The Magic of Tidying App
The Magic of Tidying App
A Companion App for the Marie Kondo's 'Magic of Tidying'
Role
Research UX Design UI Design
Tools
Figma, Notion, Photoshop, Illustrator, In Design
Timeline
60 Hrs
The design of the app captures the philosophy of the book creating joy through simplicity. Simultaneously, we addressed motivation and inspiration by creating a friendly environment to share progress and encourage engagement. Ultimately, according to the research, accountability was the antidote to apathy toward tidiness.
create simple interactive lesson guides
create a sytem to log and record progress
create a means to share and see progress with friends to encourage progress
create a metrics and rankings to motivate the community
The design of the app captures the philosophy of the book creating joy through simplicity. Simultaneously, we addressed motivation and inspiration by creating a friendly environment to share progress and encourage engagement. Ultimately, according to the research, accountability was the antidote to apathy toward tidiness.
create simple interactive lesson guides
create a sytem to log and record progress
create a means to share and see progress with friends to encourage progress
create a metrics and rankings to motivate the community
The design of the app captures the philosophy of the book creating joy through simplicity. Simultaneously, we addressed motivation and inspiration by creating a friendly environment to share progress and encourage engagement. Ultimately, according to the research, accountability was the antidote to apathy toward tidiness.
create simple interactive lesson guides
create a sytem to log and record progress
create a means to share and see progress with friends to encourage progress
create a metrics and rankings to motivate the community
The Magic of Tidying was a worldwide phenomon that opened many minds to finding joy through de-cluttering. The success of the book can be attributed to the the wealth of ideas and driving philosophy. What do we add in creating the companion app for the book? We must confront a number of questions to do so: Is there way to create a product that complements the experience of the book that is not redundant? Is there a way to address the greater issue of motivation? Is there a way to capture the“magic” and “joy”of tidying in a way that is engaging, useful, and fun to use?
Background
The Magic of Tidying Book is a guide in itself. Is there a way to make an app for the life-changing magic of tidying up that is engaging, useful, and fun to use?
Problem
Motivation is a huge issue with regard to cleaning, decluttering, and organizing. Surveys and interviews backed this thesis citing lack of time, ambition, and even social pressure as reasons to keep users' mess.
Goals
Motivate users to even begin to the process of tidying.
Determining the design principles of the project that will serve to guide the design process. The design must be:
Goals
Simple
Fun
Joyful & Magical
C. Challenge
This requirements of the project are unique because the lessons are the core experience. This can provide the structure and answer a lot of the design decisions. If that is the case how can the app be a utility that is not redundant to the book and what can the app do that the book cannot? What will make this a joyful entity unto itself?
This requirements of the project are unique because the lessons are the core experience. This can provide the structure and answer a lot of the design decisions. If that is the case how can the app be a utility that is not redundant to the book and what can the app do that the book cannot? What will make this a joyful entity unto itself?
01. Discover
Finding: People are Busy
Free time is extremely limited when it comes to tidying & organizing
Sometime it’s hard to care.
Some people just don’t care to clean.
Motivation is an issue.
Finding: Motivations & How to Inspire
When people do tidy and organize they find it the very satisfying - they relish in the results of the labor and find joy in that moment
Self improvement is a major motivator.
Games and apps that involve rewards, collecting, and earning feedback are addictive/fun and could provide a framework around which to design.
Finding: Accountability Counts
“I never have guests over and don’t have a girlfriend so I never clean”
People found motivation to tidy & organize when they anticipate guests or when someone else has to suffer as a result of their mess.
Incorporating a social network could help encourage tidiness by recognizing this sentiment.
User Interviews
I conducted one-on-one interviews with potential users to understand their needs, behaviors, and pain points (approximately 4-5 interviews lasting 30-45 minutes)
Surveys
I created a short survey for a broader swath of people to fill out
Competitive Assessment
I explored similar products and audit their pluses and minuses
01. Discover
Finding: People are Busy
Free time is extremely limited when it comes to tidying & organizing
Sometime it’s hard to care.
Some people just don’t care to clean.
Motivation is an issue.
Finding: Motivations & How to Inspire
When people do tidy and organize they find it the very satisfying - they relish in the results of the labor and find joy in that moment
Self improvement is a major motivator.
Games and apps that involve rewards, collecting, and earning feedback are addictive/fun and could provide a framework around which to design.
Finding: Accountability Counts
“I never have guests over and don’t have a girlfriend so I never clean”
People found motivation to tidy & organize when they anticipate guests or when someone else has to suffer as a result of their mess.
Incorporating a social network could help encourage tidiness by recognizing this sentiment.
User Interviews
I conducted one-on-one interviews with potential users to understand their needs, behaviors, and pain points (approximately 4-5 interviews lasting 30-45 minutes)
Surveys
I created a short survey for a broader swath of people to fill out
Competitive Assessment
I explored similar products and audit their pluses and minuses
02. Define
Now, armed with answers to our questions we synthesized the information. We understand common issues and identify the problems to be explored. What aspects of this do we explore?
02. Define
Now, armed with answers to our questions we synthesized the information. We understand common issues and identify the problems to be explored. What aspects of this do we explore?
After gathering and understanding user needs we created archetypal user personas to embody our discoveries. Three types of archetypal users that embody the overarching needs we determined:
After gathering and understanding user needs we created archetypal user personas to embody our discoveries. Three types of archetypal users that embody the overarching needs we determined:
03. Develop
Armed with the right questions and a framework we developed initial passes at structuring the app
03. Develop
Armed with the right questions and a framework we developed initial passes at structuring the app
The concept of building community with Marie Kondo's ideas and vision has potential to be great. By gently reminding people that they are responsible for their own tidying by visual/community reminders, a framework has been made to help people progress. Perhaps in the future there is more than can be explored with this community in mind.
Next steps might involve seeing if the hypothesis does play out - does social accountability encourage tidying and organization? Though there are efforts to avoid the pitfalls of social platforms with positivity does it avoid giving its users FOMO and anxiety?
The concept of building community with Marie Kondo's ideas and vision has potential to be great. By gently reminding people that they are responsible for their own tidying by visual/community reminders, a framework has been made to help people progress. Perhaps in the future there is more than can be explored with this community in mind.
Next steps might involve seeing if the hypothesis does play out - does social accountability encourage tidying and organization? Though there are efforts to avoid the pitfalls of social platforms with positivity does it avoid giving its users FOMO and anxiety?
04. Deliver
This phase of the design process involved deploying a prototype and challenging my design assumptions. Where were we wrong? Also, what did I fail to anticipate when this was deployed?
04. Deliver
This phase of the design process involved deploying a prototype and challenging my design assumptions. Where were we wrong? Also, what did I fail to anticipate when this was deployed?
The concept of building community with Marie Kondo's ideas and vision has potential to be great. By gently reminding people that they are responsible for their own tidying by visual/community reminders, a framework has been made to help people progress. Perhaps in the future there is more than can be explored with this community in mind.
Next steps might involve seeing if the hypothesis does play out - does social accountability encourage tidying and organization? Though there are efforts to avoid the pitfalls of social platforms with positivity does it avoid giving its users FOMO and anxiety?
The concept of building community with Marie Kondo's ideas and vision has potential to be great. By gently reminding people that they are responsible for their own tidying by visual/community reminders, a framework has been made to help people progress. Perhaps in the future there is more than can be explored with this community in mind.
Next steps might involve seeing if the hypothesis does play out - does social accountability encourage tidying and organization? Though there are efforts to avoid the pitfalls of social platforms with positivity does it avoid giving its users FOMO and anxiety?