From studying mindfulness needs across different aspects of wellbeing, to a small-scale generative research study, our team of three created a public beta of Flicsy. We ran a field study to gather qualitative and quantitative feedback from users which I used to iterate Flicsy’s design.
/ my role
Due to the small size of the team and the structure of the class, each phase was evenly divided amongst team members. This project showcases my full range of skills from researching to designing to implementing. I took the feedback from our field study and redesigned the app entirely on my own as seen below.
/ methods
defining domain space
We narrowed down our scope to Well-being and looked into research published in that domain, including “Unhooked by Design: Scrolling Mindfully on Social Media.” We found competitive apps within that domain and ran an analysis of what was working and not.
generative research
In order to gain a better understanding of about physical, emotional, & digital wellbeing, our team ran a -day diary study with 12 participants. We targeted users from ages 17-72 and who lived across the country with a diverse set of interests. This was followed-up with an exit interview.
affinity analysis
In our exist interviews we noted over 200 direct user quotes. We used these quotes to run an affinity analysis and mapped relationships between them.
/ key insights
We found that Flicsy could become the intersection of three pillars.
We set out to test whether we could merge reflection, photos, and spontaneity into one delightful, reflective experience.
/ preliminary app designs
Reveal
Visualize
Reflect
Log
/ field study
In order to gain feedback on the initial Flicsy prototype, we ran a field study over a 10 day period. We were interested in understanding whether Flicsy addressed the needs demonstrated by the generative research study and whether users would be motivated to use Flicsy on a daily basis.
/ preliminary app designs
Developed in Xcode in 3 weeks for efficiency & ease of user engagement feedback through Google Analytics.
Explore our Github repo here.
/ key features developed by me
Integrated Apple’s photo API Touch to reveal photo Flip animation card Writing a reflection front end Saving reflection Viewing a past reflection
/ preliminary app designs
We also conducted interaction funnels using XYZ for first-time user, reflection writing, sharing, and photo-skipping engagement levels.
/ updated design direction
Filter our low-quality photos
Choose a brighter and more modern color scheme
Utilize daily notification to increase engagement
Improve ease of use of flip animation
/ final app designs
Reveal
Visualize
Reflect
Log
/ my reflections + lessons learned
+ intentional rapid prototyping
Rapid prototyping helps validate concepts but can result in skewed negative feedback due to implementation bugs.
when in doubt, default to users
Returning to users throughout the design and building process is important to expand our understanding of them and make necessary fixes.
thinking forward
Despite challenges, we’re excited about the potential of the Flicsy app to help people increase mindfulness and reflect on meaningful past memories.
By following the complete design process from our initial interest in exploring different forms of wellbeing to the current public beta of Flicsy, we have gained valuable insights and knowledge on how to approach and execute a design process from start to finish.
