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equilibrium
All-in-one tool to establish a healthy work-life balance for UofT students
Client
Innovation Hub,
University of Toronto
Timeline
10 weeks
Oct 2021 - Dec 2021
Role
UX Research, Prototyping,
Product Design, Usability Testing
Team
Shradha Anand (Me), Rebecka, Keren, Yuxin, Purui, Yong Yi
Tools
Figma, Mural, Balsamiq, Premiere Pro, Illustrator
Project Deliverables
UX Research Report, Hi-fi & Mid-fi Prototype, Evaluation
The Problem
Many students at University of Toronto neglect their physical and mental wellbeing due to poor work-life balance. 69% of University of Toronto students reported that they experienced overwhelming anxiety.
Project Objectives
Our objective is to design a simple, motivating, and rewarding experience for UofT students that alleviates the pressure faced by them and ensures that they have a steady work-life balance and strong mental health.
The Solution
A tool to balance sleep, exercise, social life, and relaxation with studies for UofT students. Students can easily manage their time without feeling overwhelmed by a heavy workload, peer pressure and procrastinating.
With Equilibrium, University of Toronto students can maintain a balanced work schedule with strong mental health.
Our Process
1. Empathize
We conducted primary and secondary research, utilizing a mix of attitudinal and behavioral methods to understand our users.
2. Define + Ideate
We defined our persona and identified their needs. We came up with big ideas and prioritized them to move forward with.
3. Prototype + Test
We developed low, medium, and high fidelity prototypes. We evaluated them after each iteration and made changes.
Research
01
Secondary Research
To better understand our problem space, we conducted secondary research on the work-life balance of university students in North America. During this process, we referenced
4
Scholarly Journals & Reports
4
News Articles & Blog
13
Websites
02
Primary Research
With the goal of understanding students' current work-life balance, schedules, and mental health. We wanted to identify possible correlations between their work-life balance and mental health. We conducted
8
In-person & Online Interviews
40
Surveys
Affinity Mapping
From our research, we found some common themes, pain points, and patterns between the student's responses. To organize the qualitative data we created an affinity map.
Affinity Map showing prominent themes and patterns put together by our team.
Key Findings
Surveys
We found that most participants have the following living habits:
7
hrs
Sleep per Day
1
hr
Exercise per Week
7
hrs
School Work per Day
1
hr
Study Periods
1/2
hr
Study Breaks
These are the finding that helped us identify some major pain points:
-
22 out of 39 participants think mental health negatively affects schoolwork or social life.
-
23 out of 39 participants have dropped courses due to an overwhelming workload.
Semi-Structured Interviews
The three major painpoints concluded through our research include:
These problems result in stress, guilt, and anxiety which in turn affects their mental health and work-life balance.
User Persona
Based on our research findings, we created a persona to represent the different types of UofT students that would use Equilibrium.
Snapshot of the User Persona created by Shradha (Me) and Rebecka with insights from the team.
Similar to the students we surveyed and interviewed during our primary research.
Ursula the Undergrad needs a way to:
-
manage time efficiently so she can have more free time.
-
stop procrastinating so she can feel less anxious and guilty.
-
deal with peer pressure to maintain good mental health.
-
exercise more to maintain good physical health.
User Needs
User Schedule
With the user persona in mind, we envisioned the current and future schedule. Ursula's current schedule is rigid and linear. As a result, we’ve proposed that Ursula's new schedule should be cyclical and flexible without any last-minute cramming.
Envisioned User Schedule created by the team.
User Journey
Based on this current and future schedule, our team created an as-is and to-be scenario, focusing on the user's journey.
The to-be scenario has shorter bursts of work and study which will help users maintain focus and the workload will be manageable. With the implementation of an efficient and flexible schedule with rewards and motivational messages, the main pain points of the as-is scenario of procrastination and low productivity will be eliminated.
Snapshot of As-Is & To-Be scenario created by Shradha (Me) and Rebecka with insights from the team.
Ideation
After defining our persona's needs and identifying the main pain points in the as-is scenario, our team brainstormed big ideas that would address those needs, grouped, and voted on them based on impact and feasibility.
Big Ideas were voted and put together into a Prioritization Grid by our team.
Ideas to Implement
The main ideas that we’d like to prioritize and move forward with are the Home Runs with the highest feasibility and impact.
Initial Solution
We combined our three home runs and based on these Behavior Theories:
We propose a single Gamified Time Management App with
-
An Auto-Generated Scheduler that assigns small measurable tasks while tracking the user’s progress
-
Virtual Coin System to redeem rewards to level up or spend it on customizing their avatar.
