Client
School Project
RIT
Role
Visual, UX/UI
Time
Fall 2020
Identifying the Problem
The making of New Year’s resolutions have historically encouraged individuals to reflect on their previous year, and focus on positively shaping their futures. Such resolutions can act as personal goals to help people live a healthier lifestyle, care for themselves or loved ones in, and promote overall wellness. When adhered to, that is.
Research shows that less than 25% of people actually stay committed to their resolutions after just 30 days, and only 8% accomplish them. Psychologists suggest that the failure of resolutions relies heavily on a lack of self-discipline and self-trust to achieve larger goals.
Designing the LoFi Prototype
From this simple prototype, I brainstormed key aspects and features of the app that may effectively achieve the core goals.
Daily check-in
Prizes and rewards for consistent engagement
Virtual meetups for moral support
Accountability
When facing a challenging resolution on one’s own, the user lacks moral support and encouragement from others. In addition, involving others in the practice of maintaining a goal may hold users accountable and help them to more effectively stick to their resolutions.
Engagement
In order to encourage self-discipline and consistent usage, incentives and rewards may work to better engage users. Because the user’s resolution is their ultimate goal, offering smaller prizes for constant engagement may provide a valuable incentive to continue.
Specification
Large goals are often too difficult to achieve on their own due to their overwhelming nature. In order to maintain efficient goals, users’ resolutions should be divided into smaller, more specific parts. This would allow users to tackle small goals in order to achieve their larger goal.
Organizing Wireframes
Outlining Information
Wireframing encouraged proper spacing and visual hierarchy, while establishing important aspects such as consistency and intuitive features.
Exploring Visual Design
Design System
To emphasize a calm and comfortable interface, I chose muted colors and elegant typography to accompany design elements. A 5-pt. grid was used to help encourage visual balance and consistency.
Developing Final Comps
The First-Time User
Those opening Resolute for the first time will complete a profile that includes their resolution and the frequency of app notifications they would like to receive (daily, weekly, or monthly).
The Returning User
Users returning to Resolute will check in, and earn small rewards for consistent attendance and progress.
Following check-in, users can video-chat with other users in order to help build accountability and external support.
Conclusion
Through researching and designing Resolute, I learned about the importance of accountability in order to achieve goals. Connecting users with each other became extremely important throughout the process of maintaining a resolution of any kind, and this was a vital feature to include within Resolute.
If I were to continue on with this project, I would love to add further features such as an in-app messaging component for users to interact with. In addition, I would consider broadening the variety of rewards users could earn as a result of their consistent usage of Resolute.