Emotions
Designing a new seat reservation app for movie theatres, making it appealing for the users and easy to use
Project overview
Emotions is a versatile tool that is suitable for people of all ages and backgrounds who want to track their moods, understand their emotions better, and improve their emotional wellbeing. Whether you're a busy professional, a student, or a stay-at-home parent, Emotions makes it easy to prioritize your emotional health and make positive changes in your life! :D
I worked on this project by myself from January 2023 to March 2023 while taking the Google course for UX design. I was responsible for conducting interviews and surveys, digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility and iterating on designs.
The problem
Many individuals seem to lack emotional awareness and understanding, which can lead to various mental health issues, including stress and anxiety.
Emotions offers:
(And more :D)
Goals
Design an app and a responsive website that:
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promotes emotional intelligence
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allows users to gain insights about their feelings
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contributes to the betterment of mental health and wellbeing
I started by interviewing some potential users in order to gain some knowledge about what their needs were. I was surprised to find out that they were more intrigued about learning about their feelings than what I was expecting.
I conducted a usability study, based on the initial designs, using a low-fidelity prototype. This was an unmoderated usability study involving 5 users that were a part of my target audience (teens and adults who sometimes don't understand their feelings or want to learn more about certain behaviours).
Besides the first usability study, I continuously asked for feedback from family and friends, in order to make sure that the design was user-friendly.
Research
Main challenges and constraints
Limited research: similar to the Cinemate app and website, although I conducted interviews and surveys to understand users' needs, there may be a larger number of users who have different preferences or pain points that I didn't get to explore.
Limited knowledge: since this tool I was trying to design needed some psychology knowledge in order to be accurate, I tried my best to do my research. But still, I'm no psychologist and for its creation it would be necessary to contact at least one.
Wireframes
I started making the digital wireframes based on the interviewed user’s needs, plus implementing some other ideas I thought might be useful for some users, such as the medication reminders.
Final design
When designing the mockups, I decided to change the Home Page look so that it can be more intuitive for some users. I decided to substitute the displayed emotions by a gif of a cat which changes its facial expressions and adding a "Add your mood" button next to it. I also changed the order of some elements of the home page, such as the week's mood flow being displayed at the top.
Medication
Some users reminded me that the medication could be taken at different times in the same day or not all days. So I had to redesign a little that part of the app.
Precaution
If a user checks the box of a pill that would have been taken too early, a pop-up would appear, alerting the user.
Adding the mood
Adding the mood of the day is easy for the user, since they are guided step by step, and each of them is optional
Social Agenda
When designing the mockups, I also considered relevant adding a section similar to the previous one, but for the people that the users has interacted with that day.
Statistics
Here, the user can see the evolution of their mood overtime and what could have influenced it, including the people that the user wrote about.
Responsive Website
After completing the app design, I started working on designing the responsive website. The designs for screen variations included mobile, tablet and desktop. Some of the features were left exclusively for the app, such as the social agenda and mood input, but the inputs of the mood tracking could still be visualised on the website.
Results
Although Emotions was not developed, the impact of its design can still be highlighted based on the insights gathered from user research.
By providing users with a platform to track their moods and gain insights into their emotions, Emotions has the potential to promote emotional awareness, improve mental health, and ultimately contribute to the betterment of society.
What I learned
I gained valuable insights into the importance of user research, the iterative design process, and the importance of user-centred design principles. Additionally, the design of Emotions has provided me with an opportunity to explore innovative design solutions and user-friendly interfaces that meet the needs of a diverse range of users. :D
Next steps
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Conduct further user research to gain deeper insights into user needs and preferences.
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Refine the design to make it even more user-friendly and intuitive.