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Jacobo Z. Leyendecker
Putting the “good” back in morning.
Telling the story of Wake Up Call from early research, to design, to final testing.
The Problem
85% of people globally use an alarm clock as the primary tool to wake up. The problem is not the efficacy of the alarm clock. The problem is the relationship that we have with the alarm clock. Rather than feeling excited to get up out of bed, instead we feel dreadful, anxious, and maybe a little annoyed.
How might we begin to wake up feeling energized?
How might we reduce feelings of disruptive annoyance?
How might we start looking forward to the mornings?
How might we become excited to wake up?
Secondary Research
Secondary research is crucial in being able to fully understand a problem. In order to identify potential users and find relevant solutions, it was important to first understand the data as it pertained to current methods of practice.
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85% of Americans use an alarm clock to wake up, and roughly 83% of those people use their smartphone as their alarm clock.
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57% of Americans regularly press snooze.
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37% of 20–39-year-olds report short sleep duration,
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40% of 40–59-year-olds report short sleep duration,
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Morning struggles can be caused by - insomnia, sleep apnea, sleep deprivation, etc.
Primary Research & Analysis
After having conducted secondary research, it was time to dive into user interviews and begin analyzing different synthesis methods to better understand the experiences of users. The research plan would consist of 13 screener surveys to ensure that the participants were applicable based off their methods of waking up and whether they fall under the percentile of people identified from the secondary research.
Once the surveys were complete, it was time to put together an interview discussion guide. This discussion guide would serve as the template for the five user interviews that followed. The results following the user interviews provided great feedback regarding users’ methods of waking up, and what they liked or disliked about their own unique experiences. (Click here for full discussion guide).
The results following the user interviews gave strong first impressions that waking up with an alarm was not an enjoyable experience. The real surprise however, came later once all the information was compiled within the affinity mapping process.
Affinity Mapping
Now that the surveys and interviews were complete, it was time to start narrowing down the different user experiences into their own related subunits. The first step in the list of different synthesis methods was to develop an affinity map shown below.
(Click here for more information on the affinity map process).
Findings
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Empathy Mapping
Before developing the final user personas, it was important to first develop empathy maps. These maps helped in organizing observations and quotes that were collected from the user interviews. In addition, these empathy maps also helped to better understand the thoughts and behaviors of the different user types.
Based on the research collected, it was clear that the end solution to this problem would be best served by two main user types. User types 1 and 2 are similar in their dissatisfaction with the current norm, but they both have very different backgrounds. User type 1 is a young adult with a swing schedule who is either in school or managing a part-time job. User type 2 is middle-aged and operates around a fixed schedule with better time management skills. The images below go into greater detail in breaking down each user type’s feelings and expressions regarding their own unique lifestyles.
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User Personas
Personas help in answering the question "Who am I designing this product for?” Based on the user interviews, affinity, and empathy maps, I was able to develop two different user types.
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User type 1 “Daniel Stuart”, is somebody who has a lot of difficulties waking up. Having an alarm is important for Daniel since his wake times vary. He tends to press the snooze button a lot since he struggles to wake up and as a result, tends to rush in to get ready in the morning.
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User type 2 “Luz Trevino”, is somebody who although does not struggle as much to wake up, by no means enjoys the action of waking up. She has maintained a consistent work/life balance for several years, so her mornings have very much become routine for her. Luz does not press snooze very often, but she still considers getting out of bed her “least favorite thing.”
Jobs to be done - JTBD
In order to fully understand what the users need, and what is important to them, developing a JTBD chart is helpful in encapsulating the main jobs/needs statements into a main 5-element chart.
Key Insights + Main Takeaways
Having officially wrapped up the research portion of the project, it was now time to document the main takeaways and locate any key insights that were discovered before officially moving on to the ideation and design stage. These were the findings:
Early Ideations
Based on all the research conducted, it was obvious that the solution couldn’t be a new alarm but rather an entirely new application. This application would solve the problem of annoyance and disruption by replacing it with interactive personalized solutions. Replacing that dreadful feeling in the morning would now be remedied in ways that are more humane and less artificial. To accomplish this, the new Wake Up Call app will feature three “wake-up methods”, all with unique ways of waking you up.
The first method will be via a personal message from friends or family that can be set up in audio or video formats. The second method will be via an interactive session. When the sound goes off at the set time, a session will start playing by utilizing the mic on the phone to hear your response to different questions being asked. Whether it’s a numbers game, or a “finish the lyric” game, this method is sure to activate your brain in a way that is new and exciting. And lastly, the third method will be that of an old-school alarm clock with new school sounds and features. This was the template of the Wake Up Call application. It was now time to bring it to life starting with early ideations.
User Flow Development
Creating sitemaps and user flow charts was an integral part of the app’s early development stage. During this process, it was important that the application served all its main needs in an easy-to-use way. (Click here for the full site map). (Click here for the full user flow chart).
