FocusPod
A body doubling mobile app where users join a video call with a maximum of three other users for a chosen amount of time to work silently on their own and be kept accountable by sharing goals and being on camera.
Project type: End-to-end design
Role: End-to-end UX/UI designer
Tools: Figma, FigJam, Zoom
Duration: 7 weeks, June 13 - July 29
Does Body Doubling Work?
Some users have trouble being productive, finishing tasks, chores, and basic self-care due to low motivation, procrastination, poor mental health, and ADHD.
Body doubling, or working alongside another person, is a productivity technique to enhance focus and task completion.
I'm using the design framework to understand users who body double, define the problem, and design the solution.
Research Process
Goal:
I aim to understand how procrastinators stay productive, what factors help or hinder their focus, and how body doubling and video calls influence motivation. Additionally, I seek to identify strengths and gaps in existing body doubling platforms to design a more effective solution.
Objectives
Learn what helps users concentrate on their task and stay productive
Understand how body doubling is helpful
Learn what procrastinators use to finish tasks and find motivation to finish their tasks
Learn what makes it difficult to focus on completing the user’s goal or task
Understand why calling people while doing a task makes users more productive
Competitor Analysis
Key User Insights:
Users expressed that they didn’t like switching to multiple platforms to communicate and plan their events
Users stated that participant interest and turnout was low
Users wished they knew their audience’s preferences to cater the event to them
User Interviews
Research methodology:
6 remote interviews
Age: 23-30
2 participants used body doubling services for studying and doing chores
4 participants virtually body doubled with friends and family
Key User Insights:
Users feel more comfortable with body doubling when their group has a common goal or task
Scheduling a time to body double creates structure and routine
Users have come across distracting individuals in certain body doubling services that have large groups
Define
Persona
After gathering insights, I made two personas that depict students and people who struggle to do their daily chores.
Problem:
I’d like to explore ways to help people who struggle to do their daily chores find a virtual assistant to remind them to do their routine tasks because they feel shame for not being productive.
How might we help people who struggle with daily tasks alone stick to a routine through companionship and support?
Solution:
FocusPod is a mobile body doubling app where up to 4 users connect in a video call to work on their own tasks, such as studying, writing emails, doing chores, taking a productive break, and anything in between. Users could join an ongoing session/pod, create their own, or book future ones to keep accountability and maintain a routine. Additionally, users can filter between desktop tasks and moving tasks to work with people with similar goals and avoid distractions.
Ideation
Prioritization
I created a feature roadmap to prioritize features that best supported user goals. For example, account creation lets users set their goals in the beginning, giving them a higher chance to be grouped with others who share the same focus.
User Flow
Mapping out the user flow helped me visualize how users would enter the app and explore different paths based on their actions. Each user flow visualizes each task. I created a site map, but it didn’t reflect the final product after iterations.
Design Process
I created low-fidelity, mid-fidelity and high fidelity wireframes and iterated them based on mentor feedback and usability tests.
Usability Test
Task:
Sign in
Join a session
Book a future session
Insights:
A user assumed she wouldn’t be accepted to a session if she was not doing a similar task as the host
A user was confused whether the time slots represented the duration or start time for sessions
A user expected to be able to join a session after seeing the preview of the camera on the join page
A user confused a timer for a button
Iterations
Style Tile
I chose green as the primary color because it’s associated with focus, concentration, and calamity, reducing the anxiety of completing any responsibilities and improving mental clarity. The secondary color is orange because it is a good contrast with green.
Since a group of whales is called a pod, the logo symbolizes togetherness and support, referencing some of the brand values. The logo also represents how the app keeps users accountable by being in video chat with a group of people who will support them and their goals.
Final Product
Task: Sign up and join a session
Task: Book a future session
Conclusion
Based on interviews, users who procrastinate work best with people with similar goals and with the thought of an important deadline. FocusPod offers filters to help users find the best session and a way to book future sessions to build a routine.
Challenges:
Exploring multiple references led me to consider many features that helped me prioritize user needs
What I learned:
Reference the persona often and focus on user needs to design key features
What I could have done differently:
Find more people who have used body doubling sites to understand their pain points instead of people who have body doubled in general
Future iterations:
Integrate AI to break down goals
Reward system for the number of sessions finished to increase motivation