Susan Ford UXD
ReminderX To-Do App
A Pre-existing To-Do Reminder App Focuses in on who it's Target User is and What Problems they need Solved.
Deliverbles
User Research Results
User Persona
Design Tenets
Paper/Digital Wireframes
High Fidelity Prototype
Usability Study
High Fidelity Mockup
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Role
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Lead UX Researcher and Designer
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Collaborated with team UX Designers (classmates) and company stakeholders (instructor).
Programs
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Sketch
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Figma
Project Length
10 weeks
The Problem
Mobile to-do apps are used regularly by many people to help them stay on track with work, personal errands and reminders everyday.
But who are the Target Users of these apps, and how can these to-do applications continue to meet the Needs Of the People who use them, so that the application not only helps keep them stay on track with reminders, but also Simplifies their Lives and helps make remembering tasks easier?
In this class project case study, ReminderX co-founder, Vera, and Jorge, lead engineer, sat down with our design team and said they were at a stand still with their current reminder app.
They stated they want ReminderX to be more than just a generic reminder to-do app, and they want it to stand out from other similar apps on the market by meeting the needs of their customers. They are open to a complete redesign to accomplish this goal, but don't know who their target users are that use the app.
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In listening to Vera and Jorge's hopes, ideas, and concerns, I concluded that the problem for the ReminderX app could be split into three parts:
Who are the target users of the ReminderX app?
What are the needs of target users when using a reminder app and what problems do they encounter when using a to-do app?
How can the app be redesigned to meet these needs, solve their problems, and simplify users' lives?
The Solution
To help Vera and Jorge achieve their vision for the ReminderX app, I recommended that a user experience research session be conducted before the redesign of the app was initiated. Conducting user research prior to the redesign would not only help the company learn who the target users are for the ReminderX app, but would also give us valuable information on what kinds of features, or design tenets, are vital to the success of the application. Follow-up usability studies would also give the company additional verification that the newly designed application was meeting the needs of users and helping them accomplish their goals.
Goals
In response to Vera and Jorge's approval of the project proposal, I wrote out a plan and a set goals for this project:
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Discover who the target users are for ReminderX.
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Collect research data about users' wants, needs, and problems with their to-do apps.
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Develop design tenets from research data to help formulate a redesign layout with wireframes and mock-ups.
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Verify that design decisions achieve design tenets and users' goals with a usability study using a mobile prototype.
Research and Discovery
Participants
4 Participants Total
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2 Males
2 Females
Environment
Participants were interviewed in their usage environments individually.
Research
Interview questions and observation of app usability
Sessions
Research sessions ran 30-45 minutes in length and were video recorded.
What I Discovered from the Research
"Are To-Do/Reminder Apps used for Work of Personal Use?"
"I use my app for personal reminders because I have a to-do reminder system at work"
"I use my to-do lists for home tasks because my work is routine and there is no need for a to-do list."
2 out of 4 participants stated they use their to-do reminder apps for personal use because they already have a task system they use at work.
"What do you use your to-do/reminder app for?"
"I use my to-d0 reminders app for pop-up reminders on my home screen to help me remember"
"I use my lists for appointments and errands that need to get done"
"I use it to help me work on projects and set goals for projects."
3 out of 4 participants stated they use the apps for pop-up reminders to help them remember tasks, appointments, and errands.
"What is the biggest challenge in using a to-do/reminder list?"
"I need something to get my attention so I will follow through with tasks. "
"It would be nice to have categories to split up reminders, as the list can get to be too long with too many reminders "
3 out of 4 participants stated that their biggest challenge was following through with the tasks and that they need something that would grab their attention to finish the tasks.
"What are pain points or a negative experience you have had with your to-do/reminder app?"
"I'd like a way to be able to retrieve lost items and lists if they accidentally get deleted. "
2 out of 4 participants stated their main issue was the fear of losing or accidentally deleting reminders or lists.
4 out of 4 participants stated they wanted to be able to customize the app to fit their needs.
4 out of 4 participants stated they prefer a simple design for the app with intuitive features.
3 out of 4 participants stated having an app with good feedback was important.
2 out of 4 participants stated they would like their reminder app to cross over to other digital devices.
The compiling of research findings clearly showed who the target users are that use to-do reminder apps and culminated in the development of a user persona named "Jaynee". Research data showed that target users are:
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Are in their 40-50s age range
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College Educated
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Work Full-Time
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Have partners and/or children at home
The research data also showed that target users want and need specific design tenets in their to-do/reminder app:
Simplicity in Design- Simple design layouts that are easy to navigate. Good utilization of white space with a clean layout that will not overwhelm the user.
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Intuitive and Ease of Use- Utilizing design features that are standard native components for the platform and icons that are familiar that will aid in the use of the application.
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Customization- Giving users options to customize the application to fit their needs and give them the tools they need to accomplish their goals.
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Good Communication and Feedback- Having communication and feedback prompts that users can program in to the application according to their needs will help them stay on track with their goals.
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Flexibility- Allowing the application to be able to cross over to other digital devices like personal computers, digital watches, and digital assistants will give users greater capability to accomplish tasks and stay on track with their lists and reminders.
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Motivation- Having the application act as a motivator or digital assistant for projects and goals will help users stay focused on their tasks and work towards accomplishing the goals they have set out for themselves.
