During pandemics, I found myself more open to try out new ideas and simple DIY projects to keep myself occupied or simply fill the "socializing void". I'm certainly not the only one. A research conducted by OnePoll with Bernzomatic found that during pandemics, 81 percent of millennial respondents have completed a DIY or home improvement projects this year. Activity-Based books and art supplies sales has skyrocketed, while demand for kitchen recipes and instructional videos have risen at full speed.
Doing something creative everyday can be a very gratifying process, as we have seen these A Poster A Day posts on Instagram and wowed at how they evolved. However, when it comes to ourselves it's very challenging to keep the promise, and once we missed a few days it's easy to feel guilty and say never mind. How can we motivate ourselves to do creative things more regularly? I came up with this idea during my UX course to design an app to help form creative habits enjoyably for everyone.
After some secondary search, I sent out a survey to friends and online art and design communities. The result is very fascinating: 92% of the respondents want to spend more time doing creative things every day (even though only 72% considered themselves as "creative"). 61% of the respondents want to spend 30 minutes to 2 hours per day doing something creative.
During interviews with five of my friends, I noticed how everyone emphasized the urge of art making or doing something creative comes from within, as it is a form of self-care, fulfillment or "a reassurance of being alive". They are also more open to try something new if it's easy and they have materials available. The main barriers to them also validate the survey: Time and not having the habit to create.
Regarding the question of using habit forming app, two of the interviewees have used these apps but both got frustrated by the constant reminders and alarms. They want the app to be more forgiving and encouraging instead of being competitive.
Here are the main insights after testing Mid-fi prototype with 4 users:
1."Try Something New" is the preferred flow for all users.
2. More detailed and clear challenge instruction or video is needed.
3. Timer countdown can make the experience too stressful.
4. Gamification or a personalized dashboard will motivate users more.
5. A community of sharing and feedback is crucial.
The final user flow of the prototype narrows down to one main flow of creative challenge instead of two as before. User opens the app and enters Dashboard, selects a challenge and follows instructions. After completion user receives a badge, documents the result and shares to the Explore page.
To start defining the brand identity, I created a moodboard with the following brand attributes:
Imaginative, playful and dynamic
The name of the app is Creaio. I chose the Demos Next family designed by Linotype as headline, as it is elegant but casual and readable. The body typeface is Neue Haas Unica from Monotype, one of my favorite typeface that is clean and has a warm, inviting quality.
The primary color palette is consisted of bright orange, yellow, beige and dark blue. It's playful, friendly and gender neutral at the same time.
