TechFleet Project

Journey Through
Agile UX for Digital
Well-Being

Skills Involved:
Agile Methods
UX Research
Interaction Design
Project Management

"Mindful Tech" is an evolving open-source project initiated in TechFleet's Agile UX class, aimed at cultivating self-awareness and reflection among young users regarding their social media habits. Currently in the research phase, this project is actively laying the foundational elements necessary for future development towards an MMP/Business Vision. I'll be detailing our progress to date and outlining the next steps in our journey through the Agile UX curriculum.

RESEARCH FILE

PROTOTYPE ( LOFI )

Team

This ongoing project allows me to develop my skills as a UX Researcher to complement my design skills. I am working with a team of over 15 UX researchers, designers, and product strategists from around the world. I am leading the design efforts while actively participating in research and defining product requirements.

Product

The product we are developing, "Mindful Tech," is an app designed to help young users become more aware of their social media usage. It aims to teach them to recognize and modify addictive behaviors, encouraging healthier digital habits through interactive features and educational content.

Timeline

Currently, the timeline is 4 weeks, plus an extra 4 weeks for refinement and the mid-fi prototype. There will be a second case study for that.

Process

We use Agile Method to gather regular feedback, enabling continuous iteration of development and testing.

Overview

Goals

Identify our product prompt
Research and analyze our assumptions on the product prompt
Adjusting and norming as team
Designing and conducting surveys
Crazy 8 Sketch Design ( + Problem Statement Creation )
Prototype
Usability Test
Next Steps

Sprint 0
‍
Role: UX Researcher
Goals: Identify our Product Prompt, prioritize Problem Statements, and plan Research Tasks for Sprint 1.
Timeline: 1 week

Sprint 1
‍
Role: UX Researcher
Goals: Break down our assumptions into True/False Implications and separate our findings into Primary and Secondary research; conduct a preliminary survey to support our assumptions.
Timeline: 1 week

Sprint 2
‍
Role: UX Researcher
Goals: Analyze our survey from Sprint 1 and conduct ongoing discovery through another survey to support Primary and Secondary Research; analyze the 2nd survey in preparation for Sprint 3.
Timeline: 1 week

Sprint 3
‍
Role: UX Researcher + Designer
Goals: Take analysis from Sprint 2, create HMW statements - group them into categories and prioritize them in a matrix, brainstorm and design sketches, prototype, conduct usability tests, and analyze test results.
Timeline: 1 week

> View Part 1 Analysis

> View Part 2 Analysis

Who are users are?

At the moment, it's primarily parents who interact with "Mindful Tech" due to regulations restricting surveys and testing with children. These parents not only download and install the app for their children but are also proactive in seeking educational content that guides them in fostering healthier digital habits within their families.

What I have learned

Both parents and children mutually recognize the need for self-awareness and education about their social media usage.
The goal isn't to completely block children from accessing social media, but rather to guide them in exploring their natural curiosity responsibly.
Encouraging open social interactions is crucial for a child’s development. Additionally, there's a bonus: increased family bonding and enhanced learning interactions through a reward system.
Parents worry that limiting social media can make their kids feel anxious and frustrated.
Parents main method of teaching kids was about educating them about potential risks
Parents find it hard to manage kids social media usage

> View Analysis

Crazy 8 Sketches

After a quick few rounds of sketches, we narrowed it down to these nine sketches. This was our quick sketch prompt: How might we build this app to support self-awareness and reflection in kids?

Time Tracker -
Tracking feature, stopwatch, or dashboard that tracks usage patterns and highlights potentially addictive behavior.

Accountability Partner -
Using the help of an accountability partner to stop us when needed.

Reminders for Alternative Activities -
Breaking scrolling pattern by reminding to do other things.

Mood Tracking -
Mood tracking by time in the social media

Impact of Social Media Reduction -
Showing impact of reducing social media

Weekly Phone Usage Review -
Weekly Summary

Planning -
Planning Together with Families

Educational Content -
Awareness training

THE WINNER!
‍
Take Care Of Your Pet -
Rewards can be anything parents and kids decide upon, such as gamified rewards for achieving digital well-being goals.

