Overview:
Drops is an innovative water reminder app designed to help users stay hydrated by sending timely notifications and tracking their drinking habits. As hydration is increasingly recognized for its critical role in overall health and well-being, Drops aims to make it easier for users to integrate adequate water intake into their daily routines through a blend of customizable features and engaging, gamified challenges.
Key Features:
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Customizable Hydration Goals: Users can set personalized daily water intake targets based on their body metrics and current weather conditions, ensuring hydration recommendations are tailored to individual needs.
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Share & Make Drink Buddies: Connect with friends and family to share hydration goals, issue challenges, and motivate each other to stay hydrated together.
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Comprehensive Liquid Tracking: In addition to water, the app tracks other beverages like coffee, tea, and cocktails. It monitors not only fluid intake but also calorie and caffeine consumption for a holistic view of hydration and nutrition.
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Custom Drink Entries: Users can create and track their unique drinks, providing an accurate log of their beverage choices and their effects on hydration and overall intake.
Objective:
To enhance user hydration habits by offering a personalized, interactive approach to tracking fluid intake, fostering social engagement, and providing comprehensive insights into overall liquid consumption and its nutritional impact.
Problem Statement:
Many users struggle to maintain adequate hydration due to a lack of personalized tracking and motivational support. Existing water reminder apps often provide generic hydration recommendations and fail to account for individual body metrics and environmental factors, leading to suboptimal hydration habits. Additionally, these apps typically track only water intake, neglecting other beverages like coffee, tea, and cocktails, which also impact overall hydration and nutrition. Users also lack features that enable social interaction and support, such as sharing goals or tracking the intake of customized drinks. Drops addresses these challenges by offering a personalized hydration plan based on body metrics and weather, comprehensive tracking of all liquid consumption including calories and caffeine, and engaging features like drink buddies and custom drink entries to enhance motivation and accuracy in hydration management.
Research and Discovery:
User Research:
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My client conducted user interviews and surveys to gather insights on users' cooking habits, preferences, and pain points.
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I meticulously reviewed the research results and analyzed competitor apps to understand common features and user experiences.
Key Findings
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Users need personalized hydration recommendations based on individual body metrics and environmental factors.
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Existing apps often overlook the tracking of non-water beverages, which impacts overall hydration and calorie intake.
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There is a demand for features that allow users to share goals and progress with friends and family to increase motivation.
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Users want to track and manage their intake of customized drinks alongside standard beverages.
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Comprehensive tracking of calorie and caffeine intake is important for a holistic view of hydration and nutrition.
Target
Audience:
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Demographics: Health-conscious individuals, busy professionals, fitness enthusiasts, and anyone looking to improve their hydration habits.
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Needs: An intuitive and customizable reminder system, visual progress tracking, social engagement, and health benefits from consistent hydration.
Design Process:
Ideation:
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User Personas:
Developed user personas based on research to represent key segments of the target audience, guiding design decisions.
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Age: 29
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Occupation: Marketing Specialist
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Location: Berlin, Germany
Pain Points:
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Struggles to keep track of her water intake amidst a hectic schedule.
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Finds it challenging to monitor her caffeine and calorie intake from various beverages.
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Lacks motivation and accountability for maintaining hydration goals.
Goals:
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Establish a reliable hydration routine that fits her busy lifestyle.
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Accurately track all liquids consumed, including coffee and tea.
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Stay motivated through social features and customizable goals.
Information Architecture:
+ Click on the image for a larger view
High-fidelity Prototypes
Usability Testing:
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Conducted usability testing with target users to evaluate the app’s design and overall experience.
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Gathered feedback to refine features and ensure the app met users' needs and expectations.
Task 1
68%
93%
Task 2
54%
68%
Task 3
83%
59%
Success Rate (Phase 1)
Success Rate (Phase 2)
[ ! ] Scenarios:
How a User can:
Task 1: Setting up the profile
Task 2: Start 7-day drinking streak
Task 3: Edit daily drink target
Solution Development:
Visual Design
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User Interface (UI): Designed a bright, engaging UI that reflects the app's focus on health and hydration, utilizing calming colors to promote relaxation.
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Intuitive Layout: Developed a daily progress bar that visually represents users' water intake goals, making it easy for users to track their progress at a glance.
Implementation:
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Collaborated with developers to ensure effective implementation of the app, focusing on performance optimization and seamless user experience.
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Ensured cross-platform compatibility to deliver a consistent experience for users on both Android and iOS devices.
Key Features Implemented:
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Personalized Notifications: Sends timely reminders based on user preferences to encourage regular water intake without being disruptive.
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Hydration Tracking: Users can track their drinking habits, monitor their progress, and set daily hydration goals.
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Customized Experience: Users can input their local weather, activity level, age, and weight to receive tailored reminders and hydration recommendations.
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Drink Buddies: Allows users to add friends as “drink buddies,” fostering social accountability and support in achieving hydration goals.
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Beverage Creation: Users can create their own beverage recipes and access nutritional information for pre-added drink recipes.
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Gamification Features: Incorporates gamification elements, such as earning stars for consistently meeting hydration targets, to keep users engaged and motivated.
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Challenges: Users can participate in various challenges, such as alcohol detox, caffeine detox, or a 30-day hydration challenge, to boost their hydration habits.
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Health Benefits: Provides users with insights on the health benefits of hydration, such as improved digestion, better concentration, and healthier skin, reinforcing the positive impact of regular water intake.
App Screens:
Learnings and Reflections:
This project reinforced the significance of user-centered design, particularly in health and wellness applications. By prioritizing customization, social features, and gamification, Drops successfully encourages users to stay hydrated.
Conclusion
The Drops app effectively enhances the hydration reminder experience by offering a visually engaging, customizable platform that encourages regular water intake. By leveraging modern design principles, user feedback, and gamified challenges, Drops has established itself as a valuable tool for individuals seeking to improve their hydration habits and overall health.
