What is Today?
An application that helps the user take control of their day and make the planning of the day a habit in and of itself.
In order to arrive at the final result above there was extensive research completed and a very simple user flow developed. With the focus being mainly on the creation of tasks and planning the day. The research also determined the need for a calendar and a visual representation of the day’s tasks.
Today is broken down into 3 distinct stages: Getting Started- Day Planning - Calendar
Getting Started
Upon creating an account the user is prompted to answer a series of questions. The answers will help determine when the app will send notifications to the user as well as when to reset the day so that the next can be planned. These questions range from planning time preference to wake up and bed times. These answers also inform how the calendar is displayed for each individual user.
Day Planning
The first screen here is the opening screen the user sees upon first opening the app in the morning or after their specified time for planning in the evening. This helps the user get in the habit of making this day planner.
Routines are individual tasks or blocks of tasks that the user does on a regular basis and can be saved to the pull up menu for ease of adding to the user’s day.
Calendar
The Calendar keeps track of the user’s overall progress on keeping up with and completing tasks. The calendar is different than other productivity apps as this calendar is for “Events” and looking at past progress. “Events” are things that require the user to either attend or make a final submission/presentation. As these are tasks that are not within the user’s control the user can schedule these in advance so they know they are coming, but only through the calendar.
Reflection
This was my very first UI Design Project. There was a lot to learn. A new software. Working in only 2 dimensions. Measuring things in pixels. A lot of new things, but then there was a lot of old things. Sketching out ideas. Iterating a problem through an ever morphing solution until the “right” answer pops into your head. Then transition the sketch to the digital space, which triggers a whole new set of ideas and “solutions.” I put these words, “right” and “solution” in quotes because they represent the product that I arrived at through this process. It does not mean they are the Right answer or the Solution to the problem. That is the beauty of design. My “solution” will be different from your “solution.” but through the design process we may arrive at similar destinations and come up with similar facts. I can only imagine what an entire team can come up with when collaborating on such problems as productivity.
