Trove & Flow
Trove & Flow, a comprehensive productivity application aimed at streamlining users' daily schedules, tasks, habits and goals. Developed with a Human-centric approach, Trove & Flow prioritizes simplicity, functionality, and personalized user experience to empower individuals in managing their time effectively and achieving their objectives.
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In today's fast-paced world, individuals often juggle multiple productivity apps to manage their tasks, notes, calendars, habits, and goals. This fragmentation can lead to inefficiencies, missed deadlines, and a cluttered digital workspace.
Role: UX Researcher, UX Designer
Research Method: Qualitative user interviews + Card Sorting
Research Type: Attitudinal + Exploratory UXR
Tools: Figma, Zoom, Google Form, WhatsApp and Lucidspark board
Responsibilities:
UX Research (Foundational research + Design Research)
Design Thinking Methods
Collaborations
prototyping
Problem
The issue with multiple apps is:
On the same day and almost relevant time, three apps might have three different tasks overlapping with each other which might spoil the experience of the user and also frustrate user’s productivity.
Design Challenge
How about one app of your smartphone has the ability to track all your productivity goals? Sounds cool, Isn’t it?
But wait…
Designing an all-in-one productivity app involves several challenges. Firstly, balancing feature richness without overwhelming users is crucial. Also, a feature which one think as most significant might be a junk for another.
Secondly, ensuring seamless integration of notes, to-do lists, calendars, habit trackers, and goal trackers requires a unified data model and consistent interaction patterns.
Design Process
Design Research Goals
____ Secondary Research
Data From Desk
Secondary Research is conducted to better understand the various ways and practice of both paper planning and digital planning and also to explore current opportunities and future scope of digital planners.
The process that contributed my secondary research includes:
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Trend analysis (to identify user preferences and emerging technologies
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Competitor mapping (to uncover unique strategies employed by leading apps)
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SWOT Analysis
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Thematic analysis (to identify common themes and patterns in user behaviour and needs)
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Cognitive psychology (to understand how users think and behave when planning digitally)
The insights gathered:
____ Empathy Phase
Asking Right Questions to Right People
The empathy phase is a journey of discovery with the aim of getting to know the user pain points, frustrations and mainly to gain understanding of our users.
Two methods of research contributed to my empathy are:
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Qualitative interviews (to understand their needs, pain points, and preferences)
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Cultural probes (to record their activities and thoughts)
____ Persona Mapping
Synthesizing User Data
Amrita Sinha
Ambitious | Tech- Savvy | Organized | Productive
Age: 24
Occupation: Marketing Manager
Status: Single, lives with her parents
Location: Patna, India
"I need a productivity tool that seamlessly integrates all my tasks, notes, and goals into one place. It should help me stay organized and focused, allowing me to be efficient and achieve a healthy work-life balance."
Pain- points:
Using fragmented productivity tools for notes, to- do lists, calendars and habit tracking leading to inefficiencies and missed deadlines. I sometimes struggle to priorities the tasks suggested by different apps when they get over-lapped and feel overwhelmed by my workload.
Goal:
I hope to find a single app that seamlessly integrates notes, to-do lists, calendars, habit trackers, and goal trackers, reducing the need to switch between multiple apps, and also an intuitive and aesthetically pleasing interface that makes it easy to navigate and use all features efficiently.
Simran Singh
Proactive | diligent | Empathetic | Analytical
Age: 26
Occupation: Govt. Employee, Ministry of Textiles, India
Status: Single
Location: New Delhi, India
“I need to maintain a healthy lifestyle by balancing my work and personal time by ensuring time for my hobbies and self-care after my work time. Switching between multiple apps throughout the day makes it hard to stay focused and efficient.”
Pain- points:
I find it challenging to prioritize tasks amidst frequent meetings and urgent requests from superiors. I also struggle with integrating various tools and apps, resulting in a disjointed experience and potential for missed tasks.
Goal:
I hope to find an intuitive and visually appealing interface that makes it easy to use all features seamlessly. I also expect flexible options to customize dashboards, themes, and notifications to match her personal preferences and workflow.
Chinna Arunachalam
Logical | methodical | Innovative | Detail Oriented
Age: 30
Occupation: Software Engineer
Status: Single
Location: Bengaluru, India
"I love using planners to manage my day. It has really been a game changer of my lifestyle. But using five to six apps make me feel crazy, sometimes I will end up jotting down the stuffs on a piece of paper which I carry in my pocket"
Pain- points:
Balancing coding marathons with a constant barrage of meetings and urgent tasks often feels like a tug-of-war between productivity and chaos. Syncing data across various devices and platforms is a constant battle, like trying to piece together a puzzle with missing pieces. I worry about the privacy and security of his scattered information.
Goal:
I dream of a seamless experience where all my productivity needs are met without jumping between apps. An all-in-one tool would be a revolution for my workflow.
____ PoVs and HMW
From Different Perspective to make it more User- Centric
After understanding users needs, pain- points and expectation, I tried to decode Point of View and how might we frameworks for this product and the insights gathered are below:
____ Setting Product Goals
User's Needs --> Business Oppurtunity
After connecting all the dots and analyzing personas, now its time for framing our product goals in the basis of three perspectives: From the perspective of users, Business and from the point where these both intersect each other for the vision of product success.
