ActiveCal
A Mobile App that Unifies Kids' Activities with Family Calendars
CONTEXT
Sole researcher & UX/UI Designer
Student project
TOOLS
Figma, Miro, Zoom,
Marvel App
DELIVERABLES
Research, UX&UI Design, Prototype, User Test
TIMELINE
8 weeks
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Ever missed a soccer game due to scheduling conflicts, or found yourself scrambling to search for enriching activities for your kids? Managing multiple children's schedules can be a daunting task. ActiveCal offers a solution by uniting calendars and activity functions into a seamless platform, eradicating scheduling headaches and simplifying organization. Imagine a shared, always-up-to-date calendar brimming with curated activity suggestions tailored to your children's ages and interests. With ActiveCal, parents can effortlessly discover activities, avoid double-bookings, and reclaim precious time. But more importantly, ActiveCal empowers families to focus on what truly matters – fostering closer connections through shared experiences.
Final ActiveCal Feature Screens
THE PROBLEM
Parents face chaos managing schedules and finding activities, highlighting a significant pain point. Endless sticky notes, forgotten soccer games, and the constant scramble to find "something fun" for the kids. This is the reality for many parents juggling family schedules and activity searches. Through user research, we discovered a significant pain point: managing the overwhelming task of keeping everyone organized and engaged.
Here's what parents told us:
1. Wrestling with Schedule Overload
"It's a constant battle to keep track of everyone's activities. One missed note and it's chaos!"
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2. Endless Hours Lost in Activity Hunts
"Sifting through endless websites for age-appropriate activities feels like a black hole that eats my time."
THE GOAL
Empower parents with a unified platform for stress-free family scheduling and engaging activities.
Our "How might we?" questions guided the design journey:
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How might we personalize activity search results based on a child's age, interests, and location?
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How might we create an efficient app experience that allows parents to achieve their scheduling goals in the least amount of time possible?
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How might we design features that naturally coordinate calendar and activity functions, encouraging families?
USER RESEARCH
Understanding Our Users
Through user interviews, I saw the stress on parents' faces as they described their juggling act. The data confirmed a need for a centralized solution.
Secondary Research
To understand parents' perspectives, I conducted secondary research through web articles on how and why parents struggle with their kids' activities.
Secondary Research Plan
​Through the research, I discovered that parents face the following challenges:
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High Cost: Families, especially with many children, deal with major financial strains, like education and daily costs
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Constantly Busy: Parents want a solution that saves time
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Desire for Assistance: Conflicting schedules prompt families to seek collaborative efforts for effective coordination
User Survey
After the secondary research, I was wondering what methods parents use to manage their busy family schedules and if they have used any kind of parent community to support each other. So, I prepared a survey, and 31 parents responded.
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87.1% of parents were using calendar apps, including digital family calendars to manage their work and family schedules
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Only 35.5% of parents have joined a parent community for mutual support in managing their kids' activities
User Interview
To gain deeper understanding of user experiences, behaviors, needs, emotions, and perspectives, I conducted user interviews targeting the following demographics:
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8 parents, Children aged 4-16, Parents using cell phone apps, and Children participating in at least one activity
Affinity Diagram
Empathy Map-Aggregated
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All parents said that finding kids’ activity information is difficult and time-consuming
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All parents said that remembering all schedules and related information can be difficult
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All parents were stressed from busy and overwhelmed family schedules
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Most parents expressed minimal financial concerns
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Most parents said that joining parents’ communities is not ideal for getting help or support
USER RESEARCH TAKEAWAYS
Key Findings
1. Parents juggle multiple calendar apps to manage children's activities and family schedules. This fragmentation leads to confusion, missed events, and difficulty coordinating with family members
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2. Finding activities for children is overwhelming due to scattered information across apps, websites, and flyers
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3. Parents crave a centralized platform to stay organized with family schedules and children's activity information
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4. Parents want to easily share schedules with other family members to get support and ensure everyone is on the same page
Heuristic Analysis of Competitors
Based on the interviews, planning well-scheduled activities and sharing them with other family members could help parents manage their busy lives. Therefore, I researched some calendar apps for parents. I conducted a competitor analysis to learn how they addressed the problem I aimed to solve. I explored the four most popular scheduling apps, both direct and indirect competitors, to assess their features, usability, and layouts.
Heuristic Analysis
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The direct competitors offered family calendars, meal planning, shopping, and budget lists, but incorporating groceries and additional features made me complex to use and took a long time to become accustomed to​
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Their family-shared calendars, to-do lists, and notifications were helpful for my users to see all family events in one place, enabling the family to stay organized and coordinated efficiently.
MAIN FEATURES
Main Features
Based on the research highlighting parents' struggles with managing busy schedules, I identified two key features to address these challenges: a family sharing calendar and a local activity search. These features were chosen because:​
1. Family Sharing Calendar: Simplifies schedule management, reducing time and effort
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2. Local Activity Search: Provide a one-step-shop for finding activities, saving time and energy
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3. Integrating Calendar & Activity Management: Seamlessly combines calendar and activity functions, facilitating easy coordination
EXPLORE DESIGN IDEAS
Design Solutions
Prior to paper sketching, I conducted user story brainstorming and affinity mapping to identify core user needs and develop the app's key features.
