Habit Tracking App
Propose a new mobile app designed to support building (or breaking) a habit. Based on user research, you’ll identify an opportunity for an app to improve people’s day-to-day lives.
Brief
You will be proposing a new mobile app designed to support forming (or breaking) a habit. Based on user research, you’ll identify an opportunity for an app to improve people’s day-to-day lives.
Suggestions
- Use findings from surveys and interviews to identify pain points in people’s lives to help determine a direction for your product. You should be trying to solve real people’s real problems. Don’t start with a concept!
- Interview people from outside of campus. Use your network to talk to people you don’t really know. (Try looking for second-degree connections.)
- Don’t forget to test and iterate! This will help you develop a prototype that has the kinks worked out of it.
- Test on paper before going digital.
- Document as you go. Take photos and collect artifacts from your work. Especially keep track of your changes as you iterate on your prototype.
Presentation
Your presentation should answer the following questions:
- What did your research show you?
- What variations on your design did you explore?
- How were your design decisions connected to your research findings?
- How would a user operate your final design?
- How did your design change based on testing with users?
- What would you do differently next time?
Prototype
For this project, use a digital design tool to make a mid-fidelity version of your prototype.
- Stick to grayscale (use color only if needed to convey meaning)
- Just use 1 font (like Inter or Public Sans)
- Use representative text content (no lorem ipsum)
- Use boxes with Xs in place of images
Suggested Schedule
Day 1
- Choose a habit area to focus on
- Plan the following days
- Conduct 2–3 preliminary interviews
- Prepare and send a survey
Day 2
- Prepare and conduct more interviews
- Finish your research
- Gather the results
Day 3
- Translate your research results in features
- Sketch your concepts and conduct some concept testing
- Make a first paper prototype
- Prepare and run usability tests on your paper prototype
- Iterate on paper and test again
Day 4
- Move from paper a low-fidelity prototype in your design tool
- Test & iterate further
- Hold a critique session with other designers
Day 5
- Clean up your prototype to medium fidelity
- Finalize your slide deck
- Practice your presentation
- Present your work
Design report
For this project, you’ll be delivering a presentation as well as submitting a written report. The report is an opportunity for you to document your process, findings, takeaways, and iterations. It’s good practice to document as much as you can while you work, so we’re starting that practice early to make it a habit. This will make your life much easier later when you start compiling a portfolio of your work.
We’ll have time dedicated after the presentations of this project to write up the report.