Low Fidelity Wireframes
Now that the user flows and basic sketches were complete, guerilla usability testing was conducted to ensure that the app was functional at the basic level. These tests were very useful in understanding the user’s thoughts while looking at each frame. My findings led me to make slight modifications to two key features, the time selection, and the favorites selection. With that information being recorded I was able to then create wireframes that better served all user types. (Click here for the low-fidelity wireframes).
Mood Board
The first step in developing Wake Up Call’s visual design started with a mood board. I wanted the app to be soft on the eyes with colors that are typically associated with sleep. The mood board set the tone for what I wanted the user to feel while using the app. Once the primary colors were selected, secondary and accent colors were added. These colors will represent unique icons and buttons within Wake Up Call.
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Color Palette
The colors that were selected for Wake Up Call reflect the experience that should be felt throughout the app. The primary colors are dark and mellow representing a sense of tranquility, while the accent colors are bright and distinguishable for unique cases where certain actions will be required.
Fonts
Wake Up Call utilizes three different font types. These fonts will be used to translate different information or to signal an action. These fonts were selected because they align with the application’s goal of being simple and pleasant. The modern face of Jura combined with the smooth edges of Exo 2 and Verdana tie the entire application together with a user experience that is clean and simple with a modern flare.
Iconography
These are all the icons found in the Wake Up Call application. These icons are located within the tab bar and have descriptions for each icon located at the bottom. The smaller icons below are found within different areas of the app. Home, Sessions, Messages, Profile, and Favorites display in the magenta color while selected.
UI Elements
These UI elements include examples of buttons, alerts, button groups, and forms. These UI elements stay consistent with the brand color palette, brand fonts, and industry UI standards for an easy-to-use experience.
Imagery
The imagery behind Wake Up Call is specifically designed to represent the brand’s attributes of simple, personal, and pleasant. The simple bliss of a starry night with the personal connection of a morning message after a pleasant night’s rest.
High Fidelity Mockups
From the mellow nighttime color theme to the simple yet modern typography, this final mockup iteration checks all the boxes of being simple, personal, and pleasant. At this stage in the design process, minor corrections are made to ensure optimal user accessibility. A color contrast checker was utilized as a part of the accessibility audit.
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Accessibility Audit
The purpose of the accessibility audit was to assess the app’s level of accessibility and to identify key issues that might have prevented it from being fully accessible to all users. Here are the findings:
High Fidelity Prototype
And at long last, with all visual design elements combined, brings the high fidelity prototype. Now came the time to put Wake Up Call to the test. From combining the research, sketches, wireframes, and design processes, a first iteration prototype was now ready to be tested.
(Click here for the full prototype).
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Usability Test Plan
And Having been able to successfully test out the app’s usability was very important to further synthesize my research in order to get a better understanding of the users and their feedback. I conducted 5 usability tests, 3 were in person and 2 were done remotely each lasting between 20 - 30 minutes. The participants that I tested were male and female between the ages of 21 and 60 with different occupations. Each participant was asked to think verbally and to be as detailed as one can be in order to better understand the thought process that occurred within each test.
Usability Test Results
After the first round of testing, the results gave a very good indication that the Wake Up Call prototype was very easy and intuitive to use. All participants were able to navigate through all of the app’s red routes without any major hesitations. From the login/create account screen, to the wake-up method selection screen, all the users were able to easily understand where selections had to be made with one exception. The Interactive Session selection icons were slightly small which led users with vision issues to squint more than I felt was appropriate.
To remedy this problem, I made sure to increase the legibility of anything that I felt might be too difficult to read. Once the appropriate changes were made, the second round of testing was conducted with the same questions and user-type criteria except with five new participants. The results after round two proved to be more positive than the first. Users of all ages made selections much quicker in a more fluid manner than round one with very positive feedback being shared towards the ladder of each test. (Click here for the full report).
Conclusion
When I first decided that I wanted to fix the problem of morning frustrations, I did not know where the solution would lead me. I always knew that many people despised their alarm clock but I never knew why. After having conducted extensive research on how people go about their sleep and morning routines, it became very apparent that the problem was not the alarm clock but rather our relationship with the alarm clock. This new discovery led me to develop Wake Up Call.
Wake Up Call operates with the same efficacy as a classic alarm clock in the sense that it will wake you up. The difference, however, is in the manner that it wakes you up. Rather than being awoken by sirens and sounds that can only be described as annoying, Wake Up Call creates a sense of encouragement and excitement. The way it accomplishes this is by giving you the option to decide exactly how and by whom you will be awoken. Maybe you want to be awoken by a voice message sent by your mother, or maybe you want to be awoken by the voice of your favorite celebrity, or maybe you want to make your brain work by setting up an interactive session using voice response. Giving users the option in deciding what method of waking up is best for them creates levels of personalized excitement. Wondering what voice message your best friend left you only to be awoken by it can very well be the start of an amazing day, and eventually an amazing routine.
As a result of countless hours studying probable solutions and redesigning numerous frames, buttons, and icons, Wake Up Call successfully executes its designed purpose, to put the “good” back in morning.
Jacobo Z. Leyendecker