Reminderx
Challenge
Define the future product direction for ReminderX’s todo list and reminders app by answering these key questions.
What do users focus on when using the current app?
What problems do users encounter when using the app?
What is the best way to solve these problems for ReminderX users?
My Role
ReminderX requested UX consultation and expertise to help define the UX vision for the next version of their app. My role as UX Designer was to drive the project from a UX perspective by providing a clear timeline for the project, performing design discovery in order to clearly define and understand the problem, then ultimately come up with a design proposal based on qualitative user research data.
Process
“I begin with an idea, and then it becomes something else.”
To get to our proposed design solution, the process included four main actions and deliverables: creating a project plan, conducting design discovery, creating flows and wireframes and conducting a design assessment. During each stage of the process, there were multiple rounds of peer reviews and feedback so we could stay in constant communication with stakeholders. The results of each stage of the process are outlined in detail below.
Project Plan
Milestones & Timeline
To kick off the project, a Project Plan was created to clearly outline the objective, timeline and project team members and stakeholders of the project. A high-level timeline was used throughout the project to communicate to stakeholders where we were at during the different stages of the project.
Design Discovery
The first step in our design discovery journey was to interview four participants to find out what users focus on the most and what are the top user pain points. Using the research, we developed a set of design tenets and created a persona that represents the target user profile for the ReminderX app. The results of the user research was compiled into a report and shared with stakeholders to review the findings.
Target Persona & Design Tenets
Empty my thoughts: Remove complexity and allow me to transfer just the right info out of my head and into the app by any means necessary
Central, but separate: Keep my items and reminders together in a central place where I can access them, but still allow me the flexibility to compartmentalize as needed
Clarify my priorities: Help me clearly know which items are most important and need my attention
Share what I choose: Allow me to share my todo and reminders information in the most appropriate context in a quick, easy and secure wa
Reuse it, don't lose it: Help me be efficient with information I have already added or have used in the past by making it easy for me to discover and use again
Help me remember what matters: Help me locate, recall and act on items I have added, but only actively remind me when the context makes sense or the situation is urgent
Flows & Wireframes
After creating our design tenets and target user profile, we began creating flows and wireframes. Based on what we learned in our user interviews, we created flows based on the main tasks users would want to perform in the app. We prioritized the most common and most important use cases first in an effort to lay down the groundwork for our app design. Then, we developed a set of more detailed wireframes to help get a better sense of how a user would interact with the app as they stepped through each of the workflows. We discussed with stakeholders and iterated on feedback to create our first round of flows and wireframes.
Design Assessment
Once we honed in on our most common, major workflows, we prepared for another round of user research using a paper prototype as our research methodology. Similar to the interviews, we recruited four participants. Our participants were chosen based on how closely they fit with our target user profile. We created an assessment plan which included a script along with the materials for our paper prototype. Each session was video taped so we could review and compile the resulting data from the assessment to create a final report on the findings.
Photo only. Actual video not available due to NDA.
During the assessment using the paper prototype, most users found the overall organization and navigation of the app to be very intuitive. Users were able to easily create new lists and reminders. However, there was some confusion around an area called "Tags" that turned out to be too complex for users. We simplified the design by simply allow users to create one "Category" per list item. We also added color-coding so users could easily see which items were associated with each category. We also removed the ability to create a sub-list within a list as this was also confusing and users did not express interest in using this type of feature. This idea only exists now in the context of the Categories View.
Solution
User feedback was incorporated directly into the designs to improve on areas that users found confusing. We also tried to create stronger visual language throughout the design so users could easily understand the differences between Lists, Reminders and Categories. The wireframes and notes below outline further details on the improvements.
Lessons Learned
As the design journey evolved, so did the app design! There were several lessons learned along the way.
Everyone thinks differently when organizing and prioritizing information
Designing an app that is flexible, focused and simple is easier said than done
Design is never done, there are always more learnings to be gained and iterated upon in the design
What seemed clear and obvious to the designer was not necessarily clear and obvious to users
User research and feedback is critical to creating a design that centers around what users need
Sometimes you have to make design tradeoffs to solve complex problems
Iterate, iterate, iterate! Never assume you have it right, until (well) you actually do have it right :)