Background:

As a parent with four kids, I spend more time than necessary in a given week deciding and selecting what order or whose turn it is to do a specific task. While some of these are easily scheduled (i.e. kiddo 1 is first on Mondays, kiddo 2 on Tuesdays, etc.) or arranged (oldest to youngest, youngest to oldest) or decided on the fly (high dice roll), there are always gaps with these approaches (4 does not divide easily into the 7-day week, the middle two get less first time, etc., some people are consistently bad dice rollers). Additionally, there are also certain activities that due to their intermittency, are more difficult to keep track of (who picks the car movie, whose turn it is to run an errand with a parent, who selects desert, etc.). I’d like to create an app that makes it easy to keep track of whose turn it is for various activities.

Business Objectives:

Ease of use – it must be convenient to get people to use it. Flexible to handle different people’s needs. It needs to be enough of both of these to make people want to purchase the ad free version of the app.

Research Goal:

I decided to use interviews to determine whether my frustrations with this issue match others frustrations to determine if this solution would help (or if there might be a better alternative). I also completed a competitive analysis to see what already exists (which was minimal), but instead focusing on common features were utilized in similar apps, and whether these features would make sense to add onto this app.

Initial Assumptions:

All parents with multiple elementary aged children had to deal with arguments about who gets to “go first”.
Parents were generally frustrated with this, and did not have a solution that they were happy with.
Parents are concerned with keeping things equal between children.
Parents were handling these situations by memory and this was not working well for them.

User Interview Key Takeaways:

Not all parents with elementary age kids deal with the issue of multiple wanting to go first
Most parents would like to see an expanded/flexible use of the app to be able to track other things such as chores
Most parents utilized their memory most and didn’t mind doing so, mostly because it was the easiest and quickest
For an app to be well used, it would need to be super simple and fast.

If given more time, I would have liked to do a second around of follow up questions, to prove or disprove the following assumptions:
- Please describe your parenting style
  (I would assume there is a link between those who are more actively involved and prefer structure v. those who are more hands off.)
- Are you the primary parent as far as hands on activity with the kiddos
  (While not asked, those that I knew who had the kids less time seemed to be less bothered by this - though there was one exception who homeschools her kids and had little problems.)
- Please describe the temperament of each kiddo
  (One parent mentioned that she wished her kids were easier going, whereas another mentioned that her kids were pretty easy going – their overall response sets were different, so there may be a link here.)
- How do you feel about app use for tracking chores/etc.
  (One participant was fairly against technology use – since the premise is designing an app, it would make sense to interview people open to that.)

Participants:

5 Interviewees
All parents with 2 or more elementary age children
3 female, 2 male respondents
Ages mid 30s to early 40s

User Personas:

I created two user personas based off of the interviewees and their responses that were later utilized to help frame the user flows during the wireframing phase. One persona was of a parent with multiple kids who would like less stress around lesser planned activities, while the other persona was of a non-parent with roommates who would like to have less issues with sharing chores.

POV Statements and HMW Questions:

Given the new information that came to light during the interview phase, I wanted to make sure that I fully understood the problem and was able to design for both personas before moving forward with the ideation phase. I created a series of POV and HMW to ensure I was on the right track. This led me to better understand that the app I design must be flexible enough to accommodate different uses within the same structure, it must be sufficiently visual for a child to understand his/her place in the order, and it must be extremely quick and simple to use.

How might we make this app as simple to use and easy to set up as possible?

How might we help users feel that utilizing an app for ordering and decision making is less effort (ideally easier) than the mental energy needed to make these decisions on the fly?

Feature Roadmap:

I combined my ideation with the interviews and competitive analysis, I prioritized a list of features based on what would create a functional mvp for this app.

PickMe!

End-to-End App Design

User Flows

I utilized user flows to map out to how best connect the features together and the most likely paths that users would take depending on the feature they needed to employ. I used the interviews to determine the best flows to set and later test.