____ Features Mapping
For Users may Survive but By Users will Lead
How about users wishes are true in their app. Cool right!
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So here, I conducted an engaging activity with my Participants to know, if they power to design their own Productivity App, what all the features will they include.
____ Quality over Quantity
Features Prioritizations
____User Flow
Information Architecture
____User Onboarding
Onboarding Questionnaire
The main attribute User Centered App is Personalized Interface, to create a personalized interface its necessary to understand the user and to understand the user, I have designed some onboarding questions, which are as follows:
User Goals & Preferences
Feature Importance
Device Usage
Daily Routine
Productivity Challenges & Motivation
Additional Preferences
____User Interactions
Low Fidelity Interactions
Contains a quote for the day, user's tasks disks, Goals, Habit trackers, quick notes and productivity insights
Logo Page
MCQ Intro
12 MCQs
Sign In
Onboarding
Preparing
Menu
Dash Board
List
Add Task
To Do List
Calendar
Add Task
Event List
View by time
Calendar
Habit Tracker
Add Habit
Select habit
Detail
Goal Tracker
Goal Tracker
Add Goal
Notes
Notes
Explore More
Explore More
Kanban Board
Mental wellness
Focus
BMI Calculator
____Brand Identity
Colors and Style
Color Swatches
Primary Font Style: Lexena Deca
Heading: Semi- Bold, 36
Sub- Heading: Medium, 32
Body Text: Regular, 24
Typography
Typography
8 Point Grid System
Small: 4 px
Medium: 8 px
Large: 16 px
Brand Identity
With logo design, I wanted to bring feel of dream catcher with the smooth transition of colors I wanted to represent the term “Flow”
The term “Trove” can be associated with dream and treasure and “Flow” can be associated with time.
The tag line “Trove your day with productive flow” actually express the goal and motive of the app.
____High Fidelity Mock- Up
Anatomy of Trove & Flow
Personalized Onboarding Experience
The personalized onboarding in Trove & Flow tailors the app to individual needs through a questionnaire, optimizing dashboard layout and feature suggestions for a customized productivity experience from the very start.
Inclusive Questions
Enhanced interactions through icons
Broad understanding of users through 6 categories of MCQs
Context aware setup
The Onboarding Questioner were designed after analyzing well to read users needs and expectations.
Unified Dashboard with Customizable Widgets
The unified dashboard in Trove & Flow seamlessly combines notes, to-do lists, goal tracking, and habit tracking into a single, customizable interface. Users can prioritize and organize their productivity tools with draggable widgets.
Quick access to multiple productivity tools
Interactive progress Disk
Customization
Daily changing productivity quotes
The dashboard features were researched, strategized and designed.
Quick Access Routine Tracker from routine tracker Progress Bar
Trove & Flow's advanced routine tracker monitors routinary activities, providing visual progress charts, and personalized insights to enhance productivity, keep users motivated, and help achieve their objective routines efficiently.
Intuitive Interface
Flexible & customizable tasks management
Visual Tracking Analytics
Milestones & Achievements
The Tracking features were researched, strategized and designed.
Visual Tracking Analytics
Smart notifications display visual progress charts on the lock screen and offer quick action tabs, enabling users to view progress and update tasks or habits instantly, enhancing productivity and engagement without unlocking the device.
Context Aware Notification
Visual Progress chart in lock screen
Customization
Visual Progress chart in Quick Action tab
The Smart visual progress charts were designed after researching well on trends and efficiency.
____Usability Testing and
Forecasting Success Rate
Based on the usability testing, the success of Trove & Flow seems highly promising. Participants appreciated the unified dashboard, which reduced app-switching and streamlined their workflow. The personalized onboarding was a hit, making users feel the app was tailored to their unique needs. Smart notifications, especially with visual progress charts on the lock screen and quick action tabs, were lauded for keeping users on track without being intrusive. The ability to integrate with third-party services further enhanced the app's appeal. Overall, the feedback indicates strong potential for user adoption and satisfaction, setting Trove & Flow apart in the productivity app market.
What I did well?
In the UX project of Trove & Flow, I created a user-centric design that addresses real productivity pain points. The unified dashboard effectively minimized app-switching, offering a seamless experience. Personalized onboarding process was well-executed, tailoring the app to individual user needs right from the start. The smart notifications, particularly with visual progress charts and quick action tabs, demonstrated a thoughtful approach of keeping users engaged without overwhelming them. Additionally, integrating third-party services showcased a commitment to flexibility and user convenience. Overall, the focus on personalization, usability, and integration significantly enhances the app's value and user experience.
What I did well?
When I was initially brought on this idea, I was trying to quickly understand the problems. To be frank, my entire perspective was changed over the research period. Initially I was thinking what if calculating steps, meditation guide, period cycle tracking and mood tracking done by one app without the help of others. But it slowly got distracted and my priorities changed. But still I feel it would be great if would have added them. In addition to that, it would be nice if I had enough time and opportunities to explore more advanced AI driven personalization to predict and suggest productivity tips and adjustments. Finally, prioritizing accessibility enhancements, ensuring the app is fully usable for individuals with difficulties, adhering to WCAG guidelines. These steps could further enhance user satisfaction and broaden the app's appeal.
Let’s Create Something Great Together
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