-
Delivery of Motivational Messages throughout work and study sessions for encouragement.
Low-Fi Prototype
To visualize our solution and evaluate our ideas, we created a quick low fidelity prototype. The goal was to address Ursula's needs while eliminating the pain points that were identified during the user journey.
Low-Fi Prototype Screens created by the team.
Lean Evaluation
After creating our initial sketches, we conducted a lean evaluation on our low-fidelity prototypes to gather users' opinions and identify if pain points from our user journey were eliminated.
Based on users' responses we identified the major issues and these are the changes we decided to incorporate:
Product Analysis
The removal of the core feature of gamification in our app warranted a re-evaluation.
We conducted a product analysis on similar behavioral change and wellness apps to better understand the methods used to train users to adopt healthy habits.
We also reviewed a few scholarly sources to understand the different techniques commonly used in behavioral change apps. The top four rated persuasive strategies:
Drawing from our additional research, we identified the following features that will be added to our product:
Iterations
We adopted the features and changes based on our users' feedback in the lean evaluation and additional research. We created a medium-fidelity prototype with these design goals in mind to ensure
Ursula the Undergrad:
-
can follow a balanced work schedule that allows her to sleep for 8 hours per day during exam season.
-
can feel fulfilled throughout the day by viewing her progress as she works to achieve her goals.
-
can sustain strong mental health while achieving a 3.75+ GPA
We recruited five representative users to conduct a summative evaluation with four tasks, post-task questions, and summative semi-structured interviews. The goal of this process was to test the general user task flow and the effectiveness of the current motivational schemes used in the app.
These are the changes we made to our prototype based on the critical issues we identified in our evaluation.
Snapshot of changes made to the prototype based on Summative evaluation.
Visual Design
Equilibrium's color palette was designed to utilize a mix of different shades of blue with an accent color of violet. The light blues convey a sense of calmness, the bright blues convey energy and the dark blues convey responsibility.
The high-fidelity visual design is intentionally minimal and clean so that students can easily navigate the app. Throughout the high-fidelity prototype, the design elements and iconography were defined to maintain consistency.
Final Solution
The final solution we came up with is an efficient mobile application that enables students at the University of Toronto to maintain a balanced work schedule with strong mental health. (The following high-fidelity screens were created by Shradha (Me))
Streamlined Onboarding Process
The onboarding process helps first-time users understand Equilibrium and its features. It also helps them customize schedules by taking them through a set of personalized questions. They can also sync to the calendar function of Quercus which allows U of T students to manage time efficiently.
On the homepage, users can check their progress, view motivational quotes and tasks for the day.
Customize Auto-Generated Schedule
A customized schedule is automatically generated by Equilibrium based on upcoming assignments on Quercus and the user's preferences. The suggested schedule can be effortlessly modified by users.
Punctually Complete Tasks
Users are notified to get started on the assigned tasks based on their schedule. On the task page, a timer is available with the appropriate time set for each task. The user's progress will automatically be updated once task is completed.
Track Performance Overtime
Allows users to track and self-monitor their overall performance from the past and present. They can view their daily, weekly, and monthly performance summaries. The additional feature of being able to view the exact number on charts.
Stay Motivated
Users will be provided with motivation quotes and a repository of mindfulness exercises based on their personalization section. They can do these exercises during their break time and even add them to their schedule.
Personalize Goals & Earn Badges
Users can personalize goals, view their semester's achievements, and sync to Quercus on their profile page. They can also view or search for badges in their badge collection.
Next Steps
These are the next steps we will be considering going forward:
Key Learnings
Equilibrium was a truly collaborative project where we worked together as a team to solve a common problem faced by students during their hectic college life. We went through the whole design process of creating a solution from scratch based on user research and needs. These are some of my key learnings from this project:
-
Continuously Testing Prototypes is Important: Solutions that seem to work in theory might not work practically. So it is important to test your prototype at every possible step of the design process to ensure that we are developing the best possible user experience.
-
Differing perspectives are Helpful: All our groupmates are from different backgrounds, with varying perspectives. I learned that these differing perspectives actually help with designing a truly inclusive experience that was riveting and helpful.
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Sometimes Every Problem cannot be Addressed: It is very tempting to address multiple problems or aspects of a problem through one solution. However, it's better to address one problem effectively than to address multiple problems ineffectively. If we focused on just work-life balance rather than work-life balance and mental health, it would be a more effective solution.