A household management gamification app for couples because housework should be enjoyable and motivating. Do chores, have fun, and earn rewards.
Introducing
Household Tasks Now made fun!
View Prototype
The Issue
"Gender gaps in sharing household responsibilities among millennials affects millions of Americans, the vast majority (98%) being opposite sex couples where the woman spends an average of 47 more minutes in a day doing housework than men."
Problem Space
As a user experience researcher and designer, my aim was to gain insights from heterosexual millennial couples on how they manage and plan their household tasks. I wanted to synthesize the insights from users, find out what their thoughts are and take the initiative to be able to create a creative solution for that problem.
Initiative
My Design Process
Getting FunChores to where it needed to be, I used the double diamond design approach to problem solving UX tools and strategies. I researched thoroughly on the problem space, emphasized with the users, defined and designed my solution that underwent multiple rounds of testing to make sure the best possible outcome is being delivered to the users.
The Double Diamond Design Approach
Discover
Secondary Research
Gender Roles
Traditional ideas and gender roles are still maintaining a stronghold among Millennial couples.
More than half of US households consist of romantic partners; the vast majority (98%) are heterosexual couples.
Millennials are the most likely generation to embrace time-saving alternatives to daily mundane tasks and chores.
Gender Roles
Alternate Options
Majority
Research shows that most people don’t think of their own households as reproducing sexist societal dynamics.
Data
This is a comparative data chart showing a high percentage of millennial women doing varied household tasks compared to millennial men.
Comparative
While the majority of millennial men say they are doing household chores, they’re just not as likely to be doing them as millennial women are.
Millennial women are working and earning more than ever before. But they’re still doing most of the housework.
Demographics
Key
After my initial research findings and looking at the data statistics, I narrowed my key demographics as Millennial Heterosexual Couples in the US.
Why Millennials? Well, I felt that this age group couples belong to the era where they have seen the increased shift in women entering professional spaces and are also more open to changes. From my secondary research, it also became obvious that they do not enjoy doing housework. But there needs to be a balance and that is what I wanted to achieve through my solution.
Millennial MEn
Household
Tasks
Millennial Women
Dishes
72%
Cleaning
Cooking
Laundry
93%
90%
85%
93%
72%
73%
67%
Hypothesis
I believe that most heterosexual millennial men lack incentive when it comes to household chores as compared to their partners.
Hypothesis 1
Hypothesis 2
I believe that most heterosexual millennial couples still follow traditional gender roles in regards to household chores.
My
Discover
Through affinity mapping process, I synthesized all the data collected from the user interviews. I sorted the pain points, behaviors, and motivations from each of the interviews by grouping them into 4 main themes and generating an insight statement for each.
I found out through the user interviews that both my hypothesis statements were proved correct. Although i noticed, pressing issue was not gender gaps but lack of incentive, communication and organization were among the top issues.
Pivoting Moment: So I decided to move my focus from gender gaps to more like how to make household tasks fun for users.
Interviews
User
Question
HMW
"Housework takes away time from other interests"
"Some tasks are just not motivating or convincing to do."
“Easier to do things myself than repeatedly asking the partner to do it."
"Household tasks are not fun"
“Partner doesn't know I need help with something unless mentioned.”
“Planning is mostly by the me. Partner doesn't take much initiative with that."
Insight Statement
“If it is not absolutely necessary, a guy won't do it"
Insights
Interview
Focussed on my hypothesis statement and to further understand the problem and the people's needs, I conducted 5 interviews of people between the ages of 26-42 years in the US either living with their heterosexual partners or spouses. To better understand their thinking process, I constructed a series of questions to comprehend their motivations, behaviors, and pain points.
What my users said? Some direct quotes below
I chose this as my key insight as this theme can encapsulate the other theme insights within and I will be able to tackle the issues of organization, planning, gender gaps, and communication cohesively. By using the principle of gamification, I can ensure that the mundane household chores are done in a more pleasurable manner which can lead to an equitable sharing of tasks and gratification amongst each partner minimizing the stress that these tasks put in a relationship.
Themes
Gamification
Heterosexual millennial couples feel that in order to make household tasks more streamlined, effective communication is key.
Communication
Heterosexual millennial couples feel that a more organized structure can help streamline their household tasks.
Organization
Heterosexual millennial couples are dividing their household tasks but stereotyped gender roles still prevail.
Gender Neutrality
4
1
2
3
Gamification can lead to household tasks being more fun for heterosexual millennial couples.
Gamification can lead to household tasks being more fun for heterosexual millennial couples.
