daydream

createSC 2022: virtual designathon

april 16th - april 17th

theme: wellness in design

Problem Statement

In today’s society, productivity and efficiency are prioritized, sometimes to the detriment of our mental health. Daydream aims to reframe relaxing so you can return to work with a refreshed mindset. Pick a journey you’re interested in, enjoy the tasks and mini-games, and reset your mind. With Daydream, you can enjoy intentional breaks and timed relaxation sessions while still following your schedule and accomplishing your goals.

“Wellness in design” can mean a lot of things. Mental health, physical, spiritual, or even broader — climate change and societal events. As college students and especially during the pre/post-COVID era, we wanted to focus on the mental health impacts of feeling that you must constantly be on “the productivity grind” and how an app could address some of the anxieties, pressure, and burnout faced by young adults.

User Personas & Research

Survey

We decided to collect qualitative research from 10+ college students based on their responses to the following questions:

  1. What activity helps reset your mind, especially when you’re stressed?

  2. How long does it typically take for you to reset?

  3. Do you struggle with resetting your mind?

  4. What is your end goal when you want to reset your mind?

  5. Does your activity achieve this?

User Demographic

  • High-school, college students, working professionals

  • Millennials & Gen Z

  • North America

  • Males and females

Characteristics

  • Tech-savvy

  • Energetic

  • Motivated

  • Curious

  • Anxious

Interests

  • Enjoys entertainment

  • Self-betterment

  • Healthy work/life balance

  • Fitness

Results & Takeaways

Most college students rely on activities that don’t require much mental effort, such as playing a game, watching a video, or sleeping, but noted that they didn’t feel their methods were always particularly effective.

We determined our app needed to be engaging, not mentally taxing, and useful for clearing your head for a better mindset.

Ideation

While brainstorming, we came up with ideas for apps that fit into the following categories.

  • Self-care/reflection: journaling, positive affirmations, kind words, mood tracking, healthy habits

  • Organization

  • Games: adventure or journey-based games with time limit

  • Being present: virtual, designable spaces, virtual scrapbooking, apps like BeReal

  • Fitness: creating a routine or workout plan

We felt plenty of self-care apps already encourage healthy habits, and fitness seemed too niche for our demographic. However, a fun, light-hearted game with a Pomodoro-like technique could appeal to a broader scope of college students looking to take a break responsibly. A game also gives users tasks within a designated time frame.

An example user flow

Prototyping

Low Fidelity

Our low-fidelity prototypes were fairly simple. We used blocks to indicate buttons and areas that required more detailed design.

We decided on a straightforward format, where a user only has a few options to proceed to one path. Providing fewer options and keeping the game's purpose simpler would emphasize that this is a temporary break, not a forever one. Overcomplicating the game and introducing too many avenues could distract or even overwhelm the user.

High Fidelity

Typography and Color Scheme decisions:

We decided upon a rounder Sans-Serif font, which would ideally make the app feel more comforting (as per the Bouba/kiki effect).

We also chose to use blue, as this tends to evoke feelings of calmness, trust, and relaxation.

Our final designs showed the user journey smoothly. Users can choose a time duration that fits how long they want to study and relax and have a selection of different “tasks” and mini-games throughout their journey. They cannot advance their journey until finished with real-world activities.

We changed some options to be more intuitive, such as making a sliding bar for choosing the tempo of a song instead of listing options. View the final designs here.

Reflection

Weaknesses and Potential Errors

  • More specific user research

    When conducting research, we only asked general questions about self-care and wellness. Following up with a survey or interview about a wellness game would have given us further insight into what features to implement.

  • App purpose may not be inclusive to all users

    The ideal users of our app still needed to harbor some levels of discipline since they are in control of dictating how long the session may be. Users who have difficulty with time management or get distracted easily may be prone to abusing the game.

  • Concept is too simple

    Although we intentionally designed the app to be less complicated, the nature of the game may not be sustainable long term. Users may become bored after going through all of the options.

Strengths

  • Reframes work and productivity

    Unlike typical Pomodoro or timed work techniques, this game provides incentive and purpose to users, making the in-between productivity sessions more “fun.” The Pomodoro technique can fail when users are not vigilant of their break times, but this game creates those restrictions from the beginning and provides an actual task.

  • Requires little effort and technical literacy

    There is no learning curve or wasted time on signup.

  • Visually appealing

    The color scheme, typography, and animations are designed to make the app feel intuitive, friendly, and relaxing.

  • Engaging

    The “Choose Your Own Adventure” model can keep users engaged in achieving their goals. This satisfaction may even motivate them in the real world.

Next

homefoods: designathon 2021