TaskQuest: A Productivity Adventure App
Productivity and organizational apps these days are a dime a dozen. I mean, we’ve got Evernote, Wunderlist, Google Calendar, and Simplenote, but are these solutions addressing all of the users’ needs?
Initial Research
To find out how people stay organized, I started with just 5 basic questions and interviewed three people about their habits (this is a only first project, afterall):
- What are a few activities you do every day that take up the most time?
- How do you keep track of daily/weekly responsibilities or tasks?
- What are things that you feel you never have enough time to do?
- Describe some roadblocks to productivity.
- How do you think you could improve your productivity?
The responses varied; two of the users tracked tasks in apps, while one user did not use anything at all and confessed to often forgetting tasks. Those who did use apps were somewhat satisfied with their chose task tracker, but mentioned that everything they had tried lacked a component they would have liked. “I want something that is a digital piece of paper,” said one user. “But also with voice memos.”
Through the interview process, one theme became apparent: time management wasn’t necessarily always about time or the app being used, it was about motivation or lack thereof. Users admitted to feeling lethargic, overwhelmed or apathetic about tasks and distracted by the temptation of news, social media and television. The problem statement emerged — We have observed that current task tracking apps and methods are not meeting the users’ need to feel organized and motivated, which is causing frustration and distraction.
So the solution would be an app or program that takes into account how humans best accomplish tasks, as well as what motivates individuals. We will know we have succeeded when we see the app being used and users’ reporting an increase in productivity.
With this goal in mind, I sketched out some user flows and then rough wireflows that would help users break up tasks into manageable chunks:
Tasks would be simple actions that can be completed in one step, while projects would be more consuming endeavors and made up of smaller tasks. Progress bars, a section to add additional details and clear list views will help the user stay organized.
After a couple of revisions, I sketched out six screens to show to users as a paper prototype:
n addition providing task and project management, the app will help users stay on track by breaking up their to-do lists into the most necessary tasks and projects based on the due dates. It will also provide a daily goal, or quest, so that users have something to manageable to aim for. Once users achieve the goal, they get a reward. But what would make the best reward? A photo of something they are working for or toward? Linking to their bank account to transfer money toward that goal? I went back to my users for more feedback.
Users liked that the app looked visually appealing and that there WAS a reward, but there was some variation on what that looked like for each person. One user liked the credit card idea, as well as a competition among friends, while another thought it would be interested to have a partnership where the app unlocked exclusive content, like a special movie from Netflix. In addition to the reward feedback, users also noted:
- Adding in reflections would be useful. Decided ahead of time how you will feel if you do or don’t get your tasks done, could make users think about their choices.
- Sorting the lists by location/different ways to sort. If the app was location based, it would know when to display a work list vs. a home list, or even a grocery list and providing a variety of ways to sort lets users choose what works best for them. Dragging and dropping was also mentioned.
- Unlocking… “something” as the reward. Perhaps social media or other accounts and apps — whatever the user personally valued most.
- End of take check-in to take a look at accomplishments, as well as a time estimate feature or rating so that it would help users distinguish between tasks that reach the “critical line” vs. tasks that are looser.
With this new feedback, I made a few adjustments and built a clickable prototype (there's a short video below, too)!
Per the feedback, I added time estimates and priority rank on the New Task/New Project Screens. I also determined that linking the app to other apps that users frequently rely on was a way that both standardized and customized the reward. Users pick which apps are important to them and the TaskQuest app (as I started calling it) would unlock them only after you’d completed your quest. To encourage self-assessment, I included a Reflection and Accomplishment screen, as well.
One of my users noted that reminders would be helpful, so I added humorous notifications to keep users on track.
If the app knows your due date and how much time should be allotted, it will cheekily remind you so that you have plenty of time to finish your task or project.
I also want to highlight this screen. When a user taps on a specific project, it’ll pull up screen that gives the individual tasks, the progress, the due date, the estimated time and the priority.
Motivation doesn’t come from doing nothing; in fact, motivation best comes from starting something. The TaskQuest app is designed to help users break out their tasks, eliminate distractions and focus on the feelings they will have once they have achieved their goals (and the feelings they’ll have if they don’t)!
Take a look at the full prototype