Overview
Burnout Syndrome is still a fairly new concept that was just recognized as an official diagnosis by the World Health Organization in 2019. Studies reveal that 90% of people have experienced prolonged work-related stress within their lifetime. Though, due to cultural and sociological norms, the most common symptoms of Burnout (fatigue, emotional exhaustion, depression) are often ignored or disregarded.
Olive was created as the go-to wellness application where users can organize their day in the morning, and unwind in the evening. The goal of our program is to alleviate burnout, improve habits, and strengthen the overall well-being of users.
Design Thinking
The process used to create my designs was organized by IDEO and Stanford University. Design thinking is all about solving complex problems in a user-centered way. Keep in mind this process is not linear, meaning tasks often overlap and intertwine.
Find more from the original project outline here.
Design an entire app from start to finish (Concept, UX Analysis, User Research, Personas, Card Sorting, Site-mapping, User Interviews, Wire-framing, Mock-ups, Usability Testing, Prototype)
My Role
One Year (March 2022 - 2023)
Timeline
Figma, Figjam, Canva, Google Forms, Google Sheets, Zoom, Slack, OptimalSort
Tools
Understand
In order to create desirable products and services, we first need to understand who our users are and what they need. What are their expectations in relation to the product we’re designing? What challenges and pain-points do they face within this context?
Target Audience, Potential Issues, & App Requirements
This BRD is the result of a competitor analysis, SWOT profile, and UX analysis on some of the most relevant or popular heath applications on the market.
“When applicable, what generally prevents you from caring for your mental health?”
- Not enough time
- Rather be having fun
- Unsure where to find resources
- Money limitations
- Procrastinate, being nervous to look inward
- Change can be difficult
- Pressure to provide for family
- Denial
- Not enough time
- Rather be having fun
- Unsure where to find resources
- Money limitations
- Procrastinate, being nervous to look inward
- Change can be difficult
- Pressure to provide for family
- Denial
To get the process started, I organized and distributed a blind survey focused on user’s opinions in relation to the topic at hand. View more stats from the Workplace Burnout User Survey
Hypothesis & Validation
During initial research, it seemed the main issue among users was feeling they didn't have enough time and/or energy to prioritize their health.
Problem
To provide an easily accessible route for users to organize personal tasks, as well as supplying various options for them to find and maintain positive forms of strength.
Solution
Considering all the following provided techniques and educational articles included are backed by solid-founding research, the program should significantly reduce, if not completely eliminate, burnout for users in correlation with the use of our program.
Predicted Result
User research should be conducted regularly to check on the progress of the app (how often users frequent, their current health status, status before finding the program, etc.) I do believe a private survey could be best for these types of questions, understanding there may be some sensitivity found around these topics. Over time, we should see patterns in how the application has affected its users.
Validation
Observe
User research is the simple art of having a conversation with potential customers or just people who may directly respond to our product. Here we hope to discover any stories and feelings that burnout or wellness provoke. We then can apply this information to the design and create something that users honestly want to use.
Important Quotes from User Research
I conducted several remote 1-1 moderated interviews from participants that said they were familiar with burnout in some aspect or another.
- Martina
"You get into this cycle, and you may not notice until the point of no return; Before it's too late. You don't notice until it really drains you. "
- Zach
“I think I may be more concerned with how others feel, than I am about myself. "
- Martina
"I never looked for an app like this when I was struggling. But, if it came across my path, I really think it could have helped me.”
- Praveen
“Mental health is arising more and so is the social awareness around it.”
View more on the User Research from this Project
Point of View
After the initial research was completed, then I could create a few personas for the app. This often provides us insight into who our users are, what their goals are and why they would use this app. Building personas enables us to better understand the demographics, needs, goals, emotions, behaviors, fears, and limitations of those who may be using our product.
-
Sofie
The Art Student
-
Meera
The Mindful Medic
-
Paul
The Exhausted Educator
Ideate
Now that I’ve collected and organized my observations, it’s time to make ideas out of them. This is the part of the creative process that allows us to explore a wide variety and large quantity of diverse possible solutions. The purpose of ideation is to move beyond the obvious in order to explore a full range of ideas.
I decided to color-code the users for better organization and to create a visually appealing design. This was my attempt at bringing both form and function to the presentation.
As you might gather, half-circles represent potential user interest.
At this point, I was also thinking of compiling the 'Edit Entires' section within the journal considering the simplicity of push prompts, yet this was situational upon how the wireframes progressed.
Card sorting is a technique used to evaluate the architecture of a given site. During a session, users are provided cards with important terms (pages, categories, headlines) from a program and asked to organize them into groups that make sense to them. With this information, we can now create a site that is intuitive for our users.
Prototype
This is also known as the original blueprints or bones of the site. For those unaware, each set of frames strategically ranges in design, taking everything in segments. To focus more on certain aspects here and set others aside there. You will find various improvements with every iteration (Low-, mid-, & high-fidelity).
Low- Fidelity
You’ll see below that the layout of our app is now aligned on paper for both mobile and desktop. There is usually no copy within this type of design, but you begin to grasp the intention behind each page or element.
Saved Content
Home
Vitamin Keeper
Wellness Journal 1 & 2
User Reviews
This is essentially a medication or supplement tracker, I changed the name to something more inviting considering recent tech privacy concerns in the news.
The personal thoughts text box encourages users with integrated ideas such a free writing, recollecting a nice experience, or writing out a problem.
For the most part, you will find all of the same features as shown in the mobile layout above, yet we have expanded and reorganized to adapt to the larger screen.
More Details from Low- Fidelity Wireframes
It originally took some time to find and settle on an illustration style that I felt was right for the app. This is why you may notice a few different types of graphics displayed throughout each version. I had mostly been playing around with various designs to see which might fit best within the program.
During our user research sessions, we ran into some trouble with communication breakdown. Because of this, it definitely felt important to emphasize universal copy within the app.
Mid- Fidelity
Now I can make more thorough designs by bringing them online. I originally created these frames in FigJam before deciding to transfer my next iteration over to Figma.
Splash
Home
One reason I chose burnout as this project’s subject was because I have personally struggled with this in the past. Learning specific exercises and coping techniques really helped to really build strength and momentum during designs that require focused, strenuous work.
Mindfulness
Filter buttons (yoga or meditation) quickly jump to specific sections on the page, creating an intuitive and simplified design for users.
Yoga Video
Saved
Filter Menu
Journal 2
Vitamin Tracker
Prototyping really gives the designer time to think through any creative decisions opposed to just tossing something onto a page because it looks nice.
Journal 1
Every single feature strategically benefits the health of our users, specifically in terms of burnout. For example, studies show that free writing is will reduce anxiety, increase awareness, and regulate emotions.
Vitamin Reviewer
It’s important consider how people will actually respond to our program. We need to sort out if the product is simple and intuitive, also if any pain points may arise during task flows. By considering the usability of our product and potential improvements, we can apply this information to our next round of wireframes and create something that people might actually enjoy using.
Find more specifics from testing in Olive’s Rainbow Report.
And now, after all of these iterations have been considered and implemented…
The Prototype
Outcome
So what did you think? Olive has now created a go- to source for wellness, directly aimed at every single symptom and cause of Burnout. In keeping with the initial problem that users felt they lacked enough energy and time to appropriately care for their health. We hope to save time by providing them with regular organization through our checklist feature and writing section. As well as reinforcing healthy forms of energy with mindful media, vitamin keeper, and our gratitude prompts!
If you’re interested in a certain aspect of the design not shown here, please inquire. There were several other tasks behind the scenes that have not been presented within this case study.
Thanks!