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MINDFUL TO-DO GUIDE
Intro
Imagine being able to seamlessly refocus your priorities in those times when your to-do list is getting way too long to handle. As you work with the app over time, it learns how many tasks you can realistically achieve and sets you up for the week ahead with achievable goals.
Q.
How might I help career oriented individuals create a work/life balance that reduces overall anxiety?
Wireflow
The below wireflow shows how the user can interact with the app after they have been entering data for a few weeks. The app is now predicting the average weekly capacity for the user and suggesting how many tasks of varying sizes they can pick up and complete.
app opens to this page
Swipe left to view options
change task size
app adjusts to the change
click to add task
tab opens scales
Slide to reflect priority
Click to dismiss
Swipe left to view options
when task is done, progress bar updates
Research phase
A mixture of quantitive and qualitative research showed that users were begging for more time for tasks outside of work. There was two kinds of people. Those who believed work and life should stay separate to reduce anxiety and those that believed you should just embrace integration of the two.
5
User
interviews
39
Survey participants
367
Post it notes and sharpies lost to the cause.
Affinity sort
Utilising user interviews and surveys are both effective ways to collect hundreds of data points. However, once it is collected, it needs to be synthesised. To the left is an example of how this information was treated and used to sift through common themes. This would then build the basis for what would become the persona, Can-do Carol.
"home life is tremendous, I just wish I didn't work so much..."
6 out of 10
people admit to working well over 40 hours per week with a poor level of work/life balance because of it.
Meet Carol...
Once I established Carol as my primary user group, it became evident that it was more about creating order in the chaos and avoiding unnecessary anxiety. Due to this, the problem statement changes slightly.
"My to-do list seems to be endless...How am I ever supposed to get all these tasks done!?"
Can-do Carol
28, Single
Accountant
From Melbourne
Schedules life plans vs goes with the flow
Proactive about her mental health vs completely unaware
Easily overwhelmed vs perform well under pressure
Communicates proactively vs internalises problems
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Have more control over her everyday anxieties
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More time to spend on social impact/helping others
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More purpose to her everyday life and work
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Continue learning new skills
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Becomes overwhelmed
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Lost without clear goals or vision
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Can leave thins too long before admitting she needs help
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Tries so hard to be productive and get things done that nothing gets done at all.
Appreciates small milestones vs celebrates only the large ones
Behaviours
Goals
Pain points
Revised
Q.
How might I help Carol set achievable goals so that she doesn’t become overwhelmed easily?
Customer journey
How might I help Carol set achievable goals so that she doesn’t become overwhelmed easily?
Discovery
Plan
Change
Implement
'The perfect opportunity to make a difference! Hmm... I don't know much about doing accounts for a non for profit though..."
"Let's see what's on this week, maybe I can make some time for myself"
"If I can change the way I plan, I might be able to lower my stress! I can see myself working towards more me time if I follow through on this"
"Things have gotten out of control, I thought I was making progress but I just can't see how "
"Glad I was able to spend time with my new boyfriend, plus the commute goes so much faster if I keep busy with work stuff"
"One task down, a hundred still to go! I am becoming so overwhelmed... How am I going to manage this better in future?"
"This is an emotional rollercoaster, something has to change"
"I need a schedule or something, I feel out of control!"
"I don't even know what my priorities are anymore..."
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Carol is quick to say 'yes' to everything which means she ends up extremely stressed and time poor.
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Carol needs a way to collate all her tasks into one place to avoid confusion.
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When she is time-poor, she can end up devaluing tasks that relate to her health over work.
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How might we show Carol an achievable task load so that she is motivated to complete them?
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Potentially allow Carol to categorise tasks and utilise sliding scales to help with the prioritisation.
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Progress bars, marking consecutive dates off on a calendar and hiding backlogged items are ways to increase task completion and avoid anxiety.
Recap
The initial hypothesis "how might I help career oriented individuals create a work/life balance that reduces overall anxiety? was fleshed out more through research. By doing so, it was clear that the problem statement needed to be more targeted to make a more measurable impact on the end users.
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Certain behavioural characteristics of Carol mean that the app needed to appeal to the side of her which likes to feel as though she has really ticked off a large list of tasks. As seen in the wire-flow, the app provides small features that help provide motivation to Carol by showing progress and rewarding consistency. Most importantly, it is breaking down Carol's task list and setting her up to succeed based on her own velocity over time.
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