Connect users’ habits with productivity and mental clarity, reinforcing the interconnectedness of sleep, focus, and positivity.
Help users become more conscious of their sleep patterns and how they affect mood, focus, and daily performance.
Promote Positive Routines
Provide calming tools and structured activities that encourage users to develop sleep-supportive nighttime routines.
The research will explore the sleep habits, challenges, and needs of Gen Z and Millennials, focusing on how technology impacts their sleep routines. The goal is to understand the root causes of poor sleep quality and identify user preferences for tools or methods that could help build sustainable, positive sleep habits. The research will also investigate the effectiveness of existing apps and tools to inform the design and functionality of Restify.
Research Goals
Explore common reasons behind poor sleeping habit.
Investigate late-night distractions, including social media, stress, and overworking.
Understand resistance to using apps for sleep improvement.
Identify user preferences for features like reminders, meditations, and community support.
Possible Solutions
Integrate features like relaxing playlists, guided meditations, and breathing exercises to help users transition to sleep mode.
Include insights about how better sleep is improving focus and energy.
Ensure the app’s interface is simple and intuitive.
Generation Z (Gen Z)
Age
18–25 years old
Characteristics:
Tech-savvy and reliant on smartphones.
Struggle with late-night distractions, especially from social media.
Often balancing academic responsibilities, part-time jobs, or internships.
Concerned about mental well-being and productivity.
Millennials
Age
26-35 years old
Young professionals managing demanding careers and personal responsibilities.
Often stressed due to work-life balance challenges.
Tend to use apps for self-improvement and value mindfulness practices.
Interested in solutions that improve productivity and mental clarity.
Based on my user research, I created two personas to represent two types of my target audiences.
I created empathy maps to illustrate user behavior in real life and while using the app; these maps were instrumental in the direction of my final app.
The user journey maps showed the steps and emotional changes of individuals using the application, which allowed me to understand what users wanted and recognized in trying out the app.
The user flow shows the steps the user needs to take in order to accomplish the task of meditation.
The information architecture(IA) shows where users can find the information and navigation they need within the application.
This helped me organize the contents for the final product.
Creating a simple user interface style guide can maintain consistency throughout the application.
Challenges
First of all this in itself was an extracurricular project challenge that I set myself, asking myself to complete a brand new project in 4 weeks. One of the most important challenges throughout the project was to understand the different needs of the target audience, especially students and young professionals. It was important to identify the root causes of poor sleep habits and differentiate between distractions such as social media, stress and work commitments.
Another challenge is balancing the complexity of functionality with the simplicity of design. While apps need to provide meaningful tools, it's critical to avoid overwhelming users with too many options or unnecessary data, which is why I chose not to use any menus. Encouraging users to be consistent with their sleep habits also proved to be tricky, as habits are inherently difficult to develop and relying on notifications or reminders alone felt insufficient.
What I Learned
The importance of time management, this project emphasized the importance of a user-centered design approach. Through research and persona development, I learned that a deep understanding of users' habits, frustrations, and motivations is key to creating products that resonate with them. Simplicity is a key factor in driving product adoption, as users are more receptive to intuitive, simple tools, which is the first step to reducing stress.
Additionally, I've found that sleep habits are influenced by a variety of factors, including emotional, behavioral, and environmental triggers. To design a truly effective solution, it is critical to comprehensively address these aspects. The program also emphasized the value of positive reinforcement in promoting long-term habit formation.
Next Steps
Due to time constraints, Restify needs to be refined more completely, and I think it is very adaptable and I will continue to develop it in the future.
Other projects
@2024 Zion Xu