Sleep Ease
Sleep Ease is a sleep-tracking app aimed at helping users improve sleep quality through features like coffee intake tracking, personalized sleep routines, and sleep pattern analysis. It targets adults aged 18-60 experiencing sleep difficulties.
This case study catalogs the journey and development of Sleep Ease, the innovative app designed to help you achieve the perfect night's sleep. Our app combines advanced sleep tracking, personalized bedtime routines, and soothing sounds to ensure you wake up refreshed and revitalized.
I. Project Overview
Affinity Map
Empathy Map
User Persona
Site Map
Wireframes
Deliverables
Tools
Figma
Miro
Google Docs
My Role
UX Designer
Timeline
October 2023 - June 2024
Problem
Many individuals struggle with sleep quality due to environmental factors, caffeine intake, daytime napping, technology use, and unstructured bedtime routines.
Solution
I created an app that helps users monitor their coffee intake, naps, and sleep patterns. This app gives a clear view of what affects sleep, allowing users to make better choices for improved rest.
Demographic
This study focuses on adults aged 18-60 who have trouble sleeping. This age range includes people managing various responsibilities like school, work, and family, which can cause sleep issues. The goal is to explore the different factors affecting sleep at various adult stages and create effective strategies to improve sleep quality for this group.
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Psychological Principles in Sleep:
Circadian rhythms, regulated by light exposure and melatonin, synchronize sleep-wake cycles. Stress impacts sleep via the HPA axis, causing hyper-alertness. Psychological factors, like sleep expectations and the limbic system, also influence sleep quality.
II. Research
Three key insights emerged from my secondary research.
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Demographic Challenges:
Children, high school students, and adults often experience short sleep. Single parents, especially women, face unique obstacles affecting sleep quality.
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Contributing Factors:
Chronic insomnia is linked to stress, trauma, and circadian disruptions. Poor habits like irregular sleep schedules, excessive screen time, and unhealthy diets worsen sleep difficulties.
User Research
User research was conducted with fifteen participants to understand their pain points and preferences regarding sleep quality. Surveys were initially distributed, and five participants were selected for in-depth interviews conducted via Zoom. During these interviews, participants shared their personal experiences with sleep disturbances, revealing a desire for simple, engaging, and dependable solutions to improve their sleep.
Through these conversations, I developed personas by creating empathy and affinity maps, which helped identify common themes and emotions. This process allowed me to pinpoint the participants' pain and gain points by analyzing what they said, felt, did, and thought regarding their sleep challenges.
Affinity Map
During affinity mapping, I organized each participant's notes without sorting them by sentiment. Instead, I focused on labeling each note with the participant's name to maintain clarity and traceability. This approach allowed me to gather a wide range of insights without biasing the data towards specific categories. After collecting all the notes, I grouped them based on common themes and patterns that emerged across participants' experiences with sleep and sleep-related issues.
Personas
Developing personas, such as Lauren Sleepwell, was instrumental in deepening my understanding of the varied challenges individuals encounter in achieving restful sleep. These personas provided invaluable insights into the complexities of sleep troubles, enabling a more empathetic and targeted approach to solution design. By categorizing personas based on their interests, motivations, and pain points, I gained a nuanced understanding of user needs, guiding the development of tailored solutions. This process not only enhanced my empathy but also bridged the gap between user expectations and product development, ultimately fostering healthier sleep habits and improved well-being.
Empathy Mapping
I utilized empathy mapping to compile each participant's thoughts, emotions, statements, and behaviors. This approach facilitated a deeper understanding of their pain points and benefits. By analyzing this information, I was able to collect sufficient insights to begin creating sketches based on my findings from these interactions.
How Might We Questions
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How might we mitigate the impact of environmental factors on sleep quality to create a more conducive sleeping environment?
How might we discourage or mitigate the occurrence of daytime napping in the routines of remote workers, contributing to better overall sleep quality?
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How might we support individuals in managing caffeine intake to minimize its impact on sleep quality?
