ONWRD - A MILLENNIAL BASED JOURNALING APP
OVERVIEW:
Millennials are redefining milestones differently compared to their parent’s generation; therefore, they need a journal designed to capture moments that normally get missed when life gets hectic.
Role: Researcher, Data Analyst, Layout and Design Lead, Copywriter, Low/High Fidelity Designer, Digital Wireframe Execution, 2021
Tools & Methods: Secondary Research, User Surveys, User Interviews, Card Sorting analysis, Personas, Competitive Audit, Low-fidelity Wireframing, Architecture Diagram, High-Fidelity Wireframes, Sketch, Drawing Paper, Invision Freehand Board, Zoom, Otter, QuickTime Player, Craft, Miro, Google Docs, Canva, Keynote, Invision, Typeform
The Process
Overall, my goal was to define the new millennial milestone and create a journaling app that easily helped users capture life's moments that usually get missed when life gets busy while working toward their next big milestone. Check out the video overview to learn more about ONWRD and keep scrolling to get even more details.
IDENTIFYING MILLENNIAL MILESTONES
Methodology: SECONDARY RESEARCH, USER INTERVIEWS
The millennial generation is redefining milestones differently compared to their parent's generation. Many factors make up the new changing norms, and unfortunately, money has a lot to do with the shift in life's most significant milestones. Through my secondary research and user interviews, I explored what millennials define as the "new milestones."
OLD VS. NEW MILESTONES
Owning a home is NOW paying off dept
Starting a family is NOW when the time is right or becoming a pet parent
Marriage is still important, but millennials are getting married later in life compared to their parents, or being with a lifelong partner is the new milestone
Now that I knew more about milestones, what did Millennials think about the journal and capturing moments? More so, what features and tools would help them stay motivated to keep journaling?
From Business Insider Article: 8 life events millennials are putting off longer than their parents because they can’t afford it, by Hoffower, H. (2019, November 18).
11/14
Users interviewed said they have had tried journaling before but couldn't stick with the habit, but all users interviewed had positive feelings toward journaling or knew the benefits of journaling.
DESIGNING A MILLENNIAL JOURNAL
Methodology: LOVE NOTES & FEATURE SORTING
From my user interviews, I got positive responses about the benefits of journaling and that most of my user group had tried journaling in the past. However, most people gave up because journaling became too hard. I used love notes and feature sorting to help uncover features that would keep users engaged along with features users would like to have or expect to have, feel neutral to, or dislike.
HABIT FORMING INSIGHTS:
Users noted remembering why they started or seeing progress as key needs to help them stick with a new habit
Users also note the need for accountability partners
Marking things easy to use and simple to navigate ranked highly for users
From these learnings, I was inspired to create the brand identity for ONWRD and develop the app.
The above graph shows a user’s feature sorting by things they would like to have, would expect to have, feel neutral to, or would dislike. Other insights were gained from asking users to describe their ideal journaling app along with general interviews.
ONWRD WIREFRAMES - Click on this image to get a better view!
Journal Screen Concept Sketch
ONWRD Icons, click on the image to see this image better.
ONWRD Logo Concept Sketches
ONWRD Dashboard Concept Sketch
ONWRD Homepage Concept Sketches
ONWRD Architecture Diagram - Click on this image to get a better look!
READY TO VIEW ONWRD’S PROTOTYPE?
TUTORIAL OVERVIEW: This prototype tutorial demonstrates the key interactions an ONWRD user would go through after first downloading the mobile app.
RATIONAL: Key features for this app were inspired by user interviewers, feature sorting sessions, and usability testing. These features reflect my user group's need for convenience, ease of use, security settings, and overall a meaningful and personalized product experience.
ONWRD Next Steps:
Create ONWRD as a white label product that millennial-based lifestyle companies (like the knot or Zola) could purchase and rebrand as an additional service to its users. I want to learn what companies look for while seeking out white label products, and tailor ONWRD’s business model accordingly.