Lo-Fi Wireframes

I utilized Lo-Fi wireframes to decide on the overall layout and feel of the app with the elements that I wanted to include. I decided to use Figma for this round (I normally do this on paper) testing to see if this would be more helpful to me to spend a little extra time upfront to save some time later. I do think that it make the hi-fi wireframing process less daunting to start, so for this project it was worth it.

Branding, Logo, and Basic UI Kit:

While thinking about the overall concept and feel for this app, I wanted something which could be selectively colorful, a little playful, but would not be distracting to the overall user experience. I started looking for color ideas on Adobe Color with the search term Ice Cream Shop, which was my first thought that came to mind for places that have colorful but not distractingly so. I selected a slightly muted palette, more on the neutral side for the base, knowing I was going to add in more color options that users could apply to their cards within the app.

While exploring logo design, I wanted to keep this same feel of playful anticipation, so the designs reflect a less serious side. I thought about how this might work with my second persona (non-parent with roommates), since they could potentially be using this for the opposite (who loves to do chores, right?), but I kind of enjoyed the irony and wondered what kind of affect some positive psychology might have on those who use the app.

I knew I wanted to consider a variety of options for cards, to be able to take into account the variety of ways in which people might chose to use them in terms of colors. I also included form fields for login purposes, and buttons for the many areas of input confirmations. The icons were considered and selected for their simple, familiar, and non-distracting feel.

Hi-Fi Wireframe:

I created the wireframes to prototype based on the inspiration above. I decided to modernize a few elements and design patterns based off of some additional secondary research on Mobbin and UXArchive, which led to an overall better feel on the account page, a more familiar separate favorites page, and a better confirmation pop up design.

Success Metrics:

Time to completion/Ability to complete

Low number of errors occurred
Low/no levels of frustration
Positive feedback

Testing Takeaways and Lessons Learned:

Users were not expecting, but surprisingly delighted with the tap to rotate option, as it made the task less clicks than they were expecting. Users did express concern about the lack of rotation back, since the only way to move a list back to its original position was to cycle though all the names.
- Add an undo button connected to a long press which allows users to undo their last action per card.
Users expressed confusion about the where to go to disconnect an account, as there was a list (and appearance of a clickable overlay) of connected accounts as well as a disconnect section.
- Create better clarity between these sections by moving them around. I moved the disconnect section right under the link section, and I moved the connected accounts section to the bottom, removing any type of navigation from it.
Multiple users asked about different organization options available to use as they accumulate more cards to make finding things easier. As this was not part of the test, I decided to keep note of these for future development.
- Leave the current organizational structure in place, but return to research and potentially add more options in a phase II.
In one of my questions, I asked users to share a list by copying it to their clipboard. This caused about half of the testers to try to first use the copy function instead of the share function. I’ll need to keep this in mind as I write future testing scenarios and be more cognizant of overlapping terms.

Next Steps:

Continue researching and viewing more modern design patterns and color schemes to create a better overall feel for the app.
Explore more design patterns for undo pop ups and figure out how to prototype this properly (I added this in the prototype, but I don’t love the layout, and I was only able to get it to work with the press and hold, when I really wanted it to be a long press that would allow you to select it afterwards. To see this in action, press and hold on the “Dust” card.
Explore more options for keeping the cards in a person’s account organized as they grow.

Case Specific Observations:

Sometimes apps can be super simple and still be extremely helpful.
Even with that, it’s hard to do it all (UX and UI) – one should decide where she wants to focus (or best delivers value) and hire out the rest.
An example of my interview wording bias came out during the prototype testing phase – it was cool to see how a simple shift in language can drastically affect the results. It also makes me wonder what other bais did not come to light in this or my other projects.
Having time to do second iterations on both interview and prototype phase would make a difference – this, along with time, was a major constraint that potentially limited the project output.
The competitive analysis does not necessarily need to be competitors, but can be useful to compare functional items and flows.
I had a tendency to sketch my lo-fi wireframes by hand, but in this case, I built them digitally, which made the hi-fi prototyping noticeably less daunting. I can see usefulness and pros/cons to each.

