University of Washington

Project timeline

Total duration – 6 months

Research

During the first eight weeks, my primary goal was to deeply understand the problem space and our users. Our team began with thorough research, conducting interviews, followed by desk research and a competitive analysis. From there, we developed user archetypes and journey maps to guide us in brainstorming solutions tailored to user needs. By the end of the sprint, we had generated four distinct concepts, which we tested with end users during concept testing. This process sparked new ideas and provided valuable insights, ultimately reshaping our understanding of the problem.

The tension: guilt, FOMO

Wellness & Fulfillment Seekers and Social Connectors are frustrated. They feel they are in a toxic relationship with technology because they can’t live without it due to societal reliance, yet they suffer negative physical & mental consequences due to distractions that come with tech.
Seekers and Connectors both struggle with the constant distractions presented by modern technology. Both feel they need help to balance using technology for necessities and being entirely distracted by it.

• Fear of missing out (FOMO)
• Feeling guilty for wasting time on meaningless media
• Overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information

As a result, both Seekers and Connectors experience a diminished sense of personal fulfillment and struggle to establish meaningful connections with others.

The Opportunity: Set Boundaries and Build Better Habits

To help Seekers and Connectors build a healthy relationship with technology by helping them set boundaries, develop better habits, and create more conscious and interpersonal experiences. This is aimed at improving physical and mental well-being while avoiding unintentional distraction and wasted time.

• Highlighting screen time for awareness
• Restricting options for distraction
• Disrupt unconscious habits
• Diminish doom scrolling

Through similar algorithms currently used to personalize content delivery on social media platforms and ads, we can create tailored technological experiences based on individual preferences and behaviors. These algorithms can aim to adjust to each user’s relationship with technology to help them establish boundaries, especially around doom scrolling, notification fatigue and social media usage.
This approach emphasizes the importance of promoting a harmonious relationship with technology, where individuals can actively shape their digital interactions to align with their well-being and unique requirements.

Ideation – How Might We

Our team utilized FigJam for brainstorming and idea generation. We began by completing two ‘How Might We’ matrices, one for each archetype. Afterward, we clustered the ideas and voted on those that would provide the most value to our users.

To enhance the ideas, all of our teammates worked separately on their clusters with the help of value cards shown below.

I selected the “Decision Making” value card to highlight opportunity costs for the user. This involves identifying and understanding all opportunities and their associated costs—such as time, outcomes, and value—within the experience, to simplify the decision-making process.

My concept – Calmlens app

After the entire team completed the research, it was time for each member to choose their concept and begin developing it independently.
During our interviews, all users acknowledged spending too much time doomscrolling and feeling hopeless, expressing a need for support and boundaries from an app. This feedback inspired me to develop my concept, Calmlens.

Value Proposition

For social media users who are looking to reduce time spent doomscrolling, our Calmlens app replaces infinite scrolling with pagination and gradually mutes colors in the social media feed after a set amount of content is viewed so that doomscrolling becomes less visually appealing, helping users become more aware of how much time they’ve spent on social media.

Scenario

Working professional juggling a demanding job and family responsibilities, feeling overwhelmed by the constant flood of information on social media, leading to mindless scrolling during their limited downtime. Intrigued by the promise of a more mindful experience, they decide to integrate Calmlens into their digital routine.

Concept

Calmlens is the solution for social media users seeking mindful interaction. By promoting intentional usage and providing insights on time spent, Calmlens empowers users to break free from doom scrolling, fostering a more balanced and mindful digital lifestyle.

Key Highlights

• infinite scrolling replaced with pages to introduce natural pauses
• gradually muted colors after set content threshold
• notifications displaying time investment and suggesting more productive alternatives.

Lo-Fi Wireframe Sketches

Using insights from our research, I sketched possible solutions to address our How Might We statement.

User flows

After brainstorming features and prioritizing them, I expanded on the ideas by creating task flows to illustrate how users might interact with them.

Research Methodology: Concept Testing

Primary Research Approach

We conducted concept testing with six participants to collect qualitative and quantitative feedback on various concepts.

• We asked questions regarding their feelings towards the concept, including what they liked/disliked about the concept. 
• If the participant felt that something was missing/could be changed, we asked how they would do it
• Participants then chose the concept that spoke the most to them

Following the concept test study, each participant completed a survey about the concepts to rank the features from order of most important to least important to them to have in their picked concept.

Key findings

From four of the concepts presented during concept testing, most of the users chose Calmlens as the preferred one.

Why was Calmlens concept chosen the most?

• It offers a user-friendly and non-intrusive approach to personal productivity and digital well-being. 
• Users value the app’s subtle reminders to take breaks, like content graying out and time-spent notifications, finding them helpful without feeling bombarded by questions or tasks.
• Use of emojis to represent goals in the app, finding it to be a visually appealing and enjoyable feature

Future Study Recommendations

For future study, we should explore the feasibility of implementing the preferred Calmlens concept. We should also look into the longevity of how effective the concept would be in deterring the user from doomscrolling long term.

• How can we effectively persuade social media companies to embrace user-centric concepts, even if it means potentially sacrificing some revenue?

• Investigate strategies to encourage tech companies to prioritize user well-being over short-term financial gains, fostering a more sustainable and ethical digital environment.

• Explore strategies and incentives that could motivate social media companies to transition towards more user-centric approaches. This could include government policies, industry standards, or public recognition.

Next steps for Calmlens

• Add procrastination timer (ex. you have 4 more minutes to spend today on social media)
• Introduce a feature that allows users to establish a designated “hard stop” by setting a predefined duration of social media access

Mid-fi prototyping

The images depict the onboarding and settings screens of the Calmlens app. It guides users through tailoring the app to support mindful social media use.

The images below depict Instagram search screens and time-based notifications.

Usability study

Usability study plan

User Feedback

Hi-fi prototyping

Mood board

I created two mood boards that emphasize mindfulness, nature, and a calming digital experience.

I started the mood board design, but halfway through, it didn’t match the calming and relaxing feel users wanted. So, I decided to begin again with the second mood board.

Style guide

Prototype

Retrospective

Calmlens was born out of the desire to tackle the growing issue of digital distractions and doomscrolling on social media. Through extensive research, including user interviews and competitive analysis, our team identified key pain points: users feeling overwhelmed by social media, a lack of self-discipline, and guilt over wasted time.

During concept testing, participants appreciated the personalized insights and subtle interventions, though some expressed concerns about needing more substantial reinforcement to break habits. This feedback led to the development of features like a procrastination timer and a “hard stop” setting.

This project taught me the importance of creating user-centered solutions that balance usability with behavior change. The positive reception of Calmlens reinforced my commitment to designing technology that aligns with users’ well-being.