Little Moments - Case Study
A mobile application that generates inspirational quotes for users.
Video Presentation
Overview
Problem
People often turn to their phones when they are emotionally low, but the apps they use don’t always leave them in a better place.
Goal
Identify user needs and pain points at emotionally low times to create an app that helps users feel better.
Project Details
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My Roles: UX Designer, UX Researcher
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My Process: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test
Empathize
User Interviews
Target Group:
People ages 18-29 who experience moments of anxiety or depression and use a smart phone every day including participants of different gender identities, sexualities, abilities, and incomes.
Method:
Semi-structured interviews,
open ended questions.
Aggregated Empathy Map
Pain Points
Users find mediation apps take too much energy and effort.
We can help users by creating an app that is simple and effortless.
Effort
Dedication
Users find mental health logging apps take too much dedication.
We can help users by creating an app that doesn’t require any commitment or consistency.
Motivation
User find they leave entertainment apps feeling tired and unmotivated.
We can help users by creating an app that motivates and inspires users.
Positivity
Users find social media apps often result in negative feelings.
We can help users by creating an app that consistently promotes positive thoughts.
Define
Personas
Jared Lee
"I'm only a freshman and I'm already stressin'!"
About:
Age: 18
Education: Freshman in College
Background:
Jared Lee is a Freshman in college, and is already stressed out by the workload. Being the first in his family to attend college, he is under a lot of pressure, so he turns to entertainment apps to calm his anxiety between classes. Unfortunately, it keeps leaving him feeling tired and unmotivated to go to his next class. He needs to turn things around because he wants freshman year to be more fun than this.
Goals:
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Be the first in his family to graduate college
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Make new friends
Frustrations:
Watching videos and scrolling through social media just makes him feel tired and unmotivated
Problem & Hypothesis Statements
Jared Lee
Problem:
Jared Lee is a freshman in college who needs a way to cope with anxiety and stress between classes so that he can have a great first year of school, other than using an entertainment app because entertainment apps leave him feeling tired and unmotivated.
Hypothesis:
If Jared Lee pulls up the Little Moments app between classes he can have a moment to decompress and enjoy an inspirational and motivational quote which can help derail an anxious thought, and can be shared with his friends or classmates for fun.
Goal Statement
Our Little Moments app will let users easily and effortlessly generate inspirational quotes without having to commit to or consistently use the app, which will affect people who turn to their phone/apps when they experience moments of anxiety or depression by helping them feel more inspired, motivated, and positive. We will measure effectiveness by surveying users about how they feel after using the Little Moments apps compared to how they felt before opening the app.
Ideate
Big Picture Storyboard
Takeaways:
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Users should have the ability to share quotes via the app for people they are not with currently
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Process needs to be quick so users can benefit between activities
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Users should be able to navigate with one hand for a permanent, situational, or temporary disability ie a student holding books or a person with one arm
Close Up Storyboard
Takeaways:
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Users should receive a welcoming message on the home screen that briefly informs what the app is for and what they can do
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Users should be able to generate a new quote if the quote doesn't resonate with them or if they want another quote
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Users should have a way to save a quote to look back on later
Crazy Eights
Brainstorming design solutions that meet user needs by...
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Being simple and effortless
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Not requiring commitment or consistent use
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Promoting positive thoughts
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Providing motivation and inspiration
Prototype
Paper Wireframes
My wireframes helped me settle on a design with bottom tabs for easy navigation, a simple and effortless quote generator button on the home screen that shows the user quotes for motivation and inspiration, no login or signup so users aren’t required to have any commitment to or consistent use with the app, and a way to save or share favorite quotes to further promote positive thoughts and feelings.
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Digital Wireframes
No Sign up or login required
Comforting and informative welcome message
Quick and easy button to
generate quotes
Bottom tabs and large buttons for easy navigation
Re-generate quote button
for a new quote
Ability to easily save quote to favorites
Ability to easily share quote
Location to look back on saved quotes
Test
Usability Testing - Round 1
Usability Testing Insights:
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All users want a confirmation that they saved a quote to their favorites.
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All users want a way to delete a favorite quote.
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Some users want a way to later share a favorited quote.
Usability Testing - Round 2
Usability Testing Insights:
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Some users can't tell whether or not the "inspire" circle is clickable
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All users with low vision can't see the circle shape around "inspire" and don't think it is clickable
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Most users are annoyed at how big the "save" pop-up is because it distracts them
Takeaways
Meeting Our Goals
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Our Little Moments app lets users easily and effortlessly generate inspirational quotes without having to commit to or consistently use the app, helping users feel more inspired, motivated, and positive.
Challenges
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One of the biggest challenges of creating this app was adding the features that users expressed desire for, such as sharing and favoriting quotes, while keeping the app simple enough that people could effortlessly use it.
Personal Findings
I was surprised to find that most users were looking for an app that doesn't require recurring use or commitment. Incidentally, eliminating the need for a profile/login helped users stay on their happy path
Going forward, I would like to evaluate how users feel before, during, and after interacting with the Little Moments app and find more ways to increase the users feelings of inspiration, motivation, and positivity.
