Work Well
Freelancer Wellbeing App
UX Case Study
About the Project
Work Well is a wellbeing app specifically for freelancers and people working from home, that I designed as part of my User-Centered Design Course through Red and Yellow Creative School of Business.
This app solves the problem of either underworking or overworking in the freelance world. It does so by following a custom schedule that tells the user when to rest eyes, stretch their legs, work and take breaks. It turns off notifications during work periods to ensure optimal focus. It also has reminders and alarms.
​
​
Methods used: Design Thinking: Surveys, Research, Personas, Empathy Maps, Storyboarding, Card Sorting, Wireframes, Usability testing and Hi-fi Prototyping
​
Tools used: Adobe XD, Adobe Illustrator, Survicate.
The Problem
Many freelancers and people working from home are overworking themselves, or working in an unhealthy way, or an unhealthy amount. Some don’t focus well when they work from home Others don’t have regular work and rest times.
They don’t get the work done that they need to. They overwork themselves. These people are regularly tired which promotes impaired focus, their get bodies sore, their eyes get tired and they don’t have enough free time or time to spend with their families.
Research
Through surveys it was found that :
Most freelancers value being able to work at their own pace, and making their own schedule and being in the comfort of their own home
​
Some freelancers use schedules while others don’t
​
Some freelancers listen to music while working and others need complete silence
​
They use productivity tools like the phone’s clock app, Google Sheets, Calm and Wrike
​
All participants said they would use an app like Workwell
​
They liked the idea that they don’t have to figure out a schedule themselves and that it incorporates work and health
​
​
Research was also done on good UI design, Illustration Styles, Colors, Splash Screens and Onboarding,
Define
Core Problem:
Freelancer Wellbeing. Freelancers and people who work from home often get distracted and are unproductive or get overworked and tired, a balance between work and free time, distractions and healthy breaks, needs to be found to maintain their wellbeing.
​
​
Persona:
Ideation
A number of ideation techniques was used including task scenarios, storyboarding, scamping and brainstorming
.jpg)
Information Architecture
Card sorting was used to create the information architecture of the app from which the sitemap was created
​
The navigation model is a mixture of Filtered View and Bento Box. Bottom Navigation was used for the menu . The navigation is mainly global, with a little local navigation. The IA of the app has an Ambiguous scheme and a Hierarchy Structure.
Concept Sketches
Ideas were sketched to get a feel of how the app might look, what features and functions it could have.
Prototypes
The wireframing step was skipped to speed up to process and get into more rigourous testing. A very low-fidelity digital prototype was created instead to start the testing with.
1st Test
The wireframing step was skipped to speed up to process and get into more rigourous testing. A very low-fidelity digital prototype was created instead to start the testing with.
An usability test was conducted with this prototype
​
Results
The main insights after the test was that the participants really liked the idea of the app but that some changes had to be made including:
​
‘Today’ section of app should get another title
​
‘Schedule' section’s icon should change
​
App should log water intake
​
Appointment notifications should sound and hour early
​
A/B Testing
After the first test the hi-fi prototype was created. During it's creation some questions about the style arose that was solved with A/B Testing.
Testing
Hi-fi Prototype
The first hi-fi prototype was created and the insights found in the first usability test were incorporated
The hi-fi prototype was then tested.
​
Negative Insights
-
No option to stop the task when a user finishes it ahead of time.
-
The ‘current’, title in the menu, along with its icon, is confusing
-
Users may want specific notifications to still come through as they are working.
-
All participants felt the need to control the music from with their task screen.
-
All participants wanted their work out stats on the app.
-
The prompts/suggestions may sound to authoritative
​
Positive Insights
-
All participants liked the style and colours of the app.
-
Users liked the idea and functions of the app
-
Users found putting in their schecule for the day was very easy
-
They liked the stats shown on the homescreen
-
They liked the ‘stats’ section of the app very much and found it encouraging
Testing
Iterations
The menu item was changed to ‘activity’.
A ‘complete task’ button was added.
