DaysKeep
An automated wishes sender mobile app that helps you stay on top of special events in your life.
At-a-glance
Have you ever been guilty of forgetting birthdays or anniversaries even after being notified or reminded?
If YES, same pinch! 52% of Americans have made the cardinal sin of forgetting their partner’s birthday according to this research study
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If NOT, congratulations! You are officially my HERO!
My role
UX Research
Visual Design
Interaction Design Ideation
Prototyping
Tools
Adobe XD
Adobe Illustrator
After Effects
Duration
Dec 2020 – Mar 2021
Team
Solo Project
Forgetting or missing reminders can sometimes be unavoidable, but automation could assist us with attending to those events!
Calendar applications like google/apple calendars are undoubtedly handy when it comes to managing and notifying us about important events. Scheduling emails in advance is a possibility too, but what are the chances of your beloved grandma checking her inbox you wishing her a happy birthday?
Problem space
How to assist users in being mindful of the special days of their loved ones?
A feature-based mobile application that assists the user to track events, auto-send text messages, and send personalized e-cards to loved ones on their special days!
Home screen
View Upcoming events
Add Events
Digital Cards library
Digital card view and sharing
Add recipient form contact page
From concept to design. It was quite a journey from research to final prototypes!
User research
Analysis
Prototyping
Testing
Paper-based Survey
User Interview
Competitor analysis
Affinity map
Story boards
1:1 interviews
Paper prototype
Hi-fi prototype
Understanding user pain points and experiences in keeping track of multiple events
The goal of user research was to get insight into users' experiences with their preferred methods of keeping track of events, as well as their opinions and feedback on auto-message scheduling.
Paper-based Survey
User Interviews
Competitor analysis
Paper-based Survey
I conducted an in-person survey that included 10 participants namely my 5 office colleagues, 3 college friends and 2, senior college faculty
I categorized my questions into 4 categories
Event management
Scheduler application
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How frequently do users forget about events?
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How do they remind themselves?
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The tendency of sending text once reminded?
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What preferred scheduler applications?
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Reliability on the same?
Digital cards
Autonomy
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Usage?
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Preferences?
Percentage distribution of preferred scheduler application used by participants
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Liking of auto-send feature?
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Privacy concerns?
Percentage distribution of social media applications used for communicating people
User Interviews
I conducted a hybrid unstructured interview which included 11 participants namely my 4 friends, 4 family members, 2 commute friends and 1 anonymous participant
Highlights of interview answers
I believe the automatic SMS send option is fantastic. Instead of a basic text message, I propose that users be allowed to attach a media file such as images, which would make it even more personal and authentic. It's a fad these days to do it like any other Facebook or Instagram post!
I really like the concept of digital cards; it will be really simple for individuals who don't know how to write nice birthday postings. However, I like to make my own cards since it gives them a more personal and friendly feel.
It will be nice if digital cards are suggested on the basis of searched keyword or some filter which will help user to find specific greeting card
I feel that an audio recording should be available for users who would rather send an audio or video clip rather than type a long text message. Also, provide a call option in the reminder text so that the user is directed to their contact list.
Competitor analysis
I chose to do a competitive analysis after much thought. Three popular apps, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. I took notes on the advantages and resolved to work on the disadvantages
SKEDIT
DO IT LATER
BIRTHDAYS
Comparison of Market applications
PROS
Minimal UI
Ease of navigation
Schedule message NOT limited to EMAIL
CONS
Bulky UI
Paid digital cards
High learning curve
Translating needs into opportunities
Affinity Mapping
I chose to utilize an affinity diagram to classify data and thoughts into groups of related objects before analyzing qualitative data or observations
Collection of data
Pattern analysis
Theme generation
Realized themes
Implement instant event creation feature
Design easy to navigate event reminder
Explore technical failure feedback and alternative
User persona
WHY I chose storyboarding because I wanted to be able to put myself in user's shoes and view the items through their eyes, as well as test assumptions about prospective situations
Social media growth connected to more people
Busy life schedule makes them forgetful
Memorable experience which can be shared virtually
Story boards
Scatterbrained friend
Even when reminded, work stress might cause us to forget things!
Saili is reminded of her closest friend's birthday by a Facebook notification, but she is preoccupied with some essential job. She finally forgets to wish her closest buddy, which irritates her.
"I wish there was a personal assistant who would've at least sent an SMS wishing my pal a happy birthday!" Saili says.
