Affirmation Studio

Facilitating an intuitive user experience for Affirmation Studio mobile app through moderated user testing

Client

Affirmation Studio

Role

UX Designer

Team

4 UX Consultants

Contribution

UX Design & Research, Moderated usability testing (2), Participant recruitment, Analyzing test data, Mockups

Duration

7 Weeks

Tools

Figma, Miro, Google Workspace, Zoom

METHODOLOGY

Developing a project roadmap for the usability study

RESEARCH AIM

How can we improve the usability of the app?

To start the evaluation, we held a kick-off meeting with the Affirmation Studio team via Zoom. We wanted to gather insights from the client regarding their study objectives, enabling us to delineate the study's scope and goals.

Our client wanted insights into the performance and usability of their mobile application's features. Their ultimate goal was to understand what improvements could be made that would encourage users to integrate the app into their wellness routine. We decided to learn more about the users’ preferences and needs, to facilitate informed decision-making for future feature updates.

RECRUITING PARTICIPANTS

Participants with varying degrees of interest and experience in practicing mindfulness

A screening questionnaire was used to select participants for the study. We determined eligibility through the following criteria:

  • Do they use meditation/mindfulness as a resource to take care of your mental health?

  • Are they looking for new ways to manage their mental health?

  • Do they have any interest in any of the following: Meditation, Mindfulness, Journaling, Personal Development and Positive Affirmations?

The target user group is female, early 20s – mid 40s, who are interested in personal development and mindfulness practices.

The target user group is female, early 20s – mid 40s, who are interested in personal development and mindfulness practices.

100%

regularly engage in mindfulness practices for over 5 years

75%

engage in mindfulness practices occasionally

87%

are open to exploring different mindfulness techniques

TEST DESIGN

Developing test materials to ensure consistency

In order to maintain consistency across all 8 test sessions conducted by the 4 moderators, we prepared the following materials:

Consent Form, Moderator Script, Task List, Pre-Test Questions, and Post-Test Questions.

For the test, participants were asked to complete a set of tasks designed to facilitate their onboarding experience and promote exploration of the platform's different features. Before initiating the tests, we ensured that the tasks were easy to understand and not too difficult to complete. The tasks were formulated as follows:

In order to maintain consistency across all 8 test sessions conducted by the 4 moderators, we prepared the following materials:

Consent Form, Moderator Script, Task List, Pre-Test Questions, and Post-Test Questions.

For the test, participants were asked to complete a set of tasks designed to facilitate their onboarding experience and promote exploration of the platform's different features. Before initiating the tests, we ensured that the tasks were easy to understand and not too difficult to complete. The tasks were formulated as follows:

Scenario: You're interested by a new mindfulness tool and decide to give it a try. You've just downloaded the Affirmation Studio app and are eager to explore its features.


Task 1: Complete onboarding for the app. How was your experience? 

Task 2: What is your first impression of the homepage? What do you think about the icons?

Task 3: Explore New Focus Areas,  find your Focus Area and add it to your list. 

Task 4: Change the font and background for the app. 

Task 5: Set a Sleep Timer and select an ambiance for your affirmations. 


Using AI


Task 6: Explore the homepage with the AI. What are your first impressions?

Task 7: Create a set of affirmations and proceed to play it. What are your thoughts on this experience? Would you like to change anything? After generating one set, do you want to play/generate more sets? Are 3 affirmations enough? Do you want more or less in each set?

Scenario: You're interested by a new mindfulness tool and decide to give it a try. You've just downloaded the Affirmation Studio app and are eager to explore its features.


Task 1: Complete onboarding for the app. How was your experience? 

Task 2: What is your first impression of the homepage? What do you think about the icons?

Task 3: Explore New Focus Areas,  find your Focus Area and add it to your list. 

Task 4: Change the font and background for the app. 

Task 5: Set a Sleep Timer and select an ambiance for your affirmations. 


Using AI


Task 6: Explore the homepage with the AI. What are your first impressions?

Task 7: Create a set of affirmations and proceed to play it. What are your thoughts on this experience? Would you like to change anything? After generating one set, do you want to play/generate more sets? Are 3 affirmations enough? Do you want more or less in each set?

REMOTE MODERATED USER TESTING

Usability test simulated a typical user journey across the application

The study adopted the synchronous remote user test method to carry out the usability testing. Each test was administered by at least one team member and detailed notes and insights were captured from all the tests.

The moderated tests were conducted both remotely through Zoom (six tests) and in-person (two tests). All sessions were recorded for review and analysis.


We encouraged participants to follow the Retrospective Think Aloud (RTA) method as they progressed through the tasks, prompting them to articulate the reasoning behind their opinions at each step.


We reviewed the session recordings to take note of significant comments made and analyze participants' behavior.

The moderated tests were conducted both remotely through Zoom (six tests) and in-person (two tests). All sessions were recorded for review and analysis.


