Designing feature sets for a calendar system that will push highly ambitious millennials to increase their task completion rates.
Client
Personal
Services
Visual Design
UI & UX Design
Industries
Productivity
Year
2022
Project Overview
Designing a multi-functional platform
I struggle with planning and executing tasks effectively, leading to wasted time. I wanted to improve my time management skills and make the most of each day.
Discover
Understanding time through users, and vice versa.
I conducted surveys, interviews, and a 3-day time audit with college-going millennials aged 18-25 to gain insight into their understanding and experiences with productivity.
Interviews
I conducted interviews with friends
to understand their thoughts
on planning, productivity,
and time management,
Time Audit
I conducted a 3-day time audit to gain self-awareness of my schedule
by noting down how and where I spend my time. The short time period
ensured accuracy and helped me realize that I procrastinated a lot by doing
filler tasks instead of intentional work.
Surveys
Survey questions about productivity root causes and effects revealed lack of planning
as top obstacle to productivity, supported by a high percentage of participants feeling
overwhelmed due to inadequate task planning.
Interviews
I conducted interviews with friends
to understand their thoughts
on planning, productivity,
and time management,
Time Audit
I conducted a 3-day time audit to gain self-awareness of my schedule
by noting down how and where I spend my time. The short time period
ensured accuracy and helped me realize that I procrastinated a lot by doing
filler tasks instead of intentional work.
Surveys
Survey questions about productivity root causes and effects revealed lack of planning
as top obstacle to productivity, supported by a high percentage of participants feeling
overwhelmed due to inadequate task planning.
Interviews
I conducted interviews with friends
to understand their thoughts
on planning, productivity,
and time management,
Time Audit
I conducted a 3-day time audit to gain self-awareness of my schedule
by noting down how and where I spend my time. The short time period
ensured accuracy and helped me realize that I procrastinated a lot by doing
filler tasks instead of intentional work.
Surveys
Survey questions about productivity root causes and effects revealed lack of planning
as top obstacle to productivity, supported by a high percentage of participants feeling
overwhelmed due to inadequate task planning.
Using Intercom's "Jobs to be done" framework, I categorized and understood user tasks, motivations, and desired outcomes, providing more context than user stories to comprehend user needs and goals.
Define
Using archetype frameworks to solve better
I struggle with planning and executing tasks effectively, leading to wasted time. I wanted to improve my time management skills and make the most of each day.
Develop
Discovering scope for time based optimization
The objective is to develop a scheduling system that considers both time and energy levels for completing tasks. This can be achieved through several solutions, including personalized notifications, a productivity guide, an AI-based time auditing prediction system, and more, all integrated into Google Calendar.
These solutions can be well implemented into any organized scheduling system. I’ve taken Google Calendar as it’s widely used by many and is available on a variety of devices.
Prototype
Introducing energy in scheduling dilemmas
Clearly many people struggle to plan effectively due to the unpredictable nature of time. This raises the question of what we can actually control. The mini activity done in the discover phase revealed a connection between a person's most productive and energetic times of day.
Redefining Time Perceptions
So to achieve better planning we had to redefine the concept of time and look at it through a different lens, a lens that enabled us to see more clearly why tasks got done or not - energy levels.
So to achieve better planning we had to redefine the concept of time and look at it through a different lens, a lens that enabled us to see more clearly why tasks got done or not - energy levels.
So to achieve better planning we had to redefine the concept of time and look at it through a different lens, a lens that enabled us to see more clearly why tasks got done or not -
energy levels.
This feature provides a warning message when there’s a mismatch between task difficulty and energy levels. This serves as a reminder to the user to be mindful of how they are scheduling their tasks.
This feature provides a warning message when there’s a mismatch between task difficulty and energy levels. This serves as a reminder to the user to be mindful of how they are scheduling their tasks.
Additionally, if an incorrect task and energy pairing get constantly paired, the app will ask if it should update the energy timings accordingly to portray a more accurate representation to aid future scheduling.
Additionally, if an incorrect task and energy pairing get constantly paired, the app will ask if it should update the energy timings accordingly to portray a more accurate representation to aid future scheduling.
Encouraging Action
71.4% agreed they could use a reminder to start working. I introduced a system that reminds people 'to plan', along with a reminders for tasks that have been planned.
71.4% agreed they could use a reminder to start working. I introduced a system that reminds people 'to plan', along with a reminders for tasks that have been planned.
Planning for Overwhelm
Additionally, the app adds a one-third visual buffer to prevent over-planning and encourage a more realistic schedule.
Additionally, the app adds a one-third visual buffer to prevent over-planning and encourage a more realistic schedule.
Learnings
“Humans don’t naturally perceive time as a specific quantity”
Designing the system was challenging yet rewarding. I refined research methods to get the necessary data and gained insight into how people think about time. I used personal experience and a small subset of millennials to make assumptions due to time constraints. Further testing and prototyping are needed to ensure effectiveness.
Future Scope
A big break in a $53.1 Billion Industry?
The Calendar project offers a new way of understanding and managing time, providing soft guidance and highlighting changes. The Global Productivity Management Software Market was valued at $53.1 billion in 2022, and users often seek new and adaptive apps to suit their needs. A potential future scope is building an app system around the energy concept for better time management control and success.
