Miha
Period
Jul 2020 - Nov 2020
Team Project
5 members
My Role
User Research | Ideation | Prototyping | User Testing
Project Overview
Insomnia affects people of all ages and genders, with approximately 60% experiencing sleep disturbances at least three times a week, according to a Sleep Health Foundation report.
Miha is a mobile app designed to assist those with insomnia by providing personalised plans tailored to their lifestyles and habits. Instead of targeting specific causes, Miha focuses on cultivating healthy habits to provide long-term relief from insomnia.
Design Process
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Explore the Situation of Use
We identified three key stakeholder groups and developed a detailed visual representation (rich picture) to comprehensively grasp the complexity of our problem statement.
Three primary stakeholder groups: insomniacs, medical professionals, and individuals closely associated with insomniacs.
The rich picture further enhanced the comprehension of the stakeholders' concerns and the underlying paradox.
Three primary stakeholder groups: insomniacs, medical professionals, and individuals closely associated with insomniacs.
Interviews & Questionnaires
To gain insight into users' needs and concerns, we conducted seven semi-structured exploratory interviews and administered sixty-two questionnaires to our stakeholders.
Participants
Insight Summary
Interviews
Gender:
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3 males
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4 females
Type:
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6 insomniacs
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1 family member of an insomniac
Questionnaires
Gender:
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25 males
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37 females
Type:
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62 insomniacs
Many are experiencing mild insomnia.
People have various underlying causes of insomnia, with a wide range of factors. The most commonly mentioned cause is unwanted thoughts and worries, while many others mentioned that they were unsure of the reason.
Many choose to use their phones when they have trouble falling asleep.
Many people are unaware of or have not discovered an effective method for managing insomnia. Among those who have found a method, white noise is the most commonly mentioned one, though its effectiveness is only moderate.
Early Design Ideas
The earlier processes highlighted numerous issues related to insomnia that needed addressing. Consequently, we opted to brainstorm ideas individually, each of us proposing a unique design solution to tackle the problem from various angles.
Upon reviewing the insights from interviews and the rich picture, we discovered that there were various causes for different people with sleeping disorders. The same technique might have been only useful for certain groups of people. Through collective critiquing of all design ideas, the concluded direction for the next stage of development focused on regulating users' days and nights to create a long-term effect.
After deciding on the main idea of this app, we also considered utilising the other ideas as minor functions of this app to better help users build healthier habits from a broader perspective.
Refinement of Design Concept
Relevant Technology Review
In order to extract valuable lessons from relevant technologies applicable to our current design, we meticulously reviewed five pertinent technologies. To foster fresh innovations, we deliberately steered clear of digital applications within the same context of use. In essence, we approached our design concept by drawing analogies from a distinct realm of human activity, allowing us to reason and innovate beyond the confines of familiar digital applications.
Personas
To enhance our project's usability for a broader audience, we considered individuals facing challenging circumstances and juggling various life complexities.
Consequently, we created 5 personas representing unique 'edge' cases, enabling us to delve deeper into diverse user needs and design challenges:
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A busy entrepreneur: Constantly pressed for time, needing efficiency.
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A retired teacher with limited smartphone usage: Less tech-savvy, requiring simplicity.
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A middle-aged man with visual impairment: Needs accessibility and user-friendly interfaces.
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A workaholic: Requires seamless integration into a hectic lifestyle.
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A shy international student: Seeks ease of use and intuitive interaction methods.
These personas provided valuable insights, helping us address a wide array of user experiences and refine our design approach.
Photo Scenario
Background:
Anna, a 36-year-old graphic designer, has been grappling with insomnia for the past four years. Living a solitary life, her daily routine is uncomplicated. She typically works in a studio from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, occasionally bringing work home if unfinished. Her workdays extend to about 8-10 hours. To fulfil her design needs, she relies on devices such as the iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, and iPhone, spending approximately 8 hours a day online. After work, she retires to bed at 11 pm but struggles to fall asleep, often spending 2-3 hours awake. Her persistent insomnia has begun to affect her daytime productivity. In a bid to improve her sleep hygiene, she turns to new technologies and downloads the 'Miha' app. Hoping to alleviate her symptoms, she diligently follows the app's instructions in an effort to find relief from her insomnia.
