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ReminderX

NOVEMBER 2017

My Role

I provided user research and design services to ReminderX in order to understand the needs of their key users.

The Challenge

The stakeholders of ReminderX wanted the app to be more than a generic to-do list and reminder app. They need assistance pinpointing what users to focus on, what problems they need solved and how to solve them.

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The goal of the project is to answer the following questions:

  1. How do the features of ReminderX compare to other reminder apps?

  2. What functionality needs to be improved for the user experience?

  3. What is the priority of improvements, pre and post-launch?

  4. Who are the target users of ReminderX?

  5. What do the target users want from ReminderX based on user research and test findings?

The Approach

Comparative Analysis:

A comparative analysis was conducted between ReminderX competitors iOS reminders and Wunderlist to determine what may have been lacking and where the app could improve.

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APP: iOS Reminders
Features:

  • Add multiple reminders

  • Reminders can be set for a certain date, time and at a location

  • Set levels of priority

  • Add notes

  • Add to a designated list


APP: Wunderlist
Features:

  • Reminders as lists

  • Share lists with people in your contacts

  • Various ways to sort/filter

  • Lists can have a due date, reminder, subtasks, notes, attachments and comments

  • Email and print list functionality

  • Ability to upgrade for additional features

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Research Approach:

A total of four users, ages 27-46, were interviewed and recorded. Each participant was asked about how they currently manage reminders and to-do lists, what their first thoughts were of ReminderX after a brief intro, and what the app would need to do in order for them to use it over other platforms.

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Findings and Recommendations:

We found that all of the users were working with multiple ways simultaneously to track reminders and to-do lists – Google Calendar, Google Assistant, iPhone Notes, pen and paper, iOS Reminders, Asana, and Evernote. What they all indicated to want was a platform that contained all of their currently used features in one:

  • Sorting by multiple facets: categories, tags and due dates will help with sorting and tracking

  • Quick look: calendar view (today, tomorrow, later, month)

  • Alerts and notifications: day of for smaller to-do items; email reminder with details the day before for larger projects; select when and how the user is notified

  • A little something extra: add a quick note that isn’t tied to a project or task; sync to computer and other apps; cross items off when completed; create a shopping list; nest reminders (subtasks)

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User Persona:

reminderx-persona.png

Initial Design Sketches:

After conducting user research, defining the target persona and generating design tenets (see below), I sketched initial workflows and wireframes that illustrated key user journeys that the new release of ReminderX would support.

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Design Tenets:

  • Organize: Users need to have multiple ways to organize their to-do items.

  • Control: The management of alerts, notifications and other settings should be transparent.

  • Track: Tracking through categories, tags and dates is vital.

  • Look and feel: The design should be clean and fluid for ease of use.

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Create an Account:

create-account-workflow-sketch.png
create-account-wireframe-sketch.jpg

Edit a Reminder:

edit-reminder-workflow-sketch.png
edit-reminder-wireframe-sketch.jpg

The Result

After testing the initial sketches, I made a few tweaks to the event types (reminders, lists, notes) so that they are distinct in purpose and flow. Below are the final high-fidelity workflows and wireframes that were handed off to development.

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Create an Account:

create-account-workflow.png
create-account-wireframe.png

​Edit a Reminder:

edit-reminder-workflow.png
edit-reminder-wireframe.png

My Reflections

After the project ended, I realized that we needed to change a couple of things in the design of ReminderX. I would add a quick screen after the user opens the app with some sort of positive affirmation like “organize your life today!” The message would fade to the sign in/create an account screen. The user would create their account as follows:

email or password —> success  —> landing screen/start adding reminders, lists and notes
-OR-
login with Facebook or Google  —> grant access —> success  —> landing screen/start adding reminders, lists and notes

The only thing I now want to eliminate is the email confirmation message the user receives to complete their registration. I don’t want to take them out of the app and to another platform to complete another task.

After account creation/sign-in, the landing screen will have one example for each of the actions – reminder, list and note. The examples will show the user what the app is capable of doing. There will also be a call out piece of text with an arrow pointing to the + symbol underneath each section prompting them to add their first reminder, list or note.

If no action is taken by the user within the app after a set number of days, the user will receive an email with helpful tips, a very short tutorial video and a  chance to give us feedback to improve. We will also review metrics regularly to see how the onboarding process is increasing activation.

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