OVERVIEW
THE PROBLEM
THE OPPORTUNITY
DISCOVERY & RESEARCH
THE CURRENT MARKET
THE CHALLENGE
DWELL'S KEY WORKFLOWS
DESIGN SYSTEM
FINAL PRODUCT
WHAT'S NEXT
LESSONS LEARNED
OVERVIEW
Tackling productivity with smart focus and beautiful simplicity.
Why do people feel unproductive despite working so many hours? I conducted research on the true meaning of productivity frustrations and prototyped a smart, quick, powerful assistant to help you do it all while feeling good.
ROLE
Product Designer
YEAR
2025
TOOLS
Figma, Miro
DELIVERABLES
Mobile App Design, User Research, Wireframes, Prototypes, User Testing
(verb) to remain for a time, or to keep the attention directed.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
THE PROBLEM
The struggle is real. Productivity burnout affects almost half of the working population.
*Quotes from user interviews.
THE CURRENT MARKET
What are productivity apps and why do they help us?
THE OPPORTUNITY
The user research said…
too many tools exist in people's productivity lifecycle, but an overwhelming number of things to write down and remember where it was written, resulting in a loss of motivation.
So I thought…
there should be an automated, integrable,, and emotionally rewarding way to juggle multiple responsibilities and increase motivation.
And then I built…
a smart, multi-feature productivity app that feels simple, yet can automatically sort and create items, and is customizable to increase motivation and overall happiness.
DISCOVERY & RESEARCH
To understand productivity on a deeper level…
I conducted 1:1 interviews, data analysis from articles and studies, and an online survey.
KEY QUESTIONS
How do you stay productive?
How do you juggle multiple priorities?
What keeps you motivated to pursue your career goals or passions?
If you could have one magical tool today to help you with productivity, what would it be and why?
*Quotes from user interviews.
THE CHALLENGE
So what?
Design something familiar but intuitive, powerful and easy to use.
KEY ACTIONABLE STEPS
(1) People use calendars almost daily, so prioritize this feature.
(2) Make task organization and input fast and simple for quick and easy interaction.
(3) Help users do more, quickly, reducing mental load with accessibility (eg. search bars, filters)
(4) Use visual aids for progress tracking and clean UI to create satisfaction and simulate motivation.
DWELL'S KEY WORKFLOWS
But… another tool to learn? Let's make this as easy as 1, 2, 3!
Quick, smart task input.
Users request commands and DWELL uses smart tasks and events to automatically create, schedules and sort your things to do according to date, priority, tags, and more.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
I designed a system to help users create different task/event views and filters for ease of access through user testing, card sorting, and tree testing.
Hover over circles to see more insights.
Personalized, interactive onboarding.
This seamless, 3-step onboarding experience is focused on allowing users to directly interact with DWELL's features while learning about them.
DESIGNING THE ONBOARDING EXPERIENCE
STEP 1
STEP 2
STEP 3
High-fidelity onboarding user flow.
Onboarding user flow.
Low-fidelity wireframes.
The goal?
Reduce cognitive load, eliminate frustration, and make productivity feel effortless from the very first interaction.
DESIGN SYSTEM
What should it look like?
Clean, simple sans serif typeface with light and dark mode.
THE FINAL PRODUCT
Within 8 weeks, Dwell was born.
Built with 5 main features and user tested live through 1:1 video calls. Two more rounds of feedback led to this final iteration.
(1) VIEW & ADD TASKS
Tasks can be viewed at a glance in four different ways for efficiency and ease: All, Today, Late, and Scheduled.
Users may add tasks in one click from any page by tapping the "+" button.
Left screen: Add task
Right screen: View tasks
(2) IN-APP CALENDAR & DATE PICKER
The in-app calendar and date picker comes in handy for visual learners.
(3) STATISTICS AND FOCUS TRACKING
The statistics feature gives users a bird's eye view of their progress for users who want to zoom out.
(4) FOCUS TIMER
The pomodoro tool is helpful for users who want to do deep work and get several tasks done in one work session.
To maximize emotional satisfaction for users, nature sounds and colour customization are included.
(5) FOCUS SPACES
A 'Focus Space' is a space you want to focus on one aspect of your life.
The focus space allows users to prioritize and organize different facets of their life.
Light and dark mode available for users who want to personalize their space to increase motivation.
NEXT STEPS
What's next with DWELL?
Based on user feedback, these are features I would prioritize in order of importance and impact.
LESSONS LEARNED
My three learnings!
MOTUS