Scene 1
Time: 20:35 (31/01/2020) Friday
Place: Home - Living Room
Action: Using the app for the first time
Description: Anna is diligently filling out the questionnaires.
Scene 4
Time: 07:45 (07/02/2020) Friday
Place: Coffee Shop
Action: Logging caffeine intake
Description: While walking to a café, she opened the app to record her caffeine intake. Miha displayed today's total of 1 cup, and a pleased expression appeared on the screen. Anna felt relieved knowing she hadn't consumed too much caffeine, which could worsen her insomnia.
Scene 7
Time: 20:30 (07/02/2020) Friday Place: Home - Living Room
Action: Exercise
Description: Miha gently reminded Anna to engage in some exercises, setting her goal for the day to burn 80 calories.
Scene 10
Time: 14:34 (04/11/2020) Monday Place: Studio
Action: Reviewing overall progress Description: In the twelfth month of using the app, Anna wakes up at 7:00 am and checks the daily report. Besides the daily summary, Miha provides her with a weekly overview of the past 7 days and an overall progress report. Studying the line chart, Anna notices that her duration of deep sleep has increased, bringing her a sense of satisfaction and motivation to continue using the app.
Scene 2
Time: 07:00 (07/02/2020) Friday Place: Home - Bedroom
Action: Morning wake-up reminder
Description: After using the app diligently for seven days, Anna wakes up at 7:00 am. A notification from Miha pops up on her iPhone: "Good Morning, Anna! Would you like to review yesterday's sleep report?" Anna continues her routine with Miha's assistance.
Scene 5
Time: 14:32 (07/02/2020) Friday
Place: Studio
Action: Opting against another cup of coffee
Description: Following hours of work, Anna completed her lunch around 12:30 and decided to visit the café once more. Reflecting on the app's guidance, she remembered that consuming more than one cup of coffee would negatively impact her health score, disappointing Miha. Consequently, she made the choice to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate instead of coffee.
Scene 8
Time: 23:00 (07/02/2020) Friday Place: Home - Bedroom
Action: Sleep reminder Description: Following dinner, Anna was engrossed in her books in the bedroom. As the clock struck 23:00, Miha reappeared, gently reminding her that it was time to go to bed. Anna obediently dimmed the lights, settled onto her bed, and earned a Mi coin as a reward for retiring on time.
Scene 3
Time: 07:10 (07/02/2020) Friday Place: Home - Bedroom
Action: Reviewing sleep report Description: Anna clicked "view my sleep report" and discovered she had enjoyed 3 hours of deep sleep and 2 hours of light sleep. Satisfied with her rest, she prepared for her day and headed to her studio at 8:10 am.
Scene 6
Time: 14:35 (07/02/2020) Friday Place: Studio
Action: Taking a nap
Description: Feeling fatigued, Anna decided to take a rest. She opened the app, and Miha inquired, "It's not sleeping time yet. Would you like to take a nap? (An alarm will wake you up in 20 minutes)" Anna clicked 'Yes' and settled down for a short nap.
Scene 9
Time: 01:00 (08/02/2020) Saturday Place: Home - Bedroom
Action: First-time app usage Description: Struggling to fall asleep until 1 am, Anna opened Miha and indicated her difficulty falling asleep. Miha promptly offered to play calming audio to help her relax.
Main Prototype Development
Building on the insights gathered in earlier stages, we have identified key areas to address our users' needs effectively:
• Regulating daily routines:
- Assisting in managing work within specific time frames.
- Developing structured bedtime routines.
• Promoting healthier lifestyles and daily habits.
• Offering guidance and relaxation:
- Providing users with advice and soothing audio content to cope with sleep disorders such as onset insomnia and maintenance insomnia.
• Cultivating a healthy mindset about sleep and insomnia:
- Encouraging users to gain knowledge about sleep health, fostering a positive perspective on sleeping habits and insomnia.
Our design concept was driven by the following paradoxes:
• Individuals experience varied underlying causes of insomnia.
• Misconceptions about insomnia are prevalent.
• People with mild insomnia often overlook their condition, failing to seek guidance from insomnia experts.
The concepts that underpinned our main design idea encompassed:
• An AI bot (chatbot) for interactive user engagement.
