Mindful Productivity for Freelancers: Workspace

Team

Ali Ciftci, Fariah Qasim, Preet Gangrade, Victor Chien

My Role

Designer, researcher, facilitator

Tools

Balsamiq, Figma, Miro

Final Product

Interact with the final product here

Design Problem

How can we streamline multiple workflows and build meaningful connections to improve overall productivity for professionals who work remotely?

Project Overview

The lockdown has forced the world to work and learn remotely and connect people in a digital setting. Therefore, we wanted to know how people manage their projects during the pandemic and how we could improve their workflow.

We proposed, Workspace, a digital work environment that eliminates distractions and streamlines multiple workflows for professionals.

Project Goal

Create a tool that optimises productivity without resulting in unhealthy habits
Focus on bringing the casual communicativity of an office environment to a WFH Setting

Understanding The Users

Upon initial discussion about what problems this product could solve, we conducted a series of exploratory interviews and discovered that:

People struggle to manage their time and to be productive.
People miss having other professionals around to connect with them.
They have a hard time planning and organizing multiple projects.

Persona And User Journey

We created two personas to help align and focus on our project statement and goals. Each persona focuses on a feature:

Persona #1: Sofia

Persona #2: Kevin

Product Disciplines

We defined our audience as people who work remotely and manage at least two projects. They are tech-savvy and willing to learn new tools. They should feel accomplished, supported, and in-control because of the concise and thoughtful tone of voice used in the product.

Time Management

Sofia has been working from home for about a year since the pandemic. She currently struggles to be productive and gets distracted when she’s working. Sofia needs a way to manage her time and improve work efficiency.

Social Engagement

Kevin used to work in a WeWork space. He misses having other professionals around to make connections with and push him to work harder. Kevin needs a way to experience human interactions in an online environment.

Competitive Research

We divided our competitive analysis into two categories—communication and productivity. We looked into products that solve similar areas of problems to compare the features and identify their pros and cons.

Communication

Productivity

What worked

Simple and clean UI
Tool integrations
Team collaborations
Mentions and hashtags (@, #)

What didn’t work

No workspace groupings
Miscommunication online
Excessive notifications and emails
Complicated PM system

Things to consider

Time management tool
Project tabs
Mentions and hashtags (@, #)

Ideation

We used the MoSCoW method to prioritize the product features, and we saw an opportunity to design a product around a timer that other tools don't have. Therefore, we decided to focus on improving mental wellness with features in communication and time management.

Prototypes

Versions of Dashboard design

We designed a lo-fi prototype based on Sofia’s and Kevin’s needs and conducted 2 rounds of usability tests to identify areas that could be improved. And here are the main problems we found:

Dashboard Design

The dashboard was trying to achieve too many things.
The project management tool seemed expected.
The title ‘Time manager’ was confusing, and the description was wordy.
The tool breakdown made the users feel more oppressed.

Timer: step 1

Timer: step 2

The participants wanted to have advanced settings, such as a Pomodoro timer to customize the timer.
Some participants questioned the differences between the snooze button and the ‘+60/+90 min’ button.

Design Iterations

After conducting user testing with our second prototype, we reconstructed some screens to make them more user-centered. Here are some of the key screens we changed-

Prioritizing levels of information on the Homepage

We rearranged the section order on the Homepage based on the frequency used for each tool. By prioritizing the information shown on the screen, users can easily see their agenda, followed by quick access to other key features. We also simplified the weekly review tool to enable an intuitive viewing experience.

Restructuring the layout to accommodate overall design

Participants agreed that the Timer looked different from other screens; therefore, it felt like another product. We reconstructed the layout from a side-by-side view to a stacked arrangement, making the structure more consistent and echoing the information prioritization on the Homepage.

Rethinking language and CTA buttons

Some participants also expressed that the tone of voice was serious, which contradicts what we wanted the users to feel when using the product. So we rewrote the language to highlight the friendly tone and to reduce confusion in CTA buttons.

Design System

As a team, we created a design system to help reduce chaos and confusion, speed up the team workflow, and foster better communication during the design process.

Final Design

Reflections

It was fulfilling to tackle and deliver a project about mental health and work management with other people, especially during the pandemic in a short amount of time. Listening to and learning about what other people are experiencing allowed our processes to be more user-centered and inspired us to design creative solutions for their needs.