Designed a native app from scratch to assist people dealing with work-related stress. The app offers disruptive educational and community engagement features, creating a safe, confident, and supportive environment for users coping with stress.
The World Health Organization defines burnout as chronic workplace stress not effectively managed, marked by exhaustion, mental distance from work, and reduced efficacy. In contrast to work stress, burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion due to prolonged stress.
Current stats show 75% of employees experiencing burnout, exacerbated by the changes brought by COVID-19 and the surge in remote work. Global employee stress has hit a record high, with 44% reporting significant stress daily. This marks the second consecutive year of record-level work stress in 2023.
By combining the identified user issues and effective coping techniques, we can outline the potential focus areas of the app. The initial concept revolves around enhancing human and community interaction, motivating physical activities, and offering music-related resources. Further research is needed to validate these initial ideas.
Marketing research suggests that prioritizing human interaction and community, exercise, sports, and music would better serve users. Competitive analysis confirmed this as a unique opportunity, as most competitors concentrate on professional mental health and relaxation. The question now is: How can we capitalize on this opportunity?
We designed a targeted questionnaire to gain deeper user insights. Conducting 10 interviews via platforms like Zoom and Google Meet, each session had a designated moderator, while another team member took meticulous notes.
Simone’s problem could be summarized in: “Adults who experience work stress, need access to information, stress management tools and to connect with other people because they are overwhelmed by the sense of degradation, fear and apathy”. Problem statements can provide clear direction and focus.
Reload is a wellness app focusing on helping people experiencing work related stress. With its disruptive educational and community engagement functionalities, our MVP will have available features such as achievable goal plans, community board, activities suggestions and plans. These features will ensure that users feel safe, confident and supported while coping with stress.
Prioritizing ideas through the MoSCoW Method and concentrating on the MVP, we crafted a Lofi prototype for concept testing involving five users. Their feedback revealed consistent patterns:
Bottom menu icons: Users found the icons in the bottom menu confusing
Sub-concepts in Activities and Community screens: The sub-concepts within these screens were unclear
"Edit" button on the Profile screen: The "edit" button did not align with users' mental models
Distinction between Goals and Achievement concepts: Users felt the distinction needed clarification
Stress levels graph on the Home page: Users found the graph unclear, and its source was unknown
While the concept testing was generally successful, with users grasping disruptive stress management concepts like community support and activities, there is room for improvement in communicating subcategories. Proposed enhancements include:
List of participants in the Groups & Activities section: Adding this feature to enhance the community engagement aspect
Options to create groups, activities, and stories: These additions within Categories and Community screens aim to provide users with more interactive and engaging functionalities
Refining our approach based on Concept Testing feedback, we made comprehensive enhancements to the Mifi wireframes, ensuring a more intuitive and user-friendly experience:
Bottom menu: Labels were added below icons, enhancing user comprehension and making navigation more straightforward
Activities & Community screens: Detailed descriptions were introduced to clarify sub-concepts, providing users with a clearer understanding of the content
Profile screen: Underwent a comprehensive redesign, removing the "edit" button and incorporating features like arrows, frames, and an improved process for editing personal details. These changes align more closely with users' mental models
Goals and achievement concepts: Both pages received a complete overhaul, including repositioning within the navigation, creating a more logical and user-friendly flow
Home page: Additional screens were introduced to ensure a smoother and more intuitive user experience. The stress levels graph was refined for clarity, and its source is now clearly communicated
Moreover, to enrich the user experience, we introduced new screens and functionalities:
Specific Activity Screen
Create a Group Screens
Loading Screens
"How Are You Feeling" Screens
After conducting interviews with six users, we gained valuable insights. While users generally found the app's structure intuitive and completed tasks easily, a notable issue emerged. When asked to locate their profile settings, 65% of users clicked on the hamburger menu in the header, rather than the profile icon. These insights from Usability Testing guided adjustments in the Hifi wireframes design. Notably, the profile link was relocated from the left of the top Nav menu into the hamburger menu for improved user navigation. This modification aims to align the user's expectations with the app's navigation and enhance the overall user experience.
Transitioning from Mifi to Hifi, we noticed a surprising uniformity in the market where competitors adopted cheerful yet somewhat uninspiring interfaces and visual strategies. This industry-wide conformity presents a unique opportunity. Now, the crucial question arises: How can we effectively differentiate and brand 'Reload'?
The brand attributes were defined as follows: 1. Empowering, 2. Supportive, 3. Communal, and 4. Fun. Utilizing these attributes, we crafted a Moodboard. Subsequently, successful Moodboard testing was conducted, during which users readily associated the desired qualities with the board.
We adopted an integrative approach to the style tile, differentiating Reload by accentuating its empowering and supportive attributes while maintaining a balanced, non-overwhelming design. The primary color exudes energy without being intimidating, with additional contextual colors and fonts derived from the moodboard. Our typography choices were influenced by fonts like Sora and Truculenta.
During the Design Critique phase, it was evident that the excessive use of the vibrant primary color proved overwhelming for users. This approach also contributed to making Reload closely resemble its competitors, resulting in a significant misalignment with the intended brand and concept.
Building upon the insights gathered from the Design Critique, further refinements were made in Hifi It2:
Fine-tuned the design of both top and bottom navigation bars for enhanced usability
Implemented a more streamlined and user-friendly approach in specific forms
Eliminated the gradient on the feelings screen to improve visual clarity
Introduced an empowering screen strategically placed between the feelings screens and the dashboard for a smoother user journey
The Hifi It2 wireframes underwent Desirability Testing, yielding positive results. The outcomes affirmed that the app successfully conveyed the attributes of empowerment, safety, community, and fun.
The project was not only captivating but also posed intriguing challenges, making its human-centered approach even more motivating. It offered valuable takeaways:
Data frequently uncovers unexpected insights
Simplicity in design and solutions significantly improves comprehension
UX/UI professionals exhibit different behaviors in concept and usability testing compared to non-specialists
Actively listening to users consistently leads to the identification of solutions they truly need
Effective teamwork has the potential to achieve remarkable and impactful results
The project has concluded, but the enthusiasm to create a user-centric app remains strong. Users consistently expressed interest in the idea of a dark mode, a bold and edgy concept with the potential to provide a distinct advantage.
Designed a management suite tailored for the executive team of an immersive music learning platform.
UX & UI | Concept | Desktop | E-learning | 2023 | 2 Week Sprint
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