Busy working parent
Busy working mom who is off social media miss on to various important events
Rajeshree gets up at 6 a.m., prepares lunch for her family, and heads to work. When she arrives at the workplace, she immediately checks her email inbox, which is overflowing with alerts. The Facebook notification commemorating her Sister's 1st wedding anniversary is among the big stack of alerts. She misses her Sister's first wedding anniversary since she is unaware of it. She then goes about her business as usual. Rajeshree realizes she has forgotten an important occasion when surfing through Facebook notifications on weekends, and she is terribly disappointed.
Forgetful boyfriend
A boyfriend who is perpetually forgetful about significant dates and occasions.
Shawn is engrossed in online gaming as the internet is abuzz with Valentine's Day celebrations. Shawn, of course, is completely unaware of the situation.
After that, he texts his girlfriend and goes out for a casual lunch with her. His girlfriend, on the other hand, is completely unaware that Shawn is completely unaware of Valentine's Day! Shawn meets his girlfriend on Valentine's Day, fully clueless of the scenario, and is humiliated when his irate girlfriend reminds him of the occasion.
WHAT did I learn?
Reminders could be unreliable
Forgetting events is common during stressful times
Social media connects notifies present happenings
Bringing designs to life
Wireframes
Designing a minimal landing screen to update users about current and upcoming events
Iterations
Challenge
As the app is a combination of reminder and auto-scheduler, which means a lot of user data. Also, as the event are not limited to birthdays, designing the minimal layout which will cover different data points is challenging.
Problem
Goal
As this is app is specially designed for users who is busy and forgetful, the goal was to design a screen that will add minimal cognitive load thereby helping users to perform the maximum amount of tasks with minimal clicks
Iteration 1 : Home Screen
Feedback
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The balloon's image is too large and distracting.
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Edit button was not being clicked as users thought the card was clickable.
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The contrast ratio of text was low.
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The purpose of the profile image was not clear.
Iteration 2 : Home Screen
Feedback
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Arrow Indicator to expand card is unnecessary.
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Visual mapping between date and events.
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Dots to show no. of events is helpful.
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New designs, poses a learning curve. Refer to universally accepted calendar design.
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Is this screen exclusively for viewing events? Can’t I do the same from the home page?
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Why can’t I have it on the main screen, this should be readily available anytime!
Iteration 3 : Home Screen
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Combined calendar into the home screen and removed calender tab
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Instant access to video calls, phone calls, and digital cards.
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Search text box for ease of search through the list of events.
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Relaces image with relatively more important information such as month and date.
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A quick view of the message which will be auto-sent.
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Scrollable cards to showcase current events.
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Days left in case the user isn’t aware of today’s date! :P
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Add event floating button which will be persistent throughout the entire screen.
Feedback
Design System
Illustrations
Finding an appropriate illustration was painful, so I created one!
Tools used: Procreate
Hi-fi Prototypes
Interactive prototype
Overview of features
Onboarding
A quick glimpse into the app's features and functionality.
Feature 1
Sync calender events
Import calendar events in-app in days keep avoiding manual entry.
Feature 2
Adding events manually
Add new events by filling in the event title, name, contact details, scheduling information, and activating auto-send!
Feature 3
Digital cards
Why just settle on text message, select from a wide variety of digital card libraries to make your loved ones feel extra special.
Feature 4
Upcoming event
Quickly view upcoming events by selecting your preferred date from a scrollable calender.
The final prototype
To learn how real people interact with the prototype
Focus group and 1:1 interviews with primary users
After the prototyping phase, I handed my designs off to developers and had review sessions to understand what was technically feasible. As I didn't follow design systems, I understood the importance of design systems and how they were treated to reusable components. Some of the pointers
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Designing the feature of sending the same text to multiple recipients
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Importing birthdays from Facebook, google calendar, etc.
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Auto scheduling SMS and voice calls for the recipients with no social media account
The lessons I have learnt
Never make assumptions: An important skill is to recognize the assumptions being made, then question and clarify them with your users. It's surprising how much-unexpected information you can uncover if you simply question these assumptions.
Simple is better: Users are obsessed with doing whatever they need to as quickly as possible by choosing the path of least resistance. It is important to make sure you know who your users are, how they will be using the product, and what they are trying to achieve so you can work out how best to simplify the product to their needs.