Design, Workflow, Iteration, and Wireframes
With the user persona and design tenets in hand, I began designing the app layout and workflows by sketching out designs with paper and pencil. The workflows that I concentrated on designing addressed the issues, wants, and needs that participants communicated during the research sessions and included:
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Customizing the app.
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Pop-up reminders.
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Moving a task to a different list.
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Checking off a task/Re-using a task
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Deleting a task/Retrieving a task
After designing the workflows and design layouts for various screens on the app, I submitted my work to my UX Design team members for analysis, critique, and constructive feedback. The following design revisions were discussed and decided upon for the layout and workflows:
1. The "+" icon was moved from the top header to the "Thumb Zone" to make the adding of tasks easier and more intuitive (Addresses the Intuitive & Ease of Use Design Tenet).
The initial layout design for the "+" icon was at the top right hand corner of the screen, but this is not in the "Thumb Zone" and would make it more difficult for users to access this frequently used button.
2. A "Create an Account / Sign-In Page" was added to give users more customization with their app (Addresses the Customization Design Tenet).
3. A short voluntary tutorial was added to help introduce the app and it's features (Addresses the Intuitive & Ease of Use Design Tenet).
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4. "Are you sure your want to delete?" prompt was included to prevent accidental deletion of tasks and reminders (Addresses a Pain Point for Target Users).
After discussing and deciding what would work best for the app based on the user persona and design tenets, I went back to the drawing board and added in the above team suggestions by revising the workflows and incorporating the design changes with the creation of low-fidelity digital wireframes for the stakeholders.
Workflow #1 Initial Use
Workflow #3 Pop-Up Reminders
Workflow #2 Customizing App
Workflow #4 Move task to a new list, check-off/re-use a task, delete/retrieve a task
Click on each image above to see the full sized design document.
Usability Study & High Fidelity Prototype
After receiving approval for the workflows and wireframes from our stakeholders, I converted the wireframes into high-fidelity mockups and used them in the design of an interactive prototype. Once the prototype was complete, I went ahead and developed a formative usability study to see if the app incorporated the design tenets that were discovered in the intial research. The participants were asked to work through eleven scenario-based questions that focused on the six design tenets from previous user research.
Participants
5 Participants Total
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3 original research participants
1 Male
2 Females
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2 New participants
0 Males
2 Females
Environment
Participants were interviewed in their usage environments individually.
Research
Scenario questions based on project design tenets and observation of app prototype.
Sessions
Research sessions ran 30 minutes in length.
What I Discovered from the Usability Study
Overall, participants liked using the app and felt that the six design tenets were partially or fully met with the design and layout of the application, with scores ranging from good to excellent .
"I like the simplicity of it.
It was really nice.
I also liked the ability and ease of use to share lists with family and friends"
"Love the task done feedback! It's less overwhelming to have a picture of your dog pop-up instead of it saying 'get it done'."
"Oh that's cute!
I like that!
I like the streamers.
It's motivating and fun!"
"I thought the app was really user friendly. It has alerts on the phone, it has alarms, pictures as reminders, it's just the kind of reminder I need!"
Although participants seemed to like the app and felt that it offered many of the design tenets, there were some consistent observations that came up during the study that made completing some of the tasks difficult for participants.
Observation:
5 out of 5 participants struggled with adding a new list to the app by either not seeing the "+" icon or trying to hit the "Choose List" button to add the new list.
Change:
Instead of using the "+" icon, a keyboard with a return button was added to the prototype to help make this task clearer and more intuitive.
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Observation:
4 out of 5 participants attempted to check-off boxes with deleted tasks listed in the trash can as a way to select the tasks.
Change:
Checking off boxes next to tasks was enabled so that there is consistency across the app.
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Observation:
Some of the icons were not clear to participants, specifically the exit icon and the add a person icon.
Change:
Conduct further research on icons that are more universally recognizable to users and replace icons based on research data.
Before
The orange "+" icon in the text box for creating and adding a new list was confusing for participants.
Before
Participants kept expecting to be able to check-off the box when selecting the Wash the Dog task.
Before
The Share List/Add Others icon and the Exit icon were confusing to participants in the prototype.
After
Removing the "+" and adding in a keyboard with a return button should make this more straight forward. A cancel button was also added to help users back out of the drop down.
After
Keeping task features consistent across the app by putting in a check mark when selecting the task helps reduce confusion.
Discovery
Experimentation and further research is needed to determine which icons will be the most intuitive for users when using the app.
Next Steps
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Research of the Share List and Exit icons should be conducted to find which icons are more intuitive and recognizable to users.
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Further usability research would be recommended to verify that the design changes made from the usability study have solved the issues found in the study, and to also fine tune the entire app for the development phase of the project.
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Usability testing with more advanced prototyping and research equipment for the voice commands and list sharing features would also be recommended to further verify that these app features work as intended.
Take Aways and What I Learned
Conducting user research and usability studies throughout the project was extremely valuable and vital to the success of the product. There were many ideas, issues, and situations that came up during the research and usability sessions that I never thought would be an asset or an issue for the app. The research brought these things to light and allowed me to be able to go back to the drawing board and address them. Without the user research and usability study, these important findings probably would not have been detected.
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I also learned the importance of collaboration with other team members throughout the project. Their discussions, suggestions, and feedback on various parts of the project were invaluable, as they saw things in the design that could be improved that myself or others maybe didn't see.
