Family Email App:
An Omni Channel for Family Communication
For link to Figma prototype, click here.
Project Context:
3 Week Design Sprint
Team of 4 UX/UI designers
Client Project
Responsibilities:
User Research
UX Design Concept
UX Writing & Content Design
Client Communications
I led research, content design and UX writing, as well as design strategy and support.
I also led communications and client relations on behalf of the design team.
THE PROBLEM
Parents need a way to share household chores and parenting more equally, so that they are supporting each other at home and at work, for their family’s economic success.
THE SOLUTION
An Omni-channel for Communication
An omni-channel for communication, the Family Email App increases visibility into tasks, automates frequently needed lists, and helps caregivers equalize work to create more balanced parenting.
With an optional, gamified solution for chores no one wants to claim, Family Email App makes planning night into game night!
Research to design: Features
Integrated calendars for both parties
RESEARCH
“In dual income families, parents tend to share duties because they prioritize the economic security of the family, not because of sharing tasks equally.”
Starting with academic research, we looked at the division of domestic labor, parenting, and work outside the home among traditional and same-sex couples.
We found some surprises:
Findings: User Quotes
These findings are strong trends in our secondary research, user interviews, and survey results. But it left us wondering:
If half of parents using the app have a pain point, and the other half don’t, what would motivate the other user to engage with the app?
The answer lies in solving problems for both users at once and equalizing family work.
To do this, we looked at behavior change models to understand how to help solve both users’ problems.
Fogg’s Behavioral Model: What Causes Behavior Change?
“The Fogg Behavior Model shows that three elements must converge simultaneously for a behavior to occur: Motivation, Ability, and a Prompt. When a behavior does not occur, at least one of those three elements is missing (Behavior Design Lab 2009).”
“Increasing motivation is not always the solution. Increasing ability (making the behavior simpler) is the path for increasing behavior performance.”
We can use this information by making the product as simple and intuitive as possible to increase the adoption rate.
Importing calendars and other tools that parents use to manage tasks would make performing the task easier.
Using recognizable icons and familiar user interfaces simplifies coordination.
”Users who have high ability but low motivation need to have motivation increased, so they cross the behavior activation threshold.”
Prime motivators are pleasure/pain. By adding a gamification feature that parents can use together, such as Family App’s spinner, they can agree on some tasks in a good-natured way.
Another motivating factor is avoiding pain points such as scheduling oversights or an uneven share of chores.
Fogg behavior model. From "BJ Fogg's Behavior Model" by B. J. Fogg, 2018 (www.behaviormodel.org). Copyright 2018 by BJ Fogg.org LLC
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS AND THE GAP
We analyzed the most popular family productivity apps and found that they missed an essential aspect of behavior change to motivate users: enjoyment.
We found that these apps had similar features, but they are based on the idea that both parents will willingly collaborate.
During our research phase, we found that most dual-income families are happy to have a second income but are not happy to do more chores. So the primary parent ends up doing more.
So we needed to understand the psychology of behavior change for parents to benefit from collaborating using the app.
USER INTERVIEWS
We spoke to 12 parents. This is what they had to say:
User Interviews
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
We asked users:
What things do you do?
What things does your partner do?
How do you decide who’s going to do what?
Tell me about a time when you had to plan an activity for your kids?
What is your process for planning family, housework, and parenting?
How is your process working or not working for you?
MAIN INSIGHTS
We talked with parents to understand their needs and challenges. We identified these four key takeaways from the themes that emerged from our conversations.
Key takeaways
Themes that emerged from affinity mapping conversations
Based on what our users told us, this user journey represents a typical family planning scenario.
Journey map: Task, Thoughts, Emotions, Opportunities
This journey map provided an essential guide for features and content. It also was influential in identifying emotional cues to determine tone and voice for microcopy, such as notifications and user prompts.
TESTING + IMPROVEMENTS
The most significant step forward during the design process was stripping away the parts that kept the app from simplicity.
Counterintuitively, this required adding a screen as a central navigation point from which users navigated.
Placing the spinner feature in a spot that was not in the way and kept its use natural to the conversation took a few tries to get right.
We based our mid-fi prototype on explicit designs from our stakeholder. Although the ideas had merit, the challenge was to balance the stakeholder’s vision with research and users’ feedback.
This iteration was a major step forward for our product. Users had trouble understanding what the icons meant since there were several possibilities. We moved toward recognition instead of understanding.
Familiar icons and placement for main buttons and a home screen icon help users navigate back to the app’s main screen and have a sense of location within the app.
Clearer communication using photo avatars, contact details above the conversation, and optional spins feature to make the game a part of the communication. The home screen button gives a familiar sense of location to the user.
