iBuddy


A producitivty tracker for IB exam takers



Mobile App
Self-directed
UI/UX

My first ever self-directed UI/UX project is a mobile customizable IB assignment and exam tracker. 

It stems from my personal experience with the International Baccalaureate (IB), a rigorous 2-year program secondary school program that consists of a long laundry list of essays, assignments and exams. Given its self-directed nature, students are expected to govern their own academic timeline. When assignments overlap each other, students can quickly become overwhelmed and stressed. 

This app is designed to tackle the mental strain that comes with preparing for the multi-layered exam.


What it’s like to do IB











Perspective from a graduate

I began by writing down everything I understood about the topic as an IB graduate myself. This included an interlaced web of problems and solutions that would come up during the 2-year period.


During those two years, a student’s needs evolve and change significantly. This fluidity was important to keep in mind while building the app’s basic structure. 




Understanding the user


User interviews

I wanted to gain a better understanding of the factors that contribute to ones revision habits. Since the end users feedback and involvement is critical from an early stage, I began interviewing several IB candidates to find out what they look for when studying. 

Each interviewee has completed the course to a certain degree, ranging from students that have just started their program to alumnus that have graduated from the program. In total, I interviewed 6 IB students: 3 graduates and 3 current students. The goal of the interviews was to identify the thought process a student goes through at different stages of preparing. 


Quotes from user interviews




User needs


“Starting an assignment is daunting, I never know where or how to start”A process that makes clear what is needed to finish an assignment;
“I barely keep track of which tasks are due when, so it’s hard to know what to work on first”A hierarchy that shows more demanding tasks first;

A visual presentation of upcoming deadlines for long-term planning;“I wish I started [all assignments] earlier, if only I knew how long it takes to complete an assignment realistically”
Help estimating how long it takes to complete an assignment



 Competitor Analysis

To understand what makes a study app/ organization app appealing to users, I conducted a competitor analysis to deep-dive into what makes them successful. For this comparison, I looked for other organization/ time management app that fulfills similar goals for different types (eg: working professionals, students, self-employed creatives) of people. 



User Persona



Every person has their own style, from wardrobe to study habits. To better visualize the path to achieving user goals, I constructed two user personas to allow me to better speculate how a potential user would interact with the app.

I designed two archetypes: one organized and one high achieving. They explore where the general population overlaps and diverges in needs. 


Discovery Phase takeaways
Regardless of the subject combinations, interviewees generally found it difficult to keep up with deadlines.
Students often did not know when the next assignment is due until teachers announce, and the fear of uncertainty magnifies performance anxiety.
Stress-induced burnout was common amongst interviewees, citing having too much to keep track of as the main cause of emotional distress.Students were more likely to spend more time on subjects they were familiar with instead of subjects they know they need more work on due to elevated psychological distress that comes with unfamiliarity.



After better understanding user needs and competitive features, I set some more well-defined



Goals for the product


1.

 A clear display that sorts out the timeline of assignments to reduce the stress that comes from uncertainty

2.

A built in mechanism that encourages students to break down tasks into manageable pieces

3.

Flexibility to customize tasks for the day depending on both daily needs and long-term planning


Prototyping the app



on paper Now with a clearer idea of what this app should be, I started working on how this app is going to deliver on these goals. I tinkered with different starting points and user flows to find one that I and others agreed was intuitive. This was the final version. 

Here, I used pen and paper to sketch out a rough user flow. This is where concepts of different features started to come together. 



& on Figma
I built out a high fidelity prototype in Figma to test out navigation. I wanted to ensure a seamless transition to and from different areas of the app. 

Here was also where I put the right content in the right context. User testing occured throughout this prototyping process to help guide my hand to adjust the information hierarchy. It was important to understand how users interact with the content in context; to facilitate users intuition through the construction of the information space. 



Final look

1.

Users begin by filling in their basic information, as well as the subjects they are studying

2. 

The users take the questionnaire to gauge their self-assessed strengths and weaknesses


Assign-ment View

Each assignment has its own page that includes:
- Bullet points to break down assignments into action items
- Notes section
- Add to prioritized main page


Today’s view

Tasks are broken into 3 levels of importance:
- High Priority
- Today’s to do list
- Optional to do list