Problem

Many people have experienced that sinking feeling when they realize they left something at home while they are already out the door and on their way. How might we ease the morning routine by helping people remember what they need to bring that day?

Using various research methods, we identified several key user needs that influenced the design for this app:

At the start of our research we decided that we wanted to focus on easing morning routines. We had heard anecdotal evidence that many people struggle to get up and get ready to leave the house in a timely manner. We set out to validate this and find more specific needs about morning routines that we could help with. We let the research guide which part of the morning routine to focus on.

Using Surveys to Gain Insight

We used our first user surveys to validate assumptions and understand what challenges people are dealing with in their morning routines. We targeted a wide variety of people, from college students to working professionals, who may deal with rushing out of the house in the morning.

Example questions from the online survey

Two key findings from this survey helped to drive our project forward:

Semi-Structured Interviews Offer Anecdotal Evidence

In order to gain a deeper understanding of our survey results, we conducted semi-structured interviews with several participants. In the interviews, we found additional qualitative evidence that people feel they do not have enough time in the morning.

View the semi-structured interview guide below:

Diary Study to gain contextual data

Although the semi-structured interviews were helpful, they were not a substitution for contextual research. Given that we could not join someone to observe their actions immediately after waking up, we conducted a brief diary study that lasted up to three days.

View the diary study template below:

Diary Study Template

Narrowing Down with a Survey

After gathering data from the first survey and interviews, we targeted forgetfulness in the morning as a problem area to tackle. We conducted another survey to gain deeper insight on forgetfulness in morning routines.

Storyboard Testing

Following the initial survey and interviews, we tested the need for help to remember items in the morning. To test this need, we created a storyboard that walked through the context, problem, solution, and resolution of a product that helps users remember to bring things. We then shared this storyboard with several potential users, which validated that this was a need. With the research, surveys, and storyboard results, we felt confident that addressing this need with a mobile and IoT solution would add value to users.

Moving from Concept to Prototype

The concept we chose to move forward with was a mobile app to help users keep track of what items they need to leave the house with.

Near the end of conducting research I began iteratively prototyping. Taking what we had learned from user research we settled on an app that would keep track of what the user needs for the day. The prototyping process was iterative, moving from paper to mid-fidelity to high-fidelity, and back through these steps any time a new feature or interaction was introduced.

Low-Fidelity Paper Prototypes

Mid-Fidelity Prototypes

Mid-fi iteration 1

Mid-fi iteration 2

Mid-fi iteration 3