MotivateMe
Case Overview
The Problem
★ Students and professionals struggle with procrastination and time management, leading to last-minute work and inefficiencies. ★
How can we motivate students and professionals to become organized, manage their time effectively, and sustain these habits without relying on external pressure?
The Solution
A unified digital platform integrating multiple calendar views, task lists, goal setting and learning modules that teach the user to be motivated and organized.
The Team
Alex Liao, Alexis Williams, Anita Zhao, Eman Awadh, & Yiyang Wang
Project Type
Master’s Level Course Work
INF1602 - Fundamentals of UX
Tools used
Timeline
12 Weeks
Contributions
Contributed to user research, including developing interview questions and recruiting participants.
Conducted and documented interviews with two participants.
Synthesized findings to identify user needs and pain points.
Developed user personas and journey maps based on research insights.
Presented findings and solutions to experts incorporating feedback for iteration.
Developed sketches, flows and wire frames for review and integration.
Developed mood boards, style tiles and UI mock ups for review and integration.
Studio Lead: Research Plan, Research Analysis, Style tiles & Visual design
Design Process
Phase 1
Literature Review
Solo Background Research
Group Research Report
Phase 2
Interviews
Research Design
Solo User Research
Expert Playback
User Research Report
User Journey Map
Persona
Phase 3
Iteration
User flow & UI sketches
Wireframes
Expert Playback
Refined Project Report
Refined User Journey Map
Refined Persona
Phase 4
Final UI
Moodboards & Style Tiles
UI Mockup
Project Presentation
Phase Overview
Phase 1
Literature Review
In Phase 1, we explored key challenges faced by students and professionals in managing motivation and organization. Key insights include:
Motivation & Tools: Users rely on multiple apps for task management, but struggle with balancing academic and personal tasks. The research highlighted the need for an integrated tool that fosters motivation through features like autonomy support and intrinsic rewards.
Time Management & Procrastination: We identified effective time management techniques, such as time-chunking and task prioritization, and suggested gamification and the Pomodoro method to address procrastination.
Behavioral Insights: I identified understanding how notifications and opportunity costs influence user behavior, we recommended using these to enhance engagement and retention.
Current Tool Limitations: I identified many existing apps focus solely on task tracking, leaving room for a more motivational, user-centered solution.
These findings shaped the direction of our design, aiming to create a tool that not only helps users stay organized but also supports their motivation and productivity.
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Phase 2
Interviews
In Phase 2, we focused on refining our research process and gathering actionable insights to guide the app's design.
Research Design: We developed comprehensive screening and interview questions, ensuring alignment with participant needs, and tested the research script through pilot sessions to optimize data collection.
Solo User Research: I Transcribed and analyzed 2 interviews, identifying key patterns such as the need for integrated tools, color-coding, and improved visualizations for managing multiple deadlines. In total we conducted 10 interviews.
Actionable Insights: We found that 85% of participants use Google Calendar, but struggle with prioritization. This informed the development of features like customized task labels and real-time reminders.
Expert Playback Feedback: Refined the problem space and competitor analysis, improving the clarity and logical flow of the presentation by linking research findings with practical solutions.
User Research Report: We conducted interviews and competitor analysis, leading to the creation of a user persona and journey map, and helping to clarify app goals around time management and task prioritization.
These insights and feedback allowed us to focus on the core issues users face, ensuring the app provides effective, user-centered solutions for managing motivation and organization.
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Phase 3
Iteration
In Phase 3, the focus shifted to refining the app’s UI and design, incorporating feedback and insights from earlier stages.
User Flow & UI Sketches: I Designed a user flow sketches and key functional views (e.g., daily, weekly, project), ensuring a smooth journey from onboarding to task management which we reigned in and choose designs as a group. We also simplified interaction steps and navigation for improved usability.
Wireframes: We developed task list interfaces, analytics dashboards, and a daily view layout to enhance task management, with features like priority lists and personalized task insights. I refined these screens and prototyped them.
Expert Playback Feedback: We refined the UI based on feedback, improving clarity in the rewards section, simplifying the network section, and adding motivational features like task breakdowns and real-time reminders.
Report Refinement: We narrowed the target user base to students and young professionals, incorporating research-backed design decisions. Developed a user persona (Bobby Cooper) and refined app features, focusing on task prioritization, time management, and goal setting.
These updates guided the design to better address user needs, making the app more intuitive, motivating, and aligned with users' time management challenges.
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Phase 4
Final UI
In Phase 4, the design refined the app’s visual style and interface, focusing on consistency and user engagement.
Moodboard & Style Tile: We created a mood board to capture the app’s calm, modern, and organized aesthetic, guiding the visual design choices. Developed a style tile to define the color palette, typography, and design elements, ensuring consistency across the app.
UI Mockups: I Designed a clean and functional home screen with personalized greetings and task overviews, focusing on ease of use. Developed a task management interface with a visual, color-coded prioritization system, and integrated goal-tracking features to keep users motivated.
Final Presentation: Based on research insights, we evolved the design to a task-focused system, incorporating features like task lists, notifications, progress tracking, and time management tools. After feedback, we made final UI adjustments, adding both light/dark modes and refining task flow to improve usability and enhance productivity.
These updates ensured the design was both visually appealing and aligned with user needs, focusing on time management, motivation, and task prioritization.
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Conclusion
This project provided valuable insights into the UX design process, emphasizing the importance of thorough user research to inform design decisions. Creating personas and user journey maps was crucial for understanding user needs, guiding feature development, and ensuring a user-centered approach.
The project was successful in integrating user feedback, which significantly improved the clarity and usability of the design. The main challenge was refining the problem space and narrowing the target audience to focus on the most relevant needs. Additionally, I had to adapt the design based on feedback, such as simplifying the network section and enhancing task management features.
Through this project, I strengthened my skills in research, prototyping, and iteration. It has prepared me for future UX work by teaching me how to balance user needs with practical design solutions, iterate based on feedback, and create more intuitive, user-friendly designs.