface ambiguity.
Emphasizing psychological and behavioral feedback, our project aimed to influence users' attitudes and behaviors, complementing the focus on system usability.
Of participants expressed a strong willingness to utilize this tool, viewing it as highly beneficial
The cute avatar and engaging dialogue received high praise for fostering a sense of companionship among users.
1. Enhance Design Rationality
Understanding user pain points not only guides solution development but also refines my approach to consider persuasive design elements that resonate deeply with users, fostering more effective and empathetic product solutions. Moreover, through this project, I realized the importance of building the gap between identifying user pain points and crafting solutions with a more persuasive and theoretically sound design approach.
2. Leverage Visuals for Persuasion
Visual elements serve as powerful tools, evoking emotions and influencing user motivation, thereby steering user behavior and fostering a more engaging and impactful product experience.
3. Every Step Matters!
In this project, I've learned that every step not only in our design process but also in the user flow plays a critical role in shaping the overall user experience. Each interaction, from initial engagement to task completion, significantly impacts user perception and satisfaction, emphasizing the importance of meticulous attention to detail at every stage of product design and development.
Get in touch to collaborate or just to talk.
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