The Problem
Poor time management is a huge issue for students in post-secondary education. And can lead to failing grades, lack of class attendance and stress. Majority of students openly admit to struggling with planning their time in advance, deciding which tasks to prioritize, and being stressed over not being able to finish their assignments on time.
How might we assist students in planning and managing their time more efficiently so that they can fulfill their academic obligations without feeling overwhelmed?
The Solution
Meet MyFlowstate! A mobile app that empowers people to gain full control of their own time. This app builds a personalized daily study schedule, breaks complex academic assignments into simple steps, and helps with prioritizing important tasks. Making daily planning easy and allowing students to focus on what truly matters.
Secondary Research
In the beginning of this project, I needed to know as much as possible regarding the issues surrounding poor time-management among students. Through conducting online research, I learned that vast majority of students struggle with managing their time and it greatly affects them. While the currently existing solutions are not helpful and that there is a demand for a better ways of learning how to properly manage time.
Primary Research
“I went through academic probation and learned time management through failures and learned to prioritize. That is how I managed. I had to learn it.”
"I will advice you try to get enough sleep even though assignments may be occupying your mind. Sleep is essential if you want to do well."
"If an assignment is due on the same week or day, I will prioritize that. If the assignment is very important, I will prioritize that one. Because if its a 40% of course grade, is more important than 15%.”
Besides gathering data online, I also conducted interviews with three students to understand their personal habits regarding daily activities, how they learned to manage their time, and what advice they can give to others who are struggling to get all tasks done on time. These interviews helped me empathize with the students, learn what they find important and understand how I can assist them.
Major Themes
Effective Task Prioritization
Physical & Mental Wellness
Mental and physical wellness is very important for students. Most of them agree that there should be enough time for sleep and some relaxation and recreational activities.
Through research and interviews, I found two very strong themes which all interview participants touched upon and saw as very important. Namely learning to prioritize important tasks, and taking care of personal wellness. It became clear that these two themes are the key to building a solution that will truly address their needs.
Average Students & Their Experience
Based on research, interviews and insights, I created a single persona as a personification of an average post-secondary student who struggles to use his limited time efficiently. He has the traits, issues and needs which vast majority of students can relate to.
Mapping out Steve's experience, it was clear that time mismanagement is an issue which unfolds over time as semester goes by. Based on previously-found insights, I drafted three opportunities for intervention where my solution can assist students and improve their planning, balance their day and help them with setting priorities.
Features & User Flow
Looking back at research themes and insights, as well as persona experience map, I drafted a list of user stories. Situations which my target user would experience. From that, I drafted a list of 6 main features which would be most useful for the users.
Approaching the design from user's point of view and keeping in mind all the features outlined above, I built a user flow which showcases how a student would use the app. In essence, a student would enter their assignments into the app, set schedule preferences and get a schedule which accounts for high-priority tasks and student's needs such as leisure time and sleep.
Sketches & Wireframes
While sketching out potential ideas on how to structure the app's UI, I took inspiration from various daily schedule planner apps. My aim was to build an interface that would allow students to go through the user flow quickly and without being overwhelmed by information or input fields. Keeping typing inputs to a minimum and substituting it with selectors and buttons as often as possible.
While building wireframes, I had to balance how much information the user has to see and interact with on each page, yet still complete the process of inputting a new assignment into the schedule without having to click through too many pages.
User Testing & UI Iterations
To make sure that this app is both intuitive to use and fulfills user needs, I conducted 2 sets of usability testing with post-secondary students who were the primary target audience of my app. By having test participants go through the full user flow, I iteratively improved the app's UI, content design, and even modifying the original user flow to decrease user friction.
After user testing and iterative refinement based on user critiques and suggestions, the app interface became intuitive, user-friendly, and well fit for intended purpose. Carefully maintaining balance between being a comprehensive daily planning advisor and the simplicity of a to-do list.
A Small But Important Element
Task display was an UI component which took a while to get right. The daily schedule was the face of the app and had to be both informative and easy to understand at a quick glance. Because students would be checking it very often and spending 2-10 seconds looking at it. Thus I had to test multiple task display frame layouts to make sure that they are both readable and display all information which the students may need.
Final Solution
After multiple rounds of user testing, iterative improvements and small changes to accommodate accessibility requirements, I was ready to finalize the app design. MyFlowstate app assists students with time-management by letting them keep track of academic and personal tasks, breaks big assignments into smaller steps, helps them prioritize the most important assignments and gives them enough time for sleep and recreation.
Takeaways
Trust the iterative design process while developing human-centred apps. User testing sessions and feedbacks will reveal many opportunities for improvement and lead to a better and more successful final product.