General Observations:

It is difficult multi-managing life and other time-consuming activities while doing this – it was a major constraint.
Completing this program and these cases helped me to learn to recognize flows, design patterns, and good/bad product design in daily life, which is quite perspective shifting.
The concepts employed here can be used to help find solutions (and alterative solutions) to many challenges we have in day to day life.
Design is a constant iteration – it’s tough, but an interesting lesson in both trusting the process and self-confidence to pick the “end”.
I thought I was pretty good at knowing what makes sense or what others need – that assumption in and of itself, along with many, many others, is wrong.
This process is great at highlighting how we’re all different and that we can go about similar goals in unique ways, but if you look for them you can usually find overlaps and synergy points.
Having more than one user persona is helpful in allowing for designer discretion in decision making.
I really loved the insights from the research interviews and the prototyping feedback, creating user flows, and mind mapping. I’m not a big fan of the UI components (especially fonts).

Final Prototype:

Please feel free to try out the prototype! Note that this is not a live, fully functioning app. Please keep in mind the following testing scenarios and flows while navigating:

Rotate List
- You’ve just started the car to head for a long drive, and it’s time for the appropriate kiddo to select the car movie. You open the app to find it’s Joe’s turn, you let him know. Please find then rotate the appropriate list forward so you know that next round it will be Sue’s turn.
- You’ve realized that you already rotated this list, and have now done it twice. Please move it back to its original position (try the Dust card for “undo” option).
Create/Copy/Delete/Share Lists
- You are setting up a new chore for your kiddos to sweep the floor after meals. Please create a new list for your 5 kids: Joe, Sue, Pat, Mary, and Tim.
- You have decided to set up a second new chore for your kiddos to also mop the floor after meals. Please copy the previous list and edit.
- You have changed your mind about the mopping chore for your kiddos. Please delete this list.
- The kids will be having movie night at the grandparent’s house this weekend, and you’d like to share your Movie Night list. Please share this list via text.
Add/Disconnect Accounts to Co-manage
- You want to co-manage the lists you have on your phone with your significant other to make things easier to keep track of. Please link his/her account via text message.
- You realized that have an old email used and would like to unlink this account. Please removed the account from email “linkexample@gmail.com”.

Prototype and Testing:

I created a prototype and set a usability testing plan to help uncover issues in the original design that were difficult or confusing to end users. I created three tasks (a total of 8 subtasks) to test and the corresponding prototypes to this end.

Tasks to Test:

Rotate a List Forward/Return to Start Position
- I wondered if the tap will be intuitive (though probably not on the first try). The additional lists were created to be able to scroll to both left/right and up/down, so I did not want to do this action, nor did I want to create extra taps to open up a list before rotating it to keep the design as simple and quick use as possible.
Create/Copy/Delete/Share Lists
- I wanted to ensure that these main features of the app were easy to find and easy to use.
Add/Disconnect Accounts to Co-manage
- I’d like to ensure this is found under the account page, and that users can differentiate between the Link/Connect/and Disconnect options.

Role:

UX Designer

Methodology:

Double Diamond

Research Objectives:

Determine if others are frustrated by this issue as well.
Understand other’s pain points.
Understand how they are currently solving this problem.
Understand what gaps there may be in addition to my own.

Testing Plan Goals:

Verify that flows are clear and achievable
Observe flow pain points
Determine if additional or different interaction options are needed

Results:

5/5 had kiddos ask multiple times per week to “go first”, but there was a wide range (many per day to 1-2 times per week)
2/5 stated that “going first” was an issue that caused frustration and stress in the house
4/5 use memory to keep track of who did what last
4/5 thought the app premise would be great to help with keeping track of chores for kiddos
5/5 mentioned that planning in advance is helpful and reduces issues for kids working together
5/5 mentioned that it would need to be super quick to add value

Competitive Analysis:

Upon completing my interviews, I wanted to utilize chore apps as the base for most of the competitive analysis. I found that most of these apps allowed for the connection of different accounts to make sharing with those within a household easier. It was also interesting that all the chore apps were calendar based (though a few could set intervals which was nice), but none of them were flexible enough to handle just track by turn - this is what I feel like is my opportunity and value added by my app. Most had a prioritization feature, predefined categories built in, and color coding options, which I thought would also be good features to include in mine as well.