We encouraged participants to follow the Retrospective Think Aloud (RTA) method as they progressed through the tasks, prompting them to articulate the reasoning behind their opinions at each step.


We reviewed the session recordings to take note of significant comments made and analyze participants' behavior.

Identifying recurring challenges and usability issues

We synthesized the test data using Google Sheets to identify significant usability issues. Observations that were seen across more 50% of the participants were prioritized and examined further. Our team then consolidated these observations to put forth the recommendations.

100%

Faced discoverability challenges as they struggled to find what they were looking for due to a lack of context and unclear layout.

75%

Found it challenging to navigate through the Focus Area due to unclear navigation and confusing user flows.

87%

Expressed interest in greater customization or personalization options regarding the app's features.

FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS

Key insights from usability tests

Based on the research findings, we began our analysis of the data. We grouped the participants' feedback into broader categories, noting their expectations, positive and negative thoughts, challenges, and suggested improvements. This helped us spot patterns in their behavior and realize that many participants were approaching certain tasks in similar ways.

Findings

Lack of context and difficulty navigating through onboarding experience

Home screen crowded with ambigious icons

Difficulty navigating through the available affirmations due to multiple pathways

Unable to personalize voice and feeling overwhelmed by the various audio settings

Recommendations

Provide additional context and descriptions and add navigation controls

Streamline icons and settings menu

Facilitate adding and searching for affirmations more seamlessly

Providing customization of voice and consolidating audio settings under one menu

FINDING 1

Lack of context and difficulty navigating through onboarding experience

A majority of the participants expressed dissatisfaction with the navigation of the onboarding process. They emphasized a desire for additional context regarding the options presented at each step.

RECOMMENDATION 1

Provide context and add navigation controls

We recommended that a visible “X” and scrollbar be added to improve navigation and discoverability. Users will have the option to exit the onboarding process at any stage and the scrollbar will clearly indicate to users that there are additional focus areas available to choose from.

Additionally, we suggested that offering additional context and descriptions would help users in comprehending the various steps and sections.

FINDING 2

Home screen crowded with ambigious icons

Users found the home screen overwhelming with two rows of icons, leading to confusion and extended time to navigate through each section and become familiar with them. Additionally, they perceived the icons as challenging to discern.

RECOMMENDATION 2

Streamline icons on display and reorganize functions within the settings menu

We recommended that the home screen could be simplified by reducing the number of icons and only displaying the ones with primary functions : sleep, focus area, play, favorites and audio settings. The other icons can be reorganized within the settings menu.

FINDING 3

Difficulty navigating through the available affirmations

The affirmations are accessed via a section labeled 'Focus Area'. Users encountered difficulty navigating this section due to multiple pathways, causing confusion. Additionally, they experienced challenges in making changes and deleting selected affirmations.

RECOMMENDATION 3

Refining the user journey to access and manage affirmations

We suggested removing the search symbol/icon from the focus area and replacing it with a "Explore my focus area" search bar within the focus area filter. This would facilitate adding and searching for affirmations more seamlessly. Additionally, we suggested adding clear CTA for users to easily select and delete affirmations from their playlist.

FINDING 4

Unable to personalize voice and feeling overwhelmed by the various audio settings

Users described the current voice of affirmations as melancholic and robotic, they wanted more customization options to tailor the voice to their preferences. They also felt overwhelmed by the multitude of audio settings scattered throughout the app, including Ambience, Binaural Beats, and Audio.

RECOMMENDATION 4

Providing customization of voice and consolidating audio settings under one menu

We suggested expanding the customization options for the voice, including gender, accent, and speech speed. Additionally, we recommended consolidating the three sections—Ambiance, Binaural Beats, and Audio—under a single menu to simplify the user experience and allow users to adjust their audio settings more easily.

Additionally, we suggested that a preview and visual representation of sound be added to the affirmations to improve visibility and discoverability.

PRESENTATION + CLIENT FEEDBACK

We received positive feedback from both users and the client

Our team presented the findings and recommendations to the client: two co-founders of Affirmation Studio. They were very impressed with our work and showed particular interest in the findings concerning discoverability issues on the onboarding and home screens. They are keen to implement more customization features across the app, such as for voice, audio settings and navigation.

TAKEAWAYS

If we had more time…

  • Given more time, I would have liked to conduct additional user testing with the AI features on this app (as the AI features are still in the beta phase) and gather more input about the user’s needs and expectations for using AI integrated within the app.

  • Improving the UI to reflect the intentions of the app would also improve the look and feel of the app (which something 12.5% of the users mentioned during user testing).

What I learnt.

  • I gained insights into the importance of user feedback in shaping design decisions and how to identify usability issues effectively. Analyzing participant interactions with the app helped me understand user expectations and preferences, which informed our design recommendations.

  • I also learned how to create a more user-friendly onboarding experience and streamline navigation based on real user behavior. This experience reinforced my belief in the critical role of usability testing in developing products that truly meet user needs.