Role
Lead designer
Lead researcher
Project Info
Extracurricular project
Team of 5
Duration
December - May 2023
(6 months)
Tools Used
Figma
Figjam
PROBLEM
Existing productivity apps on the market are failing to meet user needs, resulting in a struggle to retain users
Productivity is defined by many as working toward a goal or task. Everyone has faced challenges with productivity at some point in their lives. As a college student, I’ve struggled to find a system that holds me accountable for being productive, leading to me feeling burnt out. I have observed my peers struggling with time management and distractions, such as social media. Not only is taking the initiative to be productive challenging but keeping it up is an even greater task.
This prompted the question: How might we gamify a solution leveraging the brain’s dopamine reward pathway to promote productivity in students?
HIGH-LEVEL APPROACH
Promoting productivity in students using gamification
I created an app to promote productivity among students, making their goals more attainable. Taking inspiration from story-telling games such as Stardew Valley, Genshin Impact, and Animal Crossing, I wanted to promote habit-building among users. The app allows users to manage their own productivity while staying motivated using a gamified approach.
SECONDARY RESEARCH
A gamified approach to productivity through dopamine stimulation
Starting with secondary research, I reviewed sources surrounding the topic of productivity, dopamine, and exposure to gaming. I discovered the Candy Crush effect, a phenomenon that describes how video games can boost dopamine levels, which can increase cognitive behavior and lead to the development of good behavioral habits. For example, the dopamine generated from video games has the potential to be instrumental to our learning and improve attention span during classes and other activities. According to Liberty University,
“30 daily minutes of mobile gaming can exercise the brain regions responsible for problem-solving, memory, and spatial recognition.”
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Competing apps lack an authentic gamified experience, failing to drive user motivation
My team and I analyzed 6 popular apps within the category of “productivity.” Each of us, along with two of our friends, used a different productivity app for a week. Users voiced concerns about the overuse of monetization and complicated features, which disturb user flows and accesibility within apps. Most importantly, I found that a majority of the apps lacked interactivity and gamified aspects apart from cosmetic upgrades, and were repetitive, leading to users feeling demotivated.
SURVEYS
89% of respondents struggle with productivity and 98.1% wish to be productive for at least 1 more hour each day
I created a 12-question survey, consisting of multiple-choice and short-answer questions, to gather quantitative data. The goal of the survey questions was to understand varying experiences with productivity and people’s sentiments toward productivity apps.
The survey was distributed across multiple platforms to reach a greater audience (LinkedIn, Discord, Reddit, etc.). After receiving 313 responses, our initial assumption was confirmed — our target audience is high school and college students interested in improving their productivity.
The following insights were revealed:
USER INTERVIEWS
Interviewees want a fun, low-pressure way to stay productive while seeing the fruits of their labor
We conducted interviews with 13 survey respondents within our target audience who consented to further questioning. The interview questions were asked to gain further insights into users’ productivity habits, general perceptions of productivity, and experiences with productivity apps.
Below is an affinity map, which was done to understand the main insights derived from the interviews.
MAIN INSIGHTS
Interviewees spoke about the potential for personalization, motivation, and gamification in a productivity app
Based on our affinity map, I identified three themes that affect people’s productivity: personalization, motivation, and gamification.
USER FLOWS
Establishing a direction for our main user flow
The following flow indicates the path a user would take to start and complete a study session. I wanted to focus on making this flow easily navigable, as it is the most common flow in the app.
FEATURE IDEATION
Identifying a list of feature ideas based on major insights
After summarizing research insights, our team brainstormed a list of features that we could potentially implement. Each member voted on features that they thought should be personalizable, static (the same experience for all users), or excluded. Ultimately, some features were not a priority for the minimum viable product (MVP) and were omitted from our scope.
In our first ideation exercise, each member created a home page containing several features that were voted on, to better envision the placement and desirability of each feature. This method led to a lot of confusion and was ultimately unsuccessful.
LOW-FIDELITY WIREFRAMING
Getting back on track through good ol’ whiteboarding
I recommended an in-person whiteboarding session to get the team back on track. During these sessions, we determined what features would be included in the MVP that we would present at Design For America’s expo, where each team showcases their project.
Our design evolved to embrace a story-driven gamified approach…
I removed the bottom navigation bar because many mobile games do not have a navbar to allow for continuous progression and support the storyline.
I added the passport that lets users view their Dododex (eq. Pokedex), a collection of dodos users can collect throughout their study sessions.
I also added the Dodopack, which acts as a menu for users to quickly access additional functionality.
I removed social features (e.g. friend list, leaderboard) due to conflicting feelings from users and time constraints.
SOLUTION
A productivity solution that incorporates personalization and gamification to increase motivation and retention
Prododo is a mobile application that leverages the brain’s dopamine reward cycle and encourages productivity by introducing story-driven gamification. Our research indicates that users would be more productive with incentives, which we offer through our gamified approach. We hypothesize that increased productivity will lead to greater retention.
FINAL DESIGN
The final product
DESIGN SYSTEM
The design system
I created all the illustrations and animations featured in our prototype. The dodo character was designed to enhance the game’s storyline and motivate users. The audience at DFA’s expo reacted positively to the dodo’s personable appeal. The logo consists of a simplified character design backed by blue, the primary color we chose to foster responsibility and calmness.
Link to my full Figma work file HERE
REFLECTION
My biggest takeaways from this project + next steps
This was my first UX project outside of school — I am truly grateful for this experience. I navigated the majority of the design process while venturing into graphic design and creating my own illustrations for the final app. Here are a few things I learned:
Document work
Make sure to document work! Life is so much easier when you can efficiently revisit past work, especially if it is well organized. Everything was located in Notion and Figjam, which was useful to reference after taking breaks from the project.
Prioritize research
Research is crucial for keeping users’ needs at the forefront of any solution. I conducted extensive research, gaining valuable insights that guided me during the ideation and prototyping phases. However, addressing every research insight in the solution was challenging. In the future, research must inform all my design decisions.
Understand scope
As the deadline approached, I learned to be flexible with changing the scope to accommodate our short timeline. I prioritized features that would provide the most value and made them shine.
Our team had our share of challenges such as balancing schoolwork, losing members, and maintaining consistency in our design. However, I am incredibly proud of the work accomplished.
If I had more time, I would have created a more consistent design system at the start. In the future, I want to increase gamification by designing additional locations and dodos, and add optional social features since certain users say competition motivates them. Lastly, I want to provide more personalization options to cater to users’ unique productivity habits.
Thanks for stopping by, feel free to explore my other projects!
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