I assumed that all parents with younger kiddos had to deal with arguments over who would go first for most activities, but after talking to people I learned that this seemed to be more dependent on child personality and parenting style; therefore, the app will need to be designed for alternate uses that can utilize a similar design schema.

I assumed that kids who are adamant about wanting to go first did so solely because they wanted to be first, but after talking to people I learned that setting a visual timer for the next-in-line child worked well; therefore, perhaps some kind of visual reminder of who’s next in line would be beneficial.

I assumed that selecting child order per task would be the user’s main priority, but after talking to people I learned that while this would be beneficial to some, it would be helpful for other ordering tasks as well (chores, picking restaurant, other ease of decision making); therefore, the design will need to be flexible enough to accommodate these diverse uses.

I assumed that all parents prioritized equality in activity participation, but after talking to people I learned that while this may be seen as ideal, a low friction quick outcome is a higher priority; therefore, this app will need to be extremely quick and easy to use for it to be beneficial.

I assumed that people would be interested in finding a system/method of ordering that works for them and sticking to it, but after chatting with people I learned that some preferred to be more flexible per each situation (depending on child personality and ability to create win/win situations); therefore, the design will need to allow for quick reorganization or edits as the original systems change.

I assumed that if someone didn’t have a system set in place for handling ordering activities, it meant that they had not found one that they liked well enough to continue utilizing, but in chatting with others I learned that the easiest immediate path tended to be the most taken (just deciding on the fly); therefore, if this is to be useful in an app then it will need to be super simple to set up and very quick to use.

I assumed that people did not like (would feel frustrated) trying to maintain lists by memory to the point that they would prefer a system to remove the frustration, but in chatting with others I learned that while this was admittedly not ideal it was less effort than creating and maintaining a system; therefore, the app will need to be super simple to set up and very quick to use.

How might we make this app quick to edit to handle changes in method?

Ideation:

I utilized a mind map technique to consider ideas that aligned with the HMW questions for my different user personas, and incorporated iterations on some of the features I found were highly used in my competitive analysis.

How might we make this app flexible enough to handle a range of ordering activities to help accommodate a range of parenting priorities, styles, and levels of flexibility?

Background:

Business Objectives:

Ease of use – it must be convenient to get people to use it. Flexible to handle different people’s needs. It needs to be enough of both of these to make people want to purchase the ad free version of the app.

Research Goal:

Initial Assumptions:

All parents with multiple elementary aged children had to deal with arguments about who gets to “go first”.

Parents were generally frustrated with this, and did not have a solution that they were happy with.

Parents are concerned with keeping things equal between children.

Parents were handling these situations by memory and this was not working well for them.

User Interview Key Takeaways:

Not all parents with elementary age kids deal with the issue of multiple wanting to go first

Most parents would like to see an expanded/flexible use of the app to be able to track other things such as chores

Most parents utilized their memory most and didn’t mind doing so, mostly because it was the easiest and quickest

For an app to be well used, it would need to be super simple and fast.

If given more time, I would have liked to do a second around of follow up questions, to prove or disprove the following assumptions:

Please describe your parenting style

(I would assume there is a link between those who are more actively involved and prefer structure v. those who are more hands off.)

Are you the primary parent as far as hands on activity with the kiddos

(While not asked, those that I knew who had the kids less time seemed to be less bothered by this - though there was one exception who homeschools her kids and had little problems.)

Please describe the temperament of each kiddo

(One parent mentioned that she wished her kids were easier going, whereas another mentioned that her kids were pretty easy going – their overall response sets were different, so there may be a link here.)

How do you feel about app use for tracking chores/etc.

(One participant was fairly against technology use – since the premise is designing an app, it would make sense to interview people open to that.)

Participants:

5 Interviewees

All parents with 2 or more elementary age children

3 female, 2 male respondents

Ages mid 30s to early 40s

User Personas:

POV Statements and HMW Questions:

How might we make this app as simple to use and easy to set up as possible?

