I had originally imagined Nibble on a mobile-only interface, but we found that a progressive web app (PWA) would fit our needs better. It would be a website, but it could easily be designed for a mobile-interface. Users can also access our app from their home screen if they wanted to as well. I also entertained the idea of using a currency and having the user 'unlock' more pets and accessories if they were productive, but due to time and energy constraints, we scrapped that idea for a later time.
We also had a lot of different ideas on how we could incorporate Mochi, our digital pet. We wanted him to be interactive, but not overbearing. We decided that he could change his appearance based on how productive the user has been; if they were not productive, he'd be in his pajamas. If they were, he'd be fed and he'd start getting out of bed; like a daily routine. We also adapted terminology to better fit our theme; when the user breaks down their tasks, they'll get 'meals', 'nibbles', and 'bites',
It's easy for apps to fall victim to feature creep, and Nibble is no exception. Our team had several ideas that may be cool in theory, but in reality, would only get in the way of the user's goals. We narrowed down two key actions that we knew would best help our user: planning (organizing, making a to-do list, prioritization), and execution (actually doing the thing you planned). We also figured out some key strategies that most people use when they're trying to be productive:
After a round of testing, we found that users were having trouble breaking down their tasks because of our wording. Users don't break down their tasks by time, they break it down sequentially, or in milestones. For example; studying for an exam. Most users don't break it down by 30 minute increments, but instead perhaps by topic or by chapter.
We also found that users wanted a more streamlined flow. We had each part of the process broken down into pages (creating sub-tasks, priority, etc) and it would be more efficient if we condensed this process into one page.
Brooke, our developer, was able to successful deploy this project for our capstone project. Here you can see the new task view, as well as the task flow for getting work done with the timer.