Users told us they didn’t feel comfortable randomly assigning a task to their partner. Most would only do so as a part of the conversation with their partner to avoid hard feelings later. Placing the spinner next to the text field helped the feature feel less aggressive to our users and more conversational in tone.
FINAL PRODUCT
STYLE GUIDE
The FEA logo was redesigned to coordinate with a neomorphic style. The logo uses organic curves to suggest arms linked in an embrace around the app initials to emphasize the spirit of togetherness and family.
The color palette was chosen to give users a variety of gender-neutral tones. Bright, cheerful colors reflect the spirit of joy and togetherness that families can bring.
We selected typography based on readability and how clear it looked on a mobile device. We felt it paired well with neomorphic style.
Users expressed that they were collaborative and tried to avoid disagreements when negotiating tasks. They were careful in how they asked for help or participation from their partners. We selected product principles that would respect the balance that users articulated were important to their relationships.
We used the guidelines below to stay consistent and gut-check the writing.
UX WRITING + MICROCOPY
Here’s an example of a push notification screen that embodies efficiency and consideration. We went light on the “playful” principle because it could add inappropriate levity to the situation.
We wanted to avoid accusing users of a mistake and encourage them to focus on communication goals.
Missed task notification
Design rationale
Title
Title case, no punctuation. As a stand alone statement, punctuation here would have a sense of finality and aggression that would not meet the users’ goals.
Sentence 1
The word “alert” is loaded with emotion. We want users to take action, not panic—no punctuation to avoid alarm and defensiveness.
We use a factual statement of the task at hand. It general to both users to avoid responsibility being laid on one person. This is shared ownership because neither has accepted or declined the task. We want to inspire solutions, not arguments.
Sentence 2
A CTA at the end spurs the users to reach out and collaborate to meet their mutual goals. Using considerate language and tone, the user is asked to resolve the problem proactively, with enough time to find solutions.
Age Requirement Error Screen
We kept this screen simple and friendly because the user could be a child. It could also be an adult that entered incorrect information, so we didn’t want to suggest that it could be a child, which might feel patronizing.
We wanted our users’ first encounter with the app to be positive but also mistake and child friendly.
An upside-down smile emoji sends the message that something is not-quite-right but still okay.
There’s a simple explanation and a way to get back to the main screen to correct the issue. An exit also gives a child a way to undo an “oops” they may feel worried about.
Our first version was a frowning emoji. We moved away from the frowning emoji because it was not setting a friendly tone toward mistakes and contained some irregular spelling and semantic mistakes.
Original Error Message
Earlier draft of error message after cue to confirm user age of 13
Revised Error Message
Revised error message following a cue to confirm user’s minimum age of 13
LINK TO FIGMA FILE
CONCLUSIONS + LESSONS LEARNED
Whew! Not only did I learn a lot on this project, but what I already knew was revealed in it.
Here's the breakdown:
Constraints are key- Our constraints were bare minimum data storage and no integration with existing calendar applications. Our research took us in precisely the opposite direction. Users were explicit in wanting to use their existing calendars. Integrated calendars and data storage are key features to lessen the cognitive load for overburdened parents. They are essential pieces for simplifying the complexity of chores, according to Fogg's Behavior Model. This limited the project in significant ways. Ultimately, it's up to stakeholders to decide what to do with the information they're presented with.
Research, research, research- We dedicated a lot of energy to understanding the problems and pain points that users were experiencing and why. We found data that changed or complicated our assumptions. Then we returned to the research to find out how to work with, not against, users' beliefs and attitudes. Sometimes you have to return to the research instead of plowing ahead on design.
Behavior change is hard- Chores where users were close but not equal offered the greatest opportunity to move the needle toward equality. A little change can go a long way, and sometimes that should be the goal. Sometimes success in shaping behavior should be a series of approximations toward an end goal.
Simplicity is complex- Fitting all of the components of family life into an app that doesn't overwhelm and confuse the user is no small thing. We iterated and reiterated our designs and ultimately hit the spot where to simplify, we added more screens with fewer features on each one.
NEXT STEPS
Pre-Made Lists
Ease the cognitive load of parenting and planning through pre-made lists of everyday chores, like shopping for baby, birthday party supplies, or home cleaning
Event Reminders
Automated reoccurring event reminders like dental appointments and checkups, so parents don't have to remember everything
Filter Task by Strengths
Ability to filter and Categorize tasks and different elements of information for better and more flexible organization
Integrate with other services
Grocery shopping lists that integrate with popular apps or delivery services
Citations:
Fogg Behavior model. Behavior Design Lab. (n.d.). Retrieved June 2, 2022, from https://behaviordesign.stanford.edu/resources/fogg-behavior-model