Present You
Future You

Incorporating mindfulness to complete tasks and build habits.

overview

It has been said that people overestimate what they can do in a day and underestimate what they can do in a year.

People often find challenges with staying motivated and building new habits - much less keeping them. My client approached me with an idea where the focus was more specific to the present moments in daily life. Even with all of the digital platforms available, they believed that there still existed a sense of satisfaction and motivation related to making an analog list and completing tasks in that manner.

client

Healthpack.gg

timeline

03  weeks
01   design sprint

my role

Product Designer
Conducted all areas of discovery, ideation, user research, usability testing, design and iteration

tools

Figma
Google Drive
Pen and Paper

00 Additional Insight

One only has to look at how much hype goes into New Years Eve resolutions only for people to generally fizzle out just a short time later.

Of course, some tasks are easier to complete on a regular basis that others. I would venture to say that brushing your teeth is easier than training for a marathon, for example. Regardless of the task, however, structure plays a big role in whether they are completed.

And then you throw 2020 into the mix. Any sense of our previously known structure and routine was thrown upside down.

My client approached me with an idea where the focus was more specific to the present moments in daily life. The sense of mindfulness and structuring one’s ability to accomplish tasks in a manageable and intentional process. 

Even with all of the digital platforms available, they believed that there still existed a sense of satisfaction and motivation related to making an analog list and completing tasks in that manner.

There was an idea but it was rooted in an opinion of one. It needed to be tested. Do people want such a system? Can they really add more focus and sense of accomplishment to their days?

Below is my 3-week exploration into those questions and subsequent research and design exploration.

01 What do People Think?

While there was a product hypothesis in hand from the client, I needed to take a few steps back and start with talking to potential users. I arranged interviews with 5 individuals who had interest in scheduling and included both parents and non-parents.

Through the conversation, I explored how individuals went about structuring their days, planning their time and tracking their tasks.

Some of the major insights gained from research were:

Needs

  • To have things listed for them to get done.
  • To feel responsibility and ownership over tasks.
  • To juggle multiple responsibilities in life.

Enjoys

  • Looking back at tasks and accomplishments.
  • Tangible progress and having structure in my life.
In fact, 4/5 users stated that they preferred analog when it comes to tracking tasks as it provides for a stronger connection and sense of accomplishment.

02 Meet Steve

About

Young professional specializing in education. Juggles spending time with kids while also trying to fit in hours at work. A lot of structure was flipped on its head when covid struck, which added to the challenge of balancing schedules and keeping track of tasks and free time.

Motivations

To feel a sense of ownership when accomplishing tasks. Creating a stronger structure in daily life will help provide a sense of satisfaction and also reduce stress and anxiety related to work days.

Core Needs

  • Stability and structure as he feels he is better able to tackle his day with those guidelines.
  • Emotional resonance and feeling of responsibility related to tasks.
  • A means to not only track current tasks but also the chance to look back and see past accomplishments.

Steve London

29, Seattle
Full-time father and education specialist
"Life isn't as simple as it used to be. Without scheduling, other tasks can get in the way and it just won't get done. If I don't write it down, then I don't see it, I don't feel it and won't be grateful for doing it."

03 Scope Identified

The Problem

Steve needs a tangible method to keep track of tasks and his schedule so that he can feel a sense of accomplishment and have more structure in his life.

Design Hypothesis

How can we make completing tasks along with developing and maintaining new habits easier?

04Who says competition isn't healthy?

STEVE FEELS:
01
These are great but lack emotional resonance and connection.
02
Crossing off tasks feels good...I don't get that here.
03
Not as personal as a book or something I can put in my pocket.
04
Easy to ignore digital reminders even with notifications!

Digital Space

With my problem and hypothesis in hand, I wanted to gather some additional research about current market offerings related to productivity and task management. First up was a comparative analysis with major digital workspace tools that focused on a wide range of tasks, large scale projects and smaller customization options.

With the previously expressed connection with analog, I also looked into one of the main market players in Moleskine as a direct competitive analysis. There were some key take aways regarding the common planners offered by Moleskine in terms of open layout concept and additional "goodies" like maps, international time zones, etc., while still leaving room for some of the mindfulness components that my client envisioned.

