Downtime
UX case study - Career Foundry bootcamp project
Duration: 4/5 months part time
Role: Complete UX + UI
Project summary
Overview
Downtime is a self care app that aims to help users prioritise their self care conveniently and easily. The aim was to consolidate features that are often found across a number of apps into one product in order to help users with a busy schedule to plan self care time.
Problem statement:
People need a way to plan and prioritise self care within a busy schedule using one convenient product.
We will know this to be true when we see high levels of user engagement across a range of features and positive qualitative feedback from user testing/reviews.
Project Goals
User: Conveniently plan and complete self care
Business: Increase engagement and conversion to premium subscriptions
Product: Launch MVP so that further testing and iterations can be made
I completed a comprehensive competitor analysis of popular mental health/self care apps using Figma. The goal was to learn about competitors' design choices, features and usability and decide what could be effective to adapt for Downtime.
Discovery
Competitor analysis
Key Findings
There currently isn’t a product on the market in which users can plan their own self care routine - current products only include meditations/articles focussing on self care. This is an opportunity as helping users holistically plan sessions which could help keep track of their self care and mental health could help with organisation.
All main competitors have the same target market as Downtime - focus needs to be on a USP such as self care planning to stand out
Competitors either focus on mindfulness/self care or journaling - not many combine these features - another potentially unique aspect to focus on
All use soothing, pastel or muted colour palettes with delightful illustrations/emojis - psychological studies suggest these types of palettes evoke feelings of relaxation and calm
Interviews
Setup:
Interviews were conducted online and recorded. Participants were selected from the target demographic and with a range of familiarity with self-care apps.
Research goals:
Learn how people cope with stress, what they think works for them, what doesn’t, and what they would be interested in trying
Find out how people build successful habits and challenges they face
Find out how people feel about self care, and how do they currently practice it
Learn if/how people use apps/services to cope with stress
Sample questions:
How do you currently practice self care? What works for you?
Do you currently use any tools to help you to stick to habits? (What and when)
How often do you think you feel stressed? Is there a point in the day where you feel more stressed?
Have you ever tried something for self care that you think just didn’t work - can you describe the experience?
Key Findings
Some expressed that they want to do more self care activities but struggle to fit them into their routine
Most participants said that they prefer to have multiple features in one app for convenience and to reduce the amount of tasks/time it takes to complete more than one activity.
Most use mindfulness apps like Calm and Headspace to regularly practice self care. Reasons why: variety of content, familiarity/brand loyalty, easy navigation, progress tracking
Preferred features: options to personalise, self care education, check-ins, mood-specific recommendations, sleep content
Most participants partake in some kind of self care routine currently - Most include activities around exercising, meditation, food or sensory based activities e.g having a bath
Personas/User journeys
Using results from research I created some personas and user journeys that reflect the needs of potential users.
Marias main priorities are time efficiency and personalisation, whereas Jacks are to be supported with building a self care routine.
Using the findings from research I completed some quick prototype sketches based on key user flows.
Wireframes
Key Findings
Offering multiple ways to complete a reflection with varying levels of support (e.g journal prompts, check ins) can suit users individual situations and time schedules
Having an overview of progress/activity at a glance is important to keep users motivated to continue building a habit of self care
Organisational tools e.g reminders and viewing/editing past entries can help users to remember to practice self care
Design process
I completed a round of moderated remote user testing using a lo fi prototype in Figma. I used 6 participants from a diverse range of backgrounds, all with an interest in self care. Data collected was then converted into scores using Jakob Nielson’s error and satisfaction scale.
Sample tasks:
You’ve been feeling really stressed at work and have set aside some time this evening to do some self care, but you aren’t sure what to do - you’re worried you might waste your evening in front of the TV. Use Downtime to help you plan some activities.
You’ve just watched a TED talk about the importance of monitoring your thoughts and feelings regularly for reducing stress. You want to give it a go to see if it works for you. Use Downtime to try this.
User testing
Observations:
Adding a journal entry
As the project developed, I evaluated the visual design at every stage and made regular updates to the interface. Below is the design evolution of the journal page. You can view the finalised design language document here.
Iterations
Prototype
Using Figma, I created an interactive prototype that fully showcases the design features and UI.
Journal flow
Self care flow
Check in flow
Affinity map (sample)
Overall learnings
Designing is a never ending process - iteration is essential to keep improving and meeting users needs
Foundational competitor analysis and user research needs to be regularly referred to throughout the design process
User needs should constantly inform design decisions
Collaboration is key to a successful project and a skill that needs to be continually developed
Planning a self care session
New journal entry
Anxiety focus entry
Next steps
Additional rounds of user testing to ensure features and layout make sense to users, as well as gathering of qualitative data through interviews to gauge users feelings towards subjective areas of the design such as colour scheme and aesthetic.
Iterations can be made based on this data and metrics can be monitored after the launch of the MVP to get a picture of overall user engagement as well as popularity of specific features.
