WiredIn
A productivity app
Overview
Project Type: Solo Capstone Project
Timeline: 12 weeks
Role: UX/UI Design, User Research, Prototyping
Tools: Figma, InVision, Zoom
Platform: Mobile
WiredIn is your ultimate productivity partner, designed to help you stay focused. By cutting out digital distractions, WiredIn empowers you to work smarter, faster, and more efficiently.
The Dark Side of Multitasking
Switching tasks can significantly impact the productivity of young professionals. For instance, someone might be focused on writing a report but suddenly gets distracted by a phone notification or online shopping. These interruptions can steal valuable time and hinder overall work performance.
Design Challenge
Identify the most frequent task interruptions and assess the impact of multitasking in the workplace to design a mobile application that helps young professionals minimize distractions and improve productivity.
Approaching the problem
I approached this project with a strong commitment to ensuring my designs and values aligned with solving real-world problems. To maintain a user-centered focus, I applied the design thinking methodology, guiding my research toward creating a solution that is not only technically and economically viable but also genuinely desirable in meeting my users' needs.
What’s out there
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Research indicates that approximately 82% of interrupted work is resumed on the same day, but it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to refocus and get back on track.
Multitasking might appear efficient at first, but it often leads to greater time spent and increased errors. The brief mental pauses caused by switching between tasks can account for up to 40% of a person's productive time.
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Willpower is limited, just like other resources. We are quickly out of what little we have. While we try to block out distractions, the digital age is designed to do the exact opposite, constantly pulling our attention away.
User Research
To gather the necessary information and gain valuable insights, I primarily conducted 1-on-1 interviews for my user research. The participants were young professionals working from home or in an office, with access to multiple devices (computers, phones, tablets). Here are some of the questions I asked them:
How do you determine your priorities at work?
Can you please name 3 distractions or interruptions you normally experience while working
Do you check you notifications regularly? If yes, how often?
Can you please share an experience when you had to multitask while working? How did it affect your work flow?
What I’ve heard . . .
“Honestly it’s bad because I end up spending time checking out stuff outside of work during work hours”
“It would be awesome if there’s a way I could stop that habit”
“I’m pretty active in social media so I do check them often”
“Twitter is life!”
Key Insights and Themes
After the interviews, I organized my user research findings into categories such as pain points, motivations, goals, and behaviors. From there, I synthesized the data into three key themes. For this project, I’ve chosen to focus on the theme of 'Distractions.'
(click images to enlarge)
Notifications - participants were frequently interrupted by phone notifications while working
Time Management - participants expressed a desire for better methods to manage their time at work in order to be more efficient
Distractions - Most participants experienced significant digital distractions, and for some, these interruptions had started to become a habitual part of their routine
How Might We
Based on my research findings and focusing on the theme of 'Distractions,' I’ve developed my "How might we" question.
How might we help young professionals limit or prevent interruptions in order to focus more and increase productivity at work?
User Persona
To dive deeper, I’ve created a user persona - Ron. He is a representation of the target users of WiredIn.
Using the persona, I developed an experience map to show the end-to-end experience that a user goes through when dealing with multitasking at work
User Stories
From the opportunities in the experience map , I made user stories in order to show product functionality in the perspective of a user. I’ve grouped them into functionally-related epics and focused on one to base my task flow on.
Given its direct alignment with the project objectives and the HMW question, I’ve chosen to use this epic as it will greatly impact user productivity. This will be the first step in developing a solution that addresses their needs.
Task Flow
With the focus on chosen epic, I have created a task flow to show the process that the user would go through when using the product
Sketches and Wireframes
Based on the task flow, I started with paper sketches then proceeded to creating low fidelity wireframes.
Prototyping
I made my initial prototype, mostly concentrating on functionality and generating concepts for potential interactions. At this stage, I also considered how my product's tone and aesthetic might be used to brand future content.
V1 - before user testing
User Testing
2 rounds of 1-on-1 user tests were done through Zoom with 5 participants in each round. Design iterations were made based on test results
V2 - after 1st round of user test
Moved the buttons to switch from the “Apps” tab to the “Websites“ tab out of the frame because users said they were hard to notice
Added “Add new“ button on the Apps tab, Websites tab, and Notifications tab
Resized “Begin Session“ button as most users find it too large
V3 - after 2nd round of user test
Created a carousel to put Apps tab, Websites tab, and Notifications tab under the Blocklist button reducing the number of buttons in the nav bar
Redesigned the indicator for the nav bar
Reduced confirmation screens (modals)
Final Screens
Interactive Prototype
Reflections
What’s next?
I would like to add an incentive system to the app. That way, users would would be more encouraged to use the app. Lastly, I want to make this app in multiple platforms including desktop and smart watch.
What did I learn?
I learned that research is a HUGE factor when defining where to focus on the problem. I also learned the value of feedbacks and how it affects design iterations. Another lesson learned for me is that it’s important to prioritize features that have the highest impact in order to create a minimal yet viable product.