Detailed
Map
Insight
Key
How might we help heterosexual millennial couples to make their household chores feel less mundane so that they are willing to share responsibilities equally and have fun.
Gamification
I was intrigued with the user insights which led me to take a slight shift in my problem space. I found out that the key problem was not gender gaps, instead the couples motivation to do the tasks. This led me to my design challenge:
"
"
"Turning chores into a game would be fun"
Define
Develop
Once I had my solution sketches ready, now the fun part was to convert these lo-fi sketches into mid-fi wireframes using Figma!
I started to see my vision come to reality once I created the wireframes V1 using simple interactions.
Sketches
Ideation
Wireframes
Grayscale
Once I had a clear task flow in mind and I was clear on which direction I wanted to head towards, I started working on my exploratory sketches. I began making iterations of the tasks and the rewards screens that I will have in both my flows.
Furthermore, I selected the most compelling exploratory sketches and consolidated them into refined set of solution sketches.
- Decrease the size of the suggestions cards to lessen its prominence to the added task categories.
- Remove the nav bar from the welcome screen and the end screen.
- Make the notifications more clear on the end screen.
- Change the color of the unassigned tasks to differentiate between the two.
- Keep the name of the husband consistent throughout - either husband or Parry.
- Educators also mentioned to make sure to make all the touch points accessible on all the screens.
Revisions
Recommended
Solution Sketches
Exploratory Sketches
Testing
User
Once my turned my mid fi wireframe V1 into a prototype, I then conducted 2 rounds of usability testing over a period of 3 days. Each round of testing was 15-20 minutes sessions with a total of 10 users over Zoom.
User testing is a very important step in the UX process as we are designing for a specific demographic and we need to make sure that it is going to help them. Therefore, gaining valuable feedback and insights from users is crucial to improve my digital solution so that I can provide the most optimal user experience.
Users were given 6 tasks to complete with a detailed scenario so they get a better understanding and to avoid confusion.
Even though users were able to perform most of the given tasks, I received valuable feedback to improving the functionality and design of my app.
I synthesized the findings after each round of user testing and placed all the recommendations into a design prioritization matrix. Then I implemented the revisions before moving forward to the next round of testing.
- Add "buy" with coins on the rewards page to provide clarity on what to do with the coins.
- Add context content to the task categories, & suggestions sections.
- Remove the onboarding pop ups since the user is already logged in and is not a new user.
- Remove the star icon from the welcome screen.
- Update the tasks title to mention the sub task user is under to give more clarity.
- Increase spacing and size of the tasks details cards to make touch points accessible.
After Round 2
After Round 1
View Mid-Fi Prototype
Deliver
I wanted to create a color palette that was fun, and exciting. I took the pink shades out since I wanted my brand to be gender neutral.
My primary color conveys a feeling of fulfillment and rewarding.
My accent colors bring fun, motivation, and harmony.
I found these colors to be a perfect balance and it gives a whole new dimension to "FunChores"
Brand
Identity
After the 2 rounds of user testing, synthesizing, and making all the revisions, I was ready to take my prototype to the next level. I defined the visual identity of my app next.
I created a "More A than B list" and defined how I wanted my brand to look like.
With this list in mind, I wanted my brand to embody emotions related to having fun, a feeling of togetherness and a drive to motivate.
So I collected images which evoked in me, the feeling of: working together, fun and energetic vibe, achievement, synergy, and enjoyment.
This was the initial moodboard I put together.
I realized soon enough that considering the adjectives for my app, these images felt too dark and serious rather than fun and happy. So I wanted to try out images with lighter colors.
Brand
Moodboard
This was my final moodboard which I put together after narrowing down from more than 30 images. I was very happy with this mood for my brand as it evoked the feelings I wanted to work with.
I also made sure to consider accessibility when designing my solution and ensured that my application achieved WCAG compliance standards.
Brand
Colors
I started looking for my app icon inspirations next.
I narrowed down my choice to the one highlighted with a background.
I found it to be the most fun one and apt as the app icon and started to experiment and play around with it.
I played around with different shades of my brand colors to formulate my color palette in my UI library.
Color
Palette
I extracted colors from the images from my moodboard that best resonated and connected with "FunChores" values of Fun, Motivation, Rewarding, Engaging, and Collaborative. After experimenting and testing with a wide array of colors, I developed the main colors for FunChores.
Next, I came up with a list of potential names before deciding to go with "FunChores" as the name for my app.
