Home winning first prize in a design hackathon for enhancing remote work productivity and engagement

remotefit

Remote workers encounter difficulties in managing mental fatigue and stress as remote work continues to redefine the workplace in the post-pandemic world.

Our Work-From-Home Wellness App addresses these challenges by providing solutions that enhance work-life balance and support overall well-being.

Our team, consisting of Ashitosh Hiremath, Mahsa Rad, and myself, embarked on this project during a three-day design hackathon event where we secured first place among 20 groups.

Inspired by the book “Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days“, we applied its methodology to our three-day designathon project.

project duration
29th - 31st march 2024
role
ux designer and researcher
tools
figma
mockups
zoom
scope
create app for remote work wellness.
problem statement
Remote workers frequently face challenges in managing mental fatigue and stress,
resulting in decreased work-life balance and overall well-being.

design sprint process

Although we didn’t have five days, we divided our three-day design sprint into five stages:
Understand, Ideate, Decide, Prototype, and Test.

phase 1: research

In the first phase of our design sprint, I conducted user research and led user interviews. Ashitosh guided the team through problem identification, focusing on remote workers’ challenges, while Mahsa took notes and distilled key insights.

research methodology

For our primary research, We used Google Forms, Instagram polls, and phone interviews with remote workers for primary research. For secondary research, we reviewed articles like “The Impact of Remote Work on Mental Health” and “5 Common Problems Plaguing Remote Workers.”

research goals

  1. Understand remote workers’ lifestyle
  2. Identify work related frustrations
  3. Assess social and mental well being
  4. Gather user preferences

key insights from our research

  1. Struggle to disconnect impacts personal life.
  2. Constant work increases burnout risk.
  3. Limited support for activity, well-being.
  4. Distractions reduce focus and productivity.

phase 2: ideation and concept development

During this phase, I actively participated in brainstorming and sketching sessions and collaborated with the team to explore various approaches.

During the ideation phase, we rapidly sketched various app concepts using methods like Crazy 8’s and drawing inspiration from existing apps.

phase 3: finalizing the solution

During this phase, Ashitosh led the team in prioritizing features using structured dot voting. Mahsa and I collaborated on detailed solution sketches and developed a storyboard to map the user journey and app flow.

key tasks for phase 3

  1. Dot voting: With a total of 7 dot votes each, 5 participants (3 team members and 2 anonymous users who work from home) needed to vote on 12 proposed ideas. 

  2. Storyboarding: Create a storyboard to outline the app’s user journey and flow.

  3. Solution sketches: Develop detailed sketches of the top ideas to visualize and refine potential solutions.

Dot voting

Through dot voting, we selected the top features for our app:

  1. Allows users to track mental health over time.
  2. Tracks real-time stress levels with relief suggestions.
  3. Provides guided meditation for relaxation and focus.
  4. Helps users manage schedules and track tasks.

user journey storyboard

In our storyboard for John, we mapped his experience with the RemoteFit App, highlighting key moments from setup and daily wellness use to stress management and productivity tracking, capturing his journey from initial interest to long-term satisfaction.

Created RemoteFit Storyboard using Storyboards.ai

low fidelity sketch

Created Solution Sketches using the Mockups App

phase 4: building a prototype

choosing the color palette and typography

  1. Color Choice: We selected a calming color palette to enhance the app’s focus on well-being.
  2. Typography Choice: We opted for clear and easy-to-read fonts to ensure accessibility design. 

  3. Design Constraints: Due to time constraints, we did not develop a full design system. Instead, we focused on finalizing the color palette and typography.

final design

1. Onboarding screens

2. Login and Profile screens

3. Internal app screens

prototype development

After designing the screens, we compiled them into a high-fidelity prototype

Final app screens

phase 5: test with target users

The final phase involved testing the prototype with real users to gather feedback and validate our design, while also preparing presentation materials for the final pitch to summarize our findings and proposed next steps.

Ashitosh and I conducted the usability testing interviews, and Mahsa organized the Figma file and created the presentation.

usability testing

We conducted one round of usability testing (3 users) due to shortage of time

more feedback from the users

  1. Users liked work hour reminders but wanted more dashboard customization options.

  2. Internal chat was useful, but users requested threaded conversations and better collaboration tools in task management.

solution and outcome

1. mental health metrics

Track and monitor your mental well-being with real-time insights and personalized recommendations

2. scoring system

Evaluate your overall wellness with a comprehensive scoring system that reflects your progress and areas for improvement.

3. mindfulness resources

Access a curated library of mindfulness exercises and techniques to help you stay calm and focused.

Our presentation and design, which received high praise from the panelists, highlighted RemoteFit’s potential to transform remote work practices.

As a result, we achieved first place and demonstrated the app’s impactful vision for the future of remote work.

what we would do differently

  1. Allocate more time for user testing

  2. Adopt a proper design system

toronto, canada
+1 647-397-4976
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