Physical Space

STEVE FEELS:
01
There is a lot of room to play around with.
02
The layout is pretty loose for daily activities
03
Lacks a review component for specific observations.
04
The time-stamped component is a little restricting.

05 Testing Structure

Users were asked to conduct a usability test for the period of a week - beginning on Sunday evening and ending on the following Sunday afternoon. They were provided the following mock-ups for the exercise and given specific instructions on how to complete the steps each day.

I arranged to have a midweek check-in where users submitted answers to 3 questions about their progress as well as a follow-up call with each participant at the end to see how the remainder of the test went.

For the entirety of the study, I requested that individuals engage in the practice of writing out the tasks and to create the structure each day in order to further emphasize the added sense of connection and focus for the tasks.

A major point raised in interviews - people like to look back at what they've accomplished.
Incorporation of a rating scale related to the process for each day.
Added a spot for reflection related to an accomplishment.

06 Results from the Week!

At this point in the study, only half of the participants found it easy to adapt to the daily routine and get into the flow.
Mid-week Check-in
The Week Went Fast!

Below are some of the key insights gathered from users after a week of testing. Interestingly enough - the client had never intended for the process to be utilized over a weekend but I deliberately asked the users to try in order to see if data would support that.

It turns out that the users also came to that conclusion (so great when that happens)! Weekends are for relaxing and keeping things pretty light - it was too difficult to try and plan things out as the majority were tired from the week.

  • It's not for weekends, just for weekdays
  • The part of the day that was routine, I didn't want to write out repeatedly
  • Questions with the scale of 1-3 had diminished value as rating them was the last task of day
  • Hour markers were needed to help with day outline creation
  • Need additional instructions for top accomplishments - beyond the task, for emotion or the experience itself
  • The top accomplishment component was successful. Even if it's just a positive moment, it made me feel good to think of that at the end of the day
  • Idea bank helped to provide structure in planning the day
  • The structure itself was helpful in removing stress or anxiety for tasks. Particularly with self-care and moments of relaxation
  • Reflection component at the end of each day is a huge part as it helps make tasks meaningful
  • Writing down things is good because it helps solidify the thought process
  • Really did help me feel like I had control over my day again, particularly in this covid world
It's not that I was being more productive but that it was I was more focused on individual tasks.
If I wrote recuperating, the next day I felt that since I decided upon that adjective. I didn't feel bad about it. Consciously decide to have a day to relax so you feel better about it.
Felt like there was more time for self-care checks. Especially important for those to be built in when working from home as it helps stay honest with a timelimit.
My tasks became more specific. Learned that being more vague is harder to follow as opposed to being more specific.
Usability Iterations

I used the input from the of testing and made the following adjusts to the journal structure:

07 Branding and Design

I asked the client to elaborate upon the what and why of Present You Future You (PYFY) in order to gain better insight into possible designs. The root of the inspiration came from the recognition of the availability of time and the need for some kind of structure to accomplish things that they wanted to accomplish. Within that, there were a lot of important, key characteristics of the project itself:

During the first check-in meeting, I discussed the interviews and presented the two initial design iterations:

Final Designs

The client was drawn toward the major elements of version two - particularly with the cartography (portolan chart) style. Based upon that feedback, I ended up with the following iterations and style guide:

08 Next Steps and Future Facing

What I Learned

It was my first time working on a physical product concept as opposed to something digital and I really enjoyed it! 

  • The usability test instructions were kept somewhat surface level in order to first determine the core need for the product. That need was validated and will likely only increase once the the more in-depth existential background and intentional directions from the client are included in future iterations.
  • As covid removed so much structure, the process helped bring back structure and reminded the users that structure actually helps provide framework to get more stuff done.
Moving Forward

The client was pleased with what we were able to accomplish over the 3 weeks and where we elevated the product to.

Next steps would be exploring potential textile and printing options in order to develop a simple prototype for additional testing.

We concluded that broadening the usability testing for a month in order to gather more insight before moving forward with launch will be key to ensure product viability.

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