How might we reduce the reliance on technology before bedtime to create a more conducive environment for relaxation and improved sleep quality?
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How might we enhance and tailor bedtime routines to promote relaxation and better sleep preparation, contributing to improved overall sleep quality?
In framing HMW statements, I aimed to constructively delineate the problem space, allowing for exploration of potential solutions without premature restriction. Crafting these questions provided insights into diverse pain points, including environmental influences, technological habits, and caffeine sensitivity. These insights form the foundation for generating innovative solutions to multifaceted sleep challenges, fostering a deeper understanding of user experiences and preferences in sleep management.
As a user, I want to provide suggestions on how to enhance my sleep environment (lighting, room temperature) to optimize my sleep surroundings.
As a user, I want to integrate with my smart home devices to control lighting and thermostat settings for an optimal sleep environment.
As a user, I want to have optional sleep challenges with rewards to motivate and engage me in improving my sleep habits.
As a user, I want to integrate with popular music streaming services to create personalized bedtime playlists.
As a user, I want to customize the voice recognition settings to better suit my preferences for a more personalized experience.
As a user, I want a community forum where users can share tips, experiences, and support each other in improving sleep quality.
As a user, I want to integrate with popular sleep tracking wearables to enhance the accuracy of sleep pattern analysis.
As a user, I want multi-language support for accessibility so I can use the app in my preferred language.
III. Solution
Site Map
User Flows
I created a user flow to bring clarity to the user journey within the product, enabling a comprehensive understanding of how users interact with the system. In creating the user flow, I gained insights into critical paths, allowing me to prioritize key actions for a seamless user experience. The delineation of red routes provided a focus on the most important features or user journeys.
Wireframes & Wireflows
Starting with sketches, I drew inspiration from popular apps like Sleep Cycle and Pillow, known for their engaging and interactive interfaces. Incorporating similar elements into my app, I focused on creating essential functionalities such as tracking sleep patterns, setting sleep goals, and offering tips for better sleep. Initially, my sketches featured a separate home screen, but I streamlined the user experience by merging it with the dashboard. Additionally, I included a profile icon, which I later removed, integrating the profile functions within the settings. Finalizing the sketches, I imported them into wireframes to refine the design further.
Prototype
Next, I moved into Figma to start designing and prototyping the screens for my sleep app. I focused on key functionalities such as 'Tracking Sleep Patterns' and 'Viewing Sleep Reports.' Additional screens included options like 'Adjusting Sleep Settings' and 'Daily Schedules.' I incorporated design elements based on the iOS Design Systems to ensure a cohesive and intuitive user experience.
Designing the screens was the most engaging part of the process, and I was eager to start prototyping. Prototyping presented its own set of challenges. I implemented an interactive feature where clicking the 'Track Your Coffee' button would add a shot of coffee to the tracker. Additionally, I ensured that users could easily navigate back to previous screens, enhancing the app's usability.
IV. User Testing
I asked five participants to perform usability testing. These tasks were designed to assess the app's functionality and ease of use. Users were asked to complete the following tasks:
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Log in using their username and password
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Log their coffee intake
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Set up a sleep schedule by changing the morning alarm
Check their daily schedule
Testing Results
During the first round of usability testing, users appreciated the design and layout of the sleep app but provided feedback on several areas needing improvement. I had 3 consistent issues that I later resolved.
All users were unable to find the track my coffee button so I resolved that issue by moving it up on the screen
Some users thought the AI section was a button and kept on trying to click on it to change their alarm. I resolved that issue by changing the layout.
Some user were unsure whether to click the wake up or bed time option, when changing their alarm. I resolved this issue by combining it into one sleep-wake option
Interactive Prototype
Click here to view
V. Learnings
Throughout the process of researching, interviewing, designing, building, and testing my first app in Figma, I gained invaluable experience as a designer. Initially, the process seemed lengthy, but I am confident that with further experience and a deeper understanding of UX/UI Design, my skills will continue to improve. I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the project, from building and designing to interviewing and testing with users.
Other Projects
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