• Tailored, dynamic plans, and advice personalised to individual users.
Healthy Lifestyle Formulation
Setting Your Goals
Tracking Your Progress
Receiving Feedback
Lifestyle Maintenance
Regulating Your Day
Reminding Your Goals
Reminding Your Goals
Faster Sleep Initiation
In Night Mode, Users Can 'Pat' Miha for Assistance.
During Night Mode, users have the option to 'pat' Miha to wake her up and request help. Miha will provide relaxing audio tracks to facilitate sleep or offer personalised advice based on individual situations.
Infuse Fun! – Gamify Experience
Earning Rewards:
Users can receive a Mi Coin at the end of the day for reaching the majority of their health goals or showing improvement.
App Whitelist:
During Night Mode, Miha automatically blocks all apps on users’ phones. Users can add specific apps to a whitelist, ensuring access even during Night Mode.
Gallery:
This is where users store their illustrations. A simple swipe reveals each artwork, unlockable through specific achievements. These illustrations collectively form Miha's narrative, with each piece depicting a part of her story. Users can delve into the tale by tapping an illustration to enter full-screen mode for a detailed reading experience.
Gashapon:
This feature is integrated into our reward system. Users can exchange one Mi Coin to obtain an item (which serves as a gift for Miha) from the Gashapon machine. These items will be stored in the Collection. Access to the Gashapon machine screen is available through the square menu.
Evaluation & Reflection
User Base Evaluation
Amidst the pandemic, tests were remotely conducted via Zoom. Participants engaged with an XD prototype, sharing their screens with two facilitators, and completed tasks while verbalising their thoughts. Despite limitations - notably the use of a mouse on desktop instead of the intended mobile touch screen - this remote approach enabled efficient evaluation and clear recording of participants' task paths.
Result
Positive:
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The task averages consistently exceeded an impressive score of 4 on the difficulty scale, indicating that participants found the app highly usable and convenient in addressing the main problem.
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The aesthetic experience received overwhelmingly positive feedback, with most participants expressing a strong connection with Miha.
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The concept of Gashapon generated significant interest; participants considered it innovative, especially for encouraging task completion among young users.
Negative:
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The presence of two menus on the homepage could lead to unnecessary errors. Consolidating to a single menu could enhance efficiency and user experience.
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Some names were inaccurately presented, lacking user-friendly language and cultural relevance.
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Question mark icons were not prominent enough; several participants missed their benefits. Implementing a tutorial during the initial use of Miha could be a viable solution to address this issue."
User Feedback Quotes
"I've never encountered a Gashapon feature in other apps before. It appears to be a fascinating concept! I believe it will greatly appeal to younger users!"
"Miha is incredibly adorable! The way Miha speaks is just too cute! I feel like cuddling Miha to sleep…"
"I enjoy setting up the schedule; the report feature seems very helpful. If I ever struggle to sleep, I would definitely seek assistance from Miha."
"I really like the concept of Gashapon. If you develop it further, it could become my motivation to complete tasks."
Reflection & Possible Steps Forward
Our design concept drew inspiration from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBTI), specifically the Sleep Hygiene Training approach. We adapted this methodology, creating a personal coach within Miha to assist users in correcting daily habits that could disrupt their sleep. However, due to the limitations of user-based testing, further investigations will be necessary to evaluate its effectiveness in real-world scenarios.
In our pursuit of designing an engaging technology, we recognised the risk that Miha might encourage users to spend more time on screens, potentially hindering sleep. To mitigate this, Miha incorporates features such as the app whitelist and daily goals, limiting screen time. We believe the benefits Miha offers outweigh this risk.
To minimise screen usage at night, we explored implementing Miha on physical devices, focusing on plush toys after comparing various options. To prevent confusion, a new character would be introduced for the plush toy, providing nighttime companionship, while Miha remains as the daytime phone assistant. This approach offers a viable solution to the paradox, benefiting all stakeholder groups to varying degrees.
Moving forward, future design cycles would involve implementing changes based on feedback and conducting additional evaluations to assess long-term effects. Techniques like A/B testing and 'wizard of oz' simulations would be utilised to compare options. Moreover, participants from all stakeholder groups would be included to obtain unbiased data.