1. Collaborative Family Scheduling
Share family events, notes, and reminders during the event creation process
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2. Local Activity Discovery
Find activities for children from local options, saving time by providing reviews form other parents, and share activities on the app with one click
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3. Integrated Calendar & Activity Management
Offer a unified platform for managing both family calendars and children's calendars and children's activities
Low-Fidelity Sketches
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
Coordinate between 'Calendar' and 'Activity'
To define the Minimal Viable Products (MVP) flow, I crafted user stories and outlined the app's hierarchy. Emphasizing calendar management and activity search, I initially encountered complexity in the flow, leading me to streamline and focus on specific user stories.
Sitemap
User Flow V1
User Flow V2
Low-fidelity Prototype
The initial digital screens emphasized two primary options for users on the home screen: 'Calendar' or 'Activity Information.' Users could create, search, and track their plans. When creating a plan, they had the option to share it with others. The activity page displayed the user's area with filtered results at the top, listing activities along with key information. Users also had the ability to share activity details via text message.
Calendar flow
Activity flow
Digital wireframes provided clearly representations of hierarchy, UI elements, and layouts, making it easier for me to understand compared to sketches. This phase allowed me to concentrate on improving CTA buttons, wording, and design consistency.
Style Guide
My style guide was designed with the goal of crafting a visually engaging yet uncluttered interface. It prioritizes a strong and evident call-to-action (CTA) alongside easily recognizable links. To accomplish this, I opted for a light blue background, employing shades of blue and light green for links and prominent call-to-action buttons. Additionally, a red accent color was introduced for smaller design elements and warning messages, ensuring clear visual hierarchy and emphasis.
USER TEST
Usability Testing & Design Iterations
Two rounds of usability testing revealed valuable insights, guiding iterative design improvements. Users appreciated the intuitive interface, quick task completion, and minimal confusion.
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Methodology
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I recruited 4 participants for the 1st and 5 for the 2nd usability testing. I conducted moderated remote usability testing via Zoom.
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Parents have children aged 4-16
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Their children were involved in at least one activity
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They are mobile app users
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Key Findings & What I changed
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Based on the feedback from the 1st usability testing, I iterated on the design. It provided valuable insights. Initially, users struggled with the readability of 'Today's plan,' clarity of 'Saved activities,' and complexity in search functionality. Iterative improvements addressed these issues but also revealed further enhancements needed for the home page, plan creation, and activity search.
After
Added a location step at the beginning of the app process before searching for local activities
Confused about the meaning of the 'Day' button​
Information overload on a single page & difficulty in reading small sections of information
Improved readability for 'Today's plans' and saved activities
Feeling confused and unclear about the ‘Saved activities’ in the day view
Added an Information button to explain the contents, while the button offers 'Saved' and 'Booked' options
Shows real-time availability for your saved activities
Added a profile icon to the bottom navigation bar for accessing settings
Visually cluttered and containing too much information, Today's saved events have been removed
Lager daily section to improve readability
Required vertical and horizontal scrolling to view the activity options and types
Add a direct search bar for parents to use frequently
Scroll Bar for Activity Types
Larger activity information card with fewer scrolling screens, allowing parents to save activities directly to their calendar and check them easily
Add larger and more pictures to assist parents in better understanding the activity
No location link and contact information, requiring parents to spend more time clicking
Parents can check the map by clicking on the location and contact the activity host directly via phone number
Real-time availability information
Allowing parents to save activities directly to their calendar for easy access and checking
Key Findings from the 2nd Usability Testing
After iterating on the design, I conducted the second usability test with 5 participants. The overall feedback was positive; users could complete their tasks quickly and with less confusion compared to the first round of testing. However, I still found areas for improvement based on the feedback.
User Testing Key Findings
1. Home page: 'Register for Today' and 'Invitees' - two participants were not 100% sure about the meaning
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2.Create a plan: 'Message' feature wasn't necessary because they preferred to use text messages
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3. Activities: Two participants wanted to see 'One day' events, and city (location) name needed on search result cards
"ActiveCal is so simple and direct. It saved me time searching, and everything is clear and easy to use. "
- Participant A. Morgan (2nd Usability Testing)
CONCLUSION
Learning form Design Process
My iterative approach emphasized problem-solving, research, ideation, and validation through feedback. Understanding user needs and motivations proved crucial. Insights gathered highlighted the challenges parents face in managing family schedules and accessing local activity information.​
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Research and user testing played a vital role in the design process
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Understanding the 'Why' and 'What' were helpful in each phase to achieve desired outcomes
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The design process was not linear but iterative
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Throughout the process, I gained insights into how parents handle and schedule their family, and kids, as well as their needs and challenges
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Finding and organizing local kids' activity information could be difficult
Future Developments
Next steps
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Iterate on design based on the feedback received during the second round of usability testing
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Conduct another round of usability testing
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Add a page for 'One-time activities'
Future features
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Parents can register for and pay for activities directly through 'ActiveCal'
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Advertise local activities with discounts or other offers to provide benefits to users​
