Overview
My Role
Senior User Research Designer / Product Designer
(Independent Project)
Project Type
Service Design
Product Design
User Experience Design
Duration
10 weeks
Year
2021
Read the full case study here
Unplug
Unplug is an engaging and interactive app designed to motivate users to achieve their goals while reducing the temptation to use social media. Unplug offers structured templates to help users organize and prioritize their goals, one milestone at a time.
Problem
People spend an exceptional amount of time on smart devices and social media, often neglecting their personal goals.
Solution
Create a mobile application that:
Sets goals and selects structured templates with embedded milestones to accomplish the goal.
Assigns accountability partners to challenge the user along their journey.
Explores training content to educate on how to complete each task.
Provide motivational notifications to encourage users to complete their goals.
Problem Definition
Problem Statement
Many users struggle with balancing social media usage and personal goals, leading to lost time and decreased productivity.
This distraction impedes their focus on meaningful activities, affecting their overall well-being. Therefore, solutions are needed to help users reclaim their time, limit social media use, and prioritize goal achievement.
Umbrella Statement
How might we empower users to reclaim time, limit social media use, and prioritize goal achievement?
Product Solution
Objectives:
Create an engaging and interactive app to encourage active user participation in goal setting and achievement.
Develop intuitive templates and features to help users organize and prioritize goals effectively, breaking them into manageable milestones.
Implement mechanisms to reduce social media temptation, offering goal-oriented training, activities, and notifications for user focus.
Product Featuers
Goal-Oriented Templates
Structure templates for
organizing and prioritizing goals.
Engaging Interface
The interactive design keeps
users motivated.
Personalized Experience
Customize your goal-setting journey to your preferences.
Mini Quizzes
Test your knowledge with
quizzes related to the lessons.
Complete Milestone Assignments
Connect assignments to your
goals for completion.
Milestone Tracking
Break goals into manageable
milestones for progress tracking.
Social Media Reduction
Minimize distractions from
social media.
Explore Lessons
Strengthen knowledge on your
goal with curated lessons.
Reminder System
Stay on track with
customizable reminders.
Community Support
Connect with a supportive
goal-setting community.
Research & Discovery
Understanding our users’ needs, behaviors, and preferences was paramount to creating a product that truly resonates with them. To kickstart the research, I conducted extensive secondary research, analyzing the landscape of productivity apps and social media detox applications.
I uncovered compelling insights that shaped the project’s direction throughout the research. Integrating these insights into my project framework, I aimed to develop a user-centric solution to empower our audience to reclaim control of their time and maximize productivity.
These insights helped determine our target users, identify their challenges, and assess their desirability of a solution tailored to their needs. They were also instrumental in customizing the features to align with the users’ needs.
62.2% of individuals aged 36-45 seek tailored solutions to meet their needs and preferences.
A staggering 66.7% of participants acknowledged taking a break due to wasting time on social media.
62.2% of participants cite self-mastery and growth as their primary motivators for committing to a goal.
36.1% of respondents indicate that they do not check notifications upon receiving alerts, while 8.1% say they have notifications turned off to reduce distractions.
55.1% of users spend 1-3 hours daily on social media; acknowledging the impact of excessive usage on productivity is essential.
97.3% of respondents feel more productive with a plan, emphasizing the need for planning features.
43.2% of respondents identified a lack of motivation as a barrier to achieving their goals.
User Personas
Prototyping
High-Fidelity Prototyping
Prototyping Assessments
Could users locate the intended button to complete the action?
Was the navigational structure of the site clear?
Was any label or link poorly named?
Were the fields for existing users to log in confused with those for new users to register?
Were there too many questions?
Were the field labels unclear?
Prototyping and Feedback
Prototype testing provided valuable usability insights, leading to refinements in the app's navigation and labeling. User feedback emphasized the need for more consistent and clear naming conventions, as well as the option to create custom templates. While monetary gift cards were a nice bonus, they did not serve as a primary motivation for users. Templates proved beneficial in guiding users, but allowing for custom template creation is essential to accommodate varying goals. Additionally, consider partnering with certified professionals to offer coaching, providing templates tailored to users' specific needs.
Business Model Canvas
In the next phase of my project, I utilized the business model design process to clarify my ideas and identify the target market. This approach not only defined the business model but also established a proof of concept and success criteria. Based on the value proposition, I identified and prioritized the most crucial assumptions needing validation.
Value Proposition & Business Model Canvas
I employed both the Value Proposition Canvas and the Business Model Canvas to effectively structure my insights. My hypothesis is that active users of the app—who engage with features such as personalized action plans, goal tracking, peer support, analytics, and rewards—will experience improved mental health, productivity, and life satisfaction compared to non-users. Leveraging existing platforms, I conducted early and frequent market testing to validate my hypotheses, with insights from market feedback proving invaluable for refining the product.
Concept Testing
To validate the product as a business idea, I conducted customer experiments and tests before scaling. I utilized concept testing cards as a valuable tool in the design and development process. The Test Card prompts you to clarify the following:
What needs to be true for your idea(s) to work (i.e., hypothesis, assumption, or guess)?
How will you test whether that hypothesis is true or false?
What will you measure to (in)validate your hypothesis?
How does success look, and what is the threshold?
Conjoint Analysis
Conjoint analysis is a quantitative marketing research method widely used for product and pricing research. It quantifies the value consumers place on various attributes of a product or service, making it the premier approach for optimizing features, pricing, and predicting market success. Its effectiveness lies in its ability to mimic the trade-offs people encounter in real-world decisions, ranging from simple to complex choices.
The Criticality of Assumptions
Conjoint Analysis Results
Consumer Priorities: The survey results indicate that enhancing mental health and reducing social media usage are significant concerns for users. This insight highlights the importance of positioning the app as a solution that directly addresses these needs.
Preference for Personalization: With 52.9% of respondents favoring a personalized plan, it's clear that users value tailored experiences. This suggests that integrating customizable features into the app could enhance user satisfaction and engagement.
Incentive Structure: The finding that 57% of respondents prefer to earn rewards points to the importance of motivational elements in user engagement. Incorporating a reward system could increase user retention and encourage consistent app usage.
Acceptance of Trade-offs: The fact that 41% of respondents are willing to access the app and its features by watching ads shows a level of acceptance for monetization strategies. This insight can guide the business model, indicating that ad-based revenue could be a viable option.
Market Validation: Overall, the results provide validation for the product concept and its features. Understanding user preferences through conjoint analysis enables informed decision-making for product development, marketing strategies, and user engagement approaches.
Conclusion
Final Learning Insights
We believe that enhancing mental health and reducing social media usage are key priorities for our users.
We observed that 52.9% of respondents prefer personalized plans, while 57% prefer earning rewards, and 41% are willing to watch ads in exchange for app access.
From that, we learned that users value tailored experiences and motivation strategies, as well as being open to trade-offs for accessing features.
Therefore, we will integrate customizable features that focus on mental health support, develop a reward system to increase user engagement, and explore ad-based monetization strategies while ensuring users understand the benefits of such trade-offs.