How might we help users feel that utilizing an app for ordering and decision making is less effort (ideally easier) than the mental energy needed to make these decisions on the fly?

Feature Roadmap:

I combined my ideation with the interviews and competitive analysis, I prioritized a list of features based on what would create a functional mvp for this app.

PickMe!

End-to-End App Design

User Flows

I utilized user flows to map out to how best connect the features together and the most likely paths that users would take depending on the feature they needed to employ. I used the interviews to determine the best flows to set and later test.

Lo-Fi Wireframes

Branding, Logo, and Basic UI Kit:

Hi-Fi Wireframe:

Success Metrics:

Time to completion/Ability to complete

Low number of errors occurred

Low/no levels of frustration

Positive feedback

Testing Takeaways and Lessons Learned:

Users were not expecting, but surprisingly delighted with the tap to rotate option, as it made the task less clicks than they were expecting. Users did express concern about the lack of rotation back, since the only way to move a list back to its original position was to cycle though all the names.

Add an undo button connected to a long press which allows users to undo their last action per card.

Users expressed confusion about the where to go to disconnect an account, as there was a list (and appearance of a clickable overlay) of connected accounts as well as a disconnect section.

Create better clarity between these sections by moving them around. I moved the disconnect section right under the link section, and I moved the connected accounts section to the bottom, removing any type of navigation from it.

Multiple users asked about different organization options available to use as they accumulate more cards to make finding things easier. As this was not part of the test, I decided to keep note of these for future development.

Leave the current organizational structure in place, but return to research and potentially add more options in a phase II.

Next Steps:

Continue researching and viewing more modern design patterns and color schemes to create a better overall feel for the app.

Explore more options for keeping the cards in a person’s account organized as they grow.

Case Specific Observations:

Sometimes apps can be super simple and still be extremely helpful.

Even with that, it’s hard to do it all (UX and UI) – one should decide where she wants to focus (or best delivers value) and hire out the rest.

An example of my interview wording bias came out during the prototype testing phase – it was cool to see how a simple shift in language can drastically affect the results. It also makes me wonder what other bais did not come to light in this or my other projects.

Having time to do second iterations on both interview and prototype phase would make a difference – this, along with time, was a major constraint that potentially limited the project output.

The competitive analysis does not necessarily need to be competitors, but can be useful to compare functional items and flows.

I had a tendency to sketch my lo-fi wireframes by hand, but in this case, I built them digitally, which made the hi-fi prototyping noticeably less daunting. I can see usefulness and pros/cons to each.

General Observations:

It is difficult multi-managing life and other time-consuming activities while doing this – it was a major constraint.

Completing this program and these cases helped me to learn to recognize flows, design patterns, and good/bad product design in daily life, which is quite perspective shifting.

The concepts employed here can be used to help find solutions (and alterative solutions) to many challenges we have in day to day life.

Design is a constant iteration – it’s tough, but an interesting lesson in both trusting the process and self-confidence to pick the “end”.

I thought I was pretty good at knowing what makes sense or what others need – that assumption in and of itself, along with many, many others, is wrong.

This process is great at highlighting how we’re all different and that we can go about similar goals in unique ways, but if you look for them you can usually find overlaps and synergy points.

Having more than one user persona is helpful in allowing for designer discretion in decision making.

I really loved the insights from the research interviews and the prototyping feedback, creating user flows, and mind mapping. I’m not a big fan of the UI components (especially fonts).

Final Prototype:

Please feel free to try out the prototype! Note that this is not a live, fully functioning app. Please keep in mind the following testing scenarios and flows while navigating:

Rotate List

Create/Copy/Delete/Share Lists

Add/Disconnect Accounts to Co-manage

Prototype and Testing:

I created a prototype and set a usability testing plan to help uncover issues in the original design that were difficult or confusing to end users. I created three tasks (a total of 8 subtasks) to test and the corresponding prototypes to this end.

Tasks to Test: