Astral App
Astral is a mobile application aimed to help students and young adults meet their sleep goals. Astral provides the primary tools one needs to create a sleep schedule; a sound library to fall asleep, an alarm system to set goals, and a sleep tracker to visualize progress.
Design Process
(From interactiondesign.org)
Stage 1: Emphasize
Competitive Analysis
I began my research process by completing a competitive analysis of 6 existing sleep apps.
I built a chart to compare the common features within these apps. Doing so allowed me to determine which features to include in my app (starred).
User Research
To understand my users, I conducted 3 interviews with college students of varying sleep habits. These interviews consisted of 15 questions aimed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data.
Additionally, I interviewed a sleep doctor at Mass General Hospital to get a professional insight into common sleeping issues.
User Personas
Using the information gathered from the user interviews, I developed two personas to serve as a reference throughout the design process.
These personas both struggle with maintaining proper sleep hygiene, but at opposite ends of the spectrum.
User Journey
I expanded upon my personas by designing user journeys for one persona; Alexander. Creating these user journeys allowed me to explore his specific goals in using the app.
I made individual user journeys for each feature, eventually condensing it into a single user journey.
Stage 2: Define
Problem Statement
Based on my user interviews and personas, I formed a problem statement to give my app purpose.
Problem:
Many college students struggle with maintaining proper sleep hygiene due to stress, inconsistent class/work schedules, and heavy workloads. These factors frequently lead to insufficient amounts of sleep, trouble falling or staying asleep, and/or not getting quality rest.
Solution:
Create an app that motivates students to meet their sleep goals by providing the tools needed to get enough rest.
Stage 3: Ideate
Sketches
Before transitioning to digital wireframes, I drew brief sketches to translate my ideas visually.
Wireframes
Using the initial ideation sketches, I brought my ideas into Adobe XD and created low-fidelity wireframes.
Stage 4: Prototyping
Visual Identity
To ensure consistency in the UI design, I created a style tile.
A crucial aspect of my app is the dark color palette. I knew I wanted to use a deep colors to reduce strain on the eyes, which is especially important as users are attempting to fall asleep.
UI Design
I brought my wireframes into high-fidelity using the styling and components from my style tile.
Prototype
To prepare for testing, I created a fully interactive prototype.
In order to get the full effect of the app, I incorporated sound into the prototype. Although all the sound features are not possible in the prototype (notably layering the sounds), I still felt it was crucial to include.
View the interactive prototype below (volume on!)
Stage 5: Testing
User Testing
Using the completed prototype, I conducted 5 user tests with each test consisting of 5 tasks.
I gathered both qualitative and quantitative data by taking notes and asking open-ended questions. Additionally, I collected quantitative data by using Likert scores, asking testers to rank the pleasure and usability of each task from a scale of 1-5.
Final Edits
Although feedback was generally positive, there was still room for improvement.
After testing, I made minor edits to the app based on tester suggestions.
Final Thoughts
Reflection
As a college student myself, I was worried that the bias from my experiences would hinder my process. However, I believe I was successful in putting my biases aside to create an app that would benefit the wider majority of students.
This project taught me the importance of challenging myself. Going the extra step to add sound into my prototype initially seemed impossible, but I am glad I took this challenge.
Overall, creating Astral has been an immensely rewarding process and I look forward to expanding upon it in the future.
Next Steps:
1. Animate actions not possible in the prototype, like dragging the “clock” to create schedules and layering sounds.
2. Conduct more user testing from a wider range of individuals. Although Astral is aimed towards college students, I believe I could value from the perspective of someone less tech-savvy.
3. Add more customization features, like the ability to save favorite sound combinations and more alarm sounds.
4. Mockup promotional graphics to visualize what the app would look like in the App Store.