Since I designed a native iOS app, I decided to use this neutral, flexible, sans-serif typeface "SF Pro Text". I wanted to keep my text styles simple to focus more on the functionality of the design and I wanted to evoke the fun aspect using the mascot and play around with the text styles in my wordmark.
Final Wordmark and App Icon
I converted my sketches into digital wordmark by typing it using varied fonts types.
I narrowed down my choices to two that I really liked. One based on the simplicity and the other on playfulness.
I chose the simpler font to stay true to my original idea of keeping the font minimal and the icon mascot playful.
App
Typography
Next, I began working on my word mark. I started by sketching out some basic ideas of what I wanted my wordmark and brand icon to look like.
Since I wanted a playful and fun mascot to be the icon and also included in my word mark, I wanted to keep my wordmark very minimal.
App
Name
I started inserting my brand colors on my app icon next. Also added a broom and gave it a base to go with the feel and purpose of the app.
I added a small incline in the letter"F" to give the type form a little asymmetry and played around with the letter spacing to be able to fit the app icon perfectly within the wordmark.
A robot holding a broom with the brand shows a sense of fun doing the tasks. It provides a fun light element to the brand that the robot mascot will make it playful and it wont be a boring chores app.
Iconography
Imagery
I added illustrations and icons to go with my brand. I worked on them to make sure the colors looked cohesive with my brand colors and that they stayed true to the brand identity. I used the Icons 8 plugin from the Figma community to download all the icons and illustrations for my app.
I am so excited to finally introduce to you my final product, FunChores.
Final
View HiFi Prototype
Product
High Fidelity
Prototype
Once I finished defining my product brand and color palette, I was now ready to consider how I will apply high-fidelity visual design elements to my prototype.
I gathered feedback from my last submission to look into any changes I needed to do to my Mid-Fi prototype.
After reviewing the usability testing document again and getting insights from peers, I came across a few functionality issues in my design which I fixed going into my HiFi prototype.
Some major updates included:
I gathered feedback from my last submission to look into any changes I needed to do to my Mid-Fi prototype.
After reviewing the usability testing document again and getting insights from peers, I came across a few functionality issues in my design which I fixed going into my HiFi prototype.
Some major updates included:
- Updated the CTA on the welcome screen so an existing user doesn't have to go over 'get started' process each time.
- Updated the copywriting on the task notification page so each time an existing user doesn't go through onboarding.
- Redesigned the cards by increasing the size and look to improve app functionality and make the screen look less cluttered.
- Redesigned the Sub tasks cards by increasing the size, and increased spacing between elements to improve functionality.
- Added a keypad function on this screen to improve user functionality.
- Moved the CTA to the right side to improve the app functionality. I also made changes to the rewards cards to make them more accessible and clear.
With my high fidelity prototype all done, I went on to design a responsive marketing website for both desktop and mobile viewports in order to promote my app FunChores.
Getting to the final version of your prototype is not the last step. It is equally important to provide to my users, a great experience before they even download the app and make it compelling so that they are eager to take an action to download my app.
I used the same color palette and the brand identity for my landing pages to keep the look and feel of my app and to evoke the same feelings as the mobile app.
I changed the font from 'SF pro text' to 'Inter' since I designed for Android phone with desktop this time instead of IOS.
Marketing
Mobile Version
Desktop Version
Website
Additional
View i Watch Version
Alternative
With my persona, Laurel in mind, I started looking into what other devices, FunChores could be used on in the future. After some research, I decided to design for Apple watch 44 series.
To give an option to Laurel to use the app on Apple watch while on the go to send reminders to her husband for upcoming tasks added would give her a lot more freedom to use the app while she is driving or when she cant access bigger screens.
Knowledge - It is important to have a strong knowledge of the design systems you are working for since the start to help enhance the functionality of the app. It is crucial to follow the design systems depending on which platform you are designing for. Also, UX design process is continuous and evolving and there is always room for iterations so it is important to keep yourself up to date on any changes in the UX world.
Key
Learnings
As many iterations my app FunChores went through, I believe I have also grown as much. I have learned many valuable lessons throughout this UX process and journey which will help me become a better designer going forward.
Open to changes - Making updates and changes to keep improving your design is a great learning. Feedback is invaluable in the UX process. Listen to your peers, educators and most importantly your users.
Foundation - It is very crucial to have a strong foundation of your components and UI library from the beginning so you are confident in making changes or updates without affecting the whole design in general. It also helps you be organized and streamlined.
Next Project
Thank you for making it this far and to the end of my case study. Feel free to reach out if you would like to learn more.
E: anjaliswamy21@gmail.com