Maintaining a schedule and communicating with others to figure out shared availability can be very challenging...
especially for students.
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Our team examined the user discomforts that individuals face with their current electronic calendars. We addressed these challenges in our human-centric design, tackling those inconveniences.
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Research: Observations and Interviews
User Interviews: Current Calendar Application Pain Points
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Through user interviews, our team explored common frustrations experienced with calendar applications.
Here's what we found:
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Users expressed a desire for the ability to click on an event and view a description below it.
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They also requested a monthly display that includes event details.
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Additionally, users indicated a need for general reminders for daily tasks that don't require specific time intervals.
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Image by pch.vector on Freepik
Task-Based Observations: Sharing a Schedule
Our team observed six college students and how they interacted with their mobile planner apps. Participants were asked to create and share an event within the app, and their actions were recorded and analyzed for insights into usability and potential improvements.
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None of the participants utilized the app's inherent sharing functionality; instead, they resorted to screenshotting their schedules for sharing. Their primary applications lacked the necessary feature for event sharing seamlessly through multiple forms of media.
Design Critique: Low-Fidelity Prototypes
With user needs identified, our team started developing low and medium fidelity prototypes.
Our design process involved iterative cycles, incorporating user testing and integrating feedback from respondents. Every deliverable was presented and received evaluations from instructors, teacher assistants, and peers.
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Final Low-Fidelity Prototype Driven by User Tasks
User selects the event
User is navigated to the
event detail screen
User can choose to share the event on the SHARE screen
User is brought to the contact screen for sharing
Med-Fidelity Prototype: Inspection Method and Explanation
Inspection Method: What is a Cognitive Walkthrough?
A cognitive walkthrough in UX design involves simulating the user's thought process as they perform tasks within a system. This method helps designers identify usability issues from the user's perspective and make improvements to enhance the overall user experience.
We conducted a cognitive walkthrough by assigning tasks such as inviting a friend to an event and scheduling an event on the calendar. This method aimed to enhance our understanding of user interaction with our platform.
These tasks included:
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Inviting a friend to a scheduled event
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Scheduling an event on their calendar
Fortunately, users navigated the app efficiently. Feedback mainly centered on extending existing features, including event creation and cancellation, adding extra screens for event creation, and adjusting icon colors for better user guidance.
Change the color of the dot under dates, to guide user to the overlay menu feature
Cognitive Walkthrough: Assigned Tasks
Make it less complicated, there were too many screens
Create and cancel
events feature
Feature to accept/decline invitations
High-Fidelity Prototype: Usability Tests
We conducted usability tests with twelve participants, facilitated by two team members - one as a facilitator and the other as an observer. Tasks were assigned to analyze platform navigation, allowing our team members to thoroughly inspect the usability of our high-fidelity test, noting any design problems that might hinder novice users. We evaluated the system's learnability from the perspective of users who have never interacted with the application.
At the end of each session, participants provided valuable feedback and suggestions on our prototype, enabling us to make iterative improvements toward our final prototype.
Iterations Made:
The green-highlighted buttons are now responsive; they alter upon user tap.
The time is changeable from 12am to 11pm. The time for start and end changes when user taps on it