How our customer would use the app

Here is our current User Flow

We learn that both parents and children mutually recognize the need for self-awareness and education about their social media usage. Together, they customize the rewards system, selecting incentives that are meaningful and motivating for the child, such as extra playtime, a special outing, or a desired item. This process involves discussions that help both parents and children reflect on the impact of digital habits on their daily lives and the importance of balancing screen time with other rewarding activities.value of time spent offline and encourage behaviors that counteract addictive digital habits.

Heres how the basic flow would look like in a lofi prototype see prototype.

Lessons Learned from Our Lo-Fi Testing Based on the Priority Matrix

User testing has provided valuable insights:

Clarity:
‍Clearly communicate the app's purpose and link features like the pet game to social media habits.
Rewards:
‍Develop a reward system that motivates users and corresponds with reduced social media use.
Connection:
‍Foster an emotional bond with app features to improve interaction and loyalty.
Disruption:
‍Find subtle yet effective ways to interrupt excessive social media use.
Awareness:
‍Provide clear information about usage and consequences to educate users.
Understanding:
‍Ensure users comprehend the direct connection between app interactions and their social media behavior.
Reflection:
‍Enable users to identify and adjust their digital habits through easy-to-use self-reflection tools.
Flexibility:
‍Adapt the app based on user feedback to better align with user requirements.

Whats Out There

This can be summarized into 3 groups

Digital Habit Management and Screen Time Reduction:
Apps like Forest, Freedom, Offtime, Flipd, Space, Stay Focused, and Kidslox are designed to help users, including children, manage their screen time by blocking distractions, monitoring usage, and promoting digital wellness. These apps provide tools to reduce screen engagement and encourage users to focus on non-digital activities.
Gamification and Behavioral Change:
‍Apps such as Habitica, Habit Rabbit, and Flora use gamification to motivate users to form and maintain healthy habits. By turning tasks and habit formation into engaging games, these apps make the process of behavioral change fun and rewarding, appealing to a broad user base, including children.
Educational and Skill Development:
‍Platforms like Khan Academy, Apple Fitness, Elevate, Duolingo, and Stikk focus on skill development and education. These apps offer learning opportunities in various fields such as academics, languages, fitness, and cognitive skills, providing valuable alternatives to passive screen time.

"Mindful Tech" integrates these approaches by targeting screen time management specifically for children while also engaging them and their parents with educational and rewarding activities, creating a unique niche in digital wellness.

Working toward our MVP MMP

Usage Tracking: Records and displays screen time on social media and other apps.
Set Goals and Alerts: Enables setting limits on app usage with alerts when approaching or exceeding limits.
Educational Content: Offers brief educational modules about the risks of excessive screen time.
Rewards System: Gamifies reducing screen time with points or badges for
achieving goals.
Parental Control Features: Allows parents to set restrictions and monitor app usage.
Focus Sessions: Promotes focused non-screen activities with a timer and motivational alerts.
Reflection Journal: Encourages daily entries to reflect on screen time and
mood correlations.

What's Next + What I Have Learned So Far

Part 2 of this case study will come towards the end of our next 4-week sprint, from mid to late May. Stay tuned for that! It will involve me leading the design team based on our MMP Vision.

Research, much like design, is an iterative process. The more refined our research becomes, the clearer the MMP vision that I, as a designer, rely on. For instance, I introduced the Crazy 8 method to our team, which not only effectively shaped our loft prototype but also accelerated the creation of problem statements within our large team. This method helped to harness diverse ideas from various perspectives—some team members have children, while others do not.

I place great value on the feedback loop inherent in Agile UX. The four-week sprint we undertook introduced this loop to our research team, and despite my eagerness to dive into design, this feedback mechanism kept us aligned with our north star. Products are always evolving; we cannot afford to design something once and then disregard its future development.

PHILLIP LEE