Daily Dose
Stress Management Designed to Work For You
My Role
Research, Information Architecture, Wireframing, Prototyping, Testing & Iterations
Project Type
Personal Project, Proof of concept
Constraints
Limited resources for research and user testing, time
Tools
Figma, FigJam, Google Suite, Adobe Illustrator, Optimal Sort
THE PROBLEM
Unmanaged stress can lead to long term negative impacts on both our physical and mental health. *
Everyone experiences stress, whether it's from work, money, relationships, or other things happening around us.
To sustainably manage stress, we need techniques that work for us by fitting into our daily lives. It's challenging to stick to a routine that doesn't adapt to our many changing needs.
THE SOLUTION
Daily Dose is a stress management web app designed for busy people who care about their longevity.
It aims to empower users to live a balanced and fulfilling life by integrating stress management practices into daily routines.
Customizable features help individuals navigate their day to day while prioritizing their well-being in a way that works for them.
DISCOVERY
The goal of my research was to collect insights on common stress triggers and coping mechanisms to develop a service that effectively helps users de-escalate from stress and continue with their day.
First - I set out to gain a better understanding of my audience through preliminary research and found that Millennials (age 27-42) are a target demographic.
📈 INCREASING STRESS LEVELS
Over 50% of Millennials have reported increased stress levels over the past 5 years *
📱 TURNING TO SOLUTIONS
Average age for users of common stress relief products (like “Calm”) is early-mid 30’s *
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🌱 PRIMARY MOTIVATION
Long term and holistic health - users appreciate the importance of preventative care.
😵💫 NO BREAK FROM STRESS
44% of Millennials report that they feel stressed all of the time *
A multifaceted approach consisting of market research, competitive analysis, surveys, and interviews followed and led me to a number of crucial insights.
🔑 KEY OPPORTUNITY
Offering users a diverse range of techniques accompanied by a thorough understanding of each.
🎯 PRIMARY GOAL
Create a routine that can “stick” - one that can be seamlessly incorporated into everyday life.
🔁 PRIMARY NEED
Flexibility! Flexibility! Flexibility! Users like to change it up from day to day.
⏰ PRIMARY BARRIER
Bandwidth is the biggest challenge - users have conflicting priorities & limited time.
“I understand the importance of stress management, but I don’t always have much time to spend and I may want to handle it differently from day to day”
TARGET AUDIENCE & POINT OF VIEW
Busy and active adults shouldn’t have to stress about managing stress!
Two distinct personas were born from my research insights to help me frame the scope of my user base - they became the guiding light for the remainder of the project.
Maggie is a spontaneous free-spirit who seeks balance & long term health.
Patrick is a busy, disciplined professional who strives to establish a connection with his inner self to better equip himself for the future.
How Might We…
Create a customizable stress management solution for adults seeking longevity and personal growth, accommodating diverse lifestyles and preferences to foster a deeper connection with oneself while effectively reducing the long-term health impacts of stress?
CRAFTING THE SOLUTION
I had a strong point of view on how to help people like Maggie & Patrick - now, to start making it a reality!
Various brainstorming techniques helped me uncover potential solutions for my users - from the practical to the wild.
2 primary ideas came out of brainstorming. Those ideas were fleshed out and pressure-tested with busy working adults to see which option resonated the most.
Name: Daily Dose
Who it’s For: Those looking for a customizable and well-rounded daily stress management solution
How it Helps Them: Allows users to build a schedule based on their personal needs, interest, and bandwidth
How it Accomplishes the Task: Sends daily prompts from a bank of techniques (ie exercise, breath work, connection to loved ones, etc) based on user set preferences
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DEVELOPING A STRESS FREE STRUCTURE
A seamless sign up & intake survey process from the landing page to the dashboard would be crucial for user and product success - my users don’t want too much fuss and don’t have too much time to spend.
I developed a sitemap and task flow, focusing on the sign-up and intake survey process, to ensure a smooth transition for users like Maggie and Patrick. This provided me with a solid foundation for designing and beginning the creative process.
I sketched out design options to quickly work through different design ideas and collect feedback from people like Maggie & Patrick before jumping into Figma.
🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Users like easy access to techniques through cards
• Users appreciate the fact that they can set their preferences up front
• Users want to make sure they have information available on techniques
DIGITIZING THE DESIGN
Mid fidelity wireframes were developed based on my sketches after obtaining feedback from people like Maggie and Patrick. This allowed me to refine and address any potential issues in the design before moving on to higher-fidelity iterations.
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BRANDING & HIGH FIDELITY
Brand values of: Relief, Adaptability, Balance, Connection, and Motivation drove UI & branding decisions.
Style tiles & design systems were created to support the development of hi-fidelity wireframes to prepare my prototype for usability testing.
The design focused on providing users with a range of different techniques, technique information, and options to set time & date preferences. This helps users create a truly flexible and customizable experience that they can tailor (and adjust) to their needs, with the goal of crafting an approach they will be able to stick with for the long term!
USER TESTING
I aimed to pressure test both the usability and desirability of Daily Dose during user testing. My goals were to…
Determine how effectively users are able to sign up for the product and purchase a subscription
Discover roadblocks or challenges users face in successfully purchasing a subscription and how they recovered from errors
Understand how clear (or not) the intake survey process is to users
Determine if the sign up process & intake survey is a barrier to entry
Metrics connected to my goals were also set up to determine the success of my prototype.
The test proved to be successful. I achieved my KPI’s, so I knew I was on the right track, however...
I was also able to collect meaningful feedback from users to improve my design. Feedback was prioritized by effort and impact to provide my with an understanding of what to tackle given the time constraint. I focused on:
UI & copy improvements for clarity and usability
Button and link adjustments for flexibility and lucidity
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ITERATING FOR AN IMPROVED EXPERIENCE
Adjusted UI for “selected” cards to make it more clear for users once a technique has been selected
• Adjusted copy under “prompt preferences” to make it less wordy
• Added a skip button for users who may not want to enter preferences up front
• Added a “see recommendations” link - if users select link, would bring up information within view that outlines expert recommendations
for certain techniques
• Added progress bar for clarity
• Added technique name into modal directions for clarity and so users don’t have to exit
to remember what technique was selected
• Added a “see recommendations” link - if users select link, would bring up information within view that outlines expert recommendations
for certain techniques
• Added technique name to “summary” vs. including it as a bullet point for clarity and to cut back on the number of bullets (visual clutter) in the list
• Adjusted UI for text link to more clearly delineate the link from the summary text
• Adjusted UI for “selected” technique for consistency with other cards
• Adjusted copy under “prompt preview” to make it more clear for users what the intent of this view is. Also added “preview” text to directions for further clarity.
• Adjusted copy from “make changes” to “edit prompt preferences” for consistency and clarity
• Added security language & icon to improve legitimacy
• Removed “make changes” button as it was unclear what changes would need
be made at this point, and because users can click the back button to adjust payment method OR subscription option as needed
Final Product
KEY TAKEAWAYS
🏆 Biggest Win… Successfully completed my first full stack UX/UI project with a design that was validated by the user base
🏔 Biggest Challenge… Learning and applying lots of new information within a short time frame
📖 Biggest Learning… Receiving feedback from users and peers throughout the process helped greatly with iterations and confidence building
🔄 What I Would Do Differently… Made more of a concerted effort to document process & design decisions throughout project
⌛️ If I had more time, I would have… Reworked the UI with an established design system