Users are able to choose which notifications come through
Music controls and a task list was added to the activity section for quick access
Prompts were made more suggestive and friendly sounding
Exercise stats were added to the stats section
Final Prototype
The final hi-fi prototype solved most user problems, it included functions which users suggested, and new helpful features that was seemed to be beneficial insight on usability tests conducted.
​
Splash Screen
The splash screen follows best practice for splash screen design, as found in research
Onboarding
​The option to skip this information is given
A progress indicator is there to show users how far into the process they are, and make the next screen more expected, instead of users thinking they are done after each screen just to find the next one
Home
A new image appears every day, just to give the freelancers a little inspiration before they start working
All menu items were validated, changed and refined through usability testing
A few stats are shown to give users a quick glance at some of their stats This also opens to the ‘stats’ section.
Schedule
The time input is scrollable, this eliminates the use of drop downs, which is a hassle to use on a phone.
Tasks and hours to work on those tasks are displayed in a list. Clicking on the plus icon will create a new task
The user can easily choose multiple times to sound the reminder for an appointment. Appointments are also connected to Google calendar
The whole schedule can be saved as a template, this makes the process quicker if the user is going to do mostly the same things for more a couple of days
Items can be added to the to-do list in the same way as tasks
Notifications
​Whitin an app, notifications can be allowed only for certain contacts or people
​Notifications can also be completely blocked. This eliminates disctrations for users while they are working.
It was discovered through uability testing that sometimes people are waiting for a specific email, or reply, or message etc. They wouldn’t want this to be blocked because they might need it to continue with their work
​Certain apps’ notifications can be allowed or blocked
Activities
The task’s title is displayed
This is the duration of the task. How long the user should spend on it
A task can be paused. In unforeseen events this can be useful, or even if the user quickly needs to go and do something else
​Tasks can be market as completed even before the allocated time is up, for when a task gets done quicker. All future activities for this task then gets cancelled.
The current time is displayed
Pop-Up functions
Music can be controlled directly from the activity screen instead of having to go to the music section of the app
Items on the list can be ticked as completed, and will then be canceled in your upcoming activities and times. Users can also view their progress
When this arrow gets pressed features such as the music controls and to do list appear. According to usability tests these functions needed to be discreet.
Activities
Prompts are given in a friendly, suggestive way, making users more likely to follow it.
Reminders for drinking water will sound, and afterwards, the user will be asked how much water they drank.
This is a reminder one hour ahead of an appointment
The menu fades out in the activity section, as to not distract the user.
Finish Screen
This screen is displayed when all tasks for the day are completed
The optimistic and cheerful message encourages users to be productive
Users can finish the session
or
add another task and continue working
Account
Workwell can sync with Google Calendar to allow users to see all the meetings in one place.
Premade playlists can also be imported from music apps, this allows the user to listen and control music without having to leave the app.
General settings can be found here, such as ringtones and sounds for notifications of tasks, etc.
There is a dark theme included which saves energy, allowing the user to charge their phone less, and thus save electricity
The theme of the app can also be changed
Music
The app have many music choices. Many of them are instrumental or soothing sounds, specifically chosen for working with because they are not distracting.
Playlists can be saved by the user for easy access
Playlists from other music platforms can also be imported
Stats
​It was established through usability testing that users would want to see exercise stats too
Graphs is a good way to visualise data and get users interested and engaged with it. It also encourages performance
Data can be changed to show either, daily, weekly or monthly stats.
It was found through user testing that users found the stats section of the app very interesting and enouraging.
Retrospective
Main Challenges
The biggest challenge was to know what range of functions the app needed to have, and which ones was unnecessary. This problem was solved throughout the whole process of designing the app, through surveys and usability tests.
The other challenge was to make the suggestions/prompts that the app gives friendly yet firm. This was accomplished through the basic idea that if someone commands you to do something, you don't want to, but when someone asks you, you are more likely to do it. The prompts were changed to suggestive questions to help it sound more friendly.
​
Future Improvements
-
Add an in-app introduction tour to show users exactly how everything works
-
Add workout stats like heart rate, calories burned, etc.
-
Allow users to collaborate with other freelancers who use the app
Want to see this app in action?