Burnout

Application

Burnout

An app that educates individuals of what burn out is, helps users recognize imbalance in life and guides people back to a balanced state of mind.

Background

Throughout my career and through MICA’s graduate program, I have been witnessing my classmates and my co workers experience burnout. Many of us have confided in each other, asking why we decided to take on such an enormous challenge, and through tears, questioning if the light

at the end of the tunnel will even show up. Project after project is pushed out because the world around us human beings is competitive. If we aren’t hustling, then we fall behind and this mentality leaves little room to recover.

I wanted to create a solution for the people around me who were suffering, so I created an application focused on changed the way people have learned to live: under an immense personal and societal pressure. I want to ensure people look forward to tomorrow, everyday.

Timeline

This project came to fruition over the course of 7 weeks. I used Notion as the application for task management and followed a weekly predetermined timeline.

Problem Statement

How might ambitious and productive individuals find the source of their burnout and prevent future burnout by obtaining a healthy balanced life?

How might ambitious and productive individuals manage overwhelming responsibilities while still maintaining a healthy exhaustion recovery schedule?

Burnout App

Proposed Solution

Burnout can be a complicated and heavy problem to solve but the growth in people experiencing this issue has lead to a drastic rise in mental health issues. In order to solve the problem, I wanted to ensure there was no biases in developing a solution. I consistently contacted users to ensure the usefulness of various features, allowing the users to become the core of the application. I also validated as many assumptions I could through desk research and user research. Over time, I understood that healing from burnout would take time, and persistence. Due to this realization, my primary focus on this project was the functionality and strategy to ensure the user felt seen and hopeful.

Who was this made for?

Target Audience

I created Burnout for people who were burnout, specifically for frustrated ambitious and dutiful people who push themselves harder than anyone should. Of the two user types, the first is the dutiful and responsible person who is diligent and feels as thought their responsibilities must not be avoided. I found these people are often care takers and providers in their families. The second user type is the ambitious and multitalented individual who often over commits. They have a lot of goals and dreams they wants to accomplish. They cant say no and constantly feel frustrated or overwhelmed by their inability to cope with their endevours.

I determined these users because I recognized those are the people around me dealing with Burnout. My classmates, family members and coworkers all fall under one of these user types and thats who I wanted to make feel better.

Originally it was thought that burnout only effected people in public services (i.e. health care professionals, teachers, lawyers, etc.). But now, it effects people in the tech industry and virtually anyone high-stress white collar positions. Or thats what it felt like. I wanted to create something that would help them.

Ideation

To ideate, I used a notebook to jot down all the potential ideas. Brainstoriming has really helped me in the past, to come up with ideas I would not have normally thought of. In my notebook, I jot down everything randomly all on one page. Occasionally this will inspire new ideas as well. This was especially useful in the visual design and aspect of the application as well as the information architecture.

Research

User Research

Contextual Research

In order to prepare for solutionizing, it was important to collect data on the users preferences. What would help them the most when dealing with burnout? I began with a research plan and determining the questions that I would ask. Next I interviewed 4 participants of each user type (totaling in 8 interviews) and used affinity mapping to help determine common issues and suggestions. This research helped determine the functionality of the application.

Burnout is a well researched topic as it is currently effecting on of the largest industries int he world: the tech industry. People have realized how impactful mental health has on the rest of their lives. I needed to really understand the causes of burnout, and how it can impact peoples attitudes.

I used clinical research, articles, informative videos from psychologists as well as conversing with experts in order to educate myself on what burnout is and the effect of it. Using this research I was able to find out the corse causes of burnout, which was confirmed through my own user research.

Usability Testing

Competative Analysis

I did competitive analysis as a way to discover other solutions to burnout. Unfortunately, no solution, except behavioral therapy, were advertised. But applications that encouraged good mind and body connections were often suggested. Many articles also provided people with advice, but it was not enough to assist people break unhealthy habits aroung Burnout.

Once I completed my low-fidelity wireframes, I conducted usability tested to help confirm the design functionality as well as the strategy of the application. I incorporated some design compoenent that were integral to the usability of the application. I did 4 interviews, 2 from each user type using Google Meets and Slack Huddle. I shared my prototyped wireframes and changed the design flows inorder to create the final application. A second round of usability test was scheduled in order to determine the usability of the High-fidelity designs, however, due to time constraints I was unable to complete it.

Concept Evolution

A few ideas that I originally thought of an application that would track goals and provide you encouragement to achieve those goals. I also thought of creating a workshop or workbook similar to a self-help book in-order to help adjust mindsets. I was hesitant on a tracker like application as so many already exist, but ultimately, that is what people needed. I felt that if people needed a tracker to track their tasks and day, I would use this tracker to help educate users on Burnout and their own habits. And that is how I developed the application Burnout.

Visual Design

Visually, I wanted to ensure a calming look and feel. Burnout and mental health is a heavy topic and I wanted an application that would make users feel heard, and relaxed. I kept to softer colors based off of sunsets and ensured the colors were not harsh on the eyes. In recent years, many people have used a melting smiling face to indicate that they were melting from the pressure. Memes of people ignoring fires around them as they diligently go about their lives were also apparent. I combined these ideas for the iconography as it reflected much of the younger generations emotions. I wanted to continue the drip theme throughout the application as an element of relatability. I used figma and Adobe illustrator to create all the design elements seen in the mockups. Participants in the usability test really enjoyed these aspects of the design.

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Outcome: Challenges and Reflections

I really enjoyed this project. I learned that reaching out to users and checking your assumptions formally and informally really help with usability. I also learned that things take much longer than I originally thought they would. And finally, I learned that you never really are struggling alone, even if you feel that way.

Index