Hobbyist App Research and Design
Challenge
Young professionals want a solution that inspires them to pursue their hobbies and interests because balancing post-work fatigue and daily life hinders them.
High-level goals
Validate the stated hypothesis.
Understand the factors influencing or hindering young professionals
Design a solution to solve the needs and goals of young professionals.
Discovery
We employed a thorough approach, incorporating user and industry research, competitive analysis, and storyboarding to develop an optimal solution for our client. This involved exploring research questions, identifying key findings, discovering the target market, creating user stories, and storyboarding potential solutions.
Research questions
What hobbies are most popular?
How do individuals prioritize personal time?
Is there a positive correlation between local community/business and engaging in hobbies?
Is the availability of physical space for hobbies an issue
Is social sharing important for individuals?
Methodology & Participants
In-person interviews with 6 participants
Location: Denver, CO
Length: 30 minutes
Working professionals
Mid-20s to late 30s
Have 2 or more hobbies
Engage in hobbies after working hours
Key Findings
Participants share the following statements throughout the interviews:
Feel disorganized because their inspiration and tools are spread across multiple platforms
Feel discontent not pursuing their passions but are too lazy to start something new
Do not feel that they have enough time or physical space to pursue interests
Enjoy sharing hobby updates with friends and family
Feel encouraged at the thought of being imaginative
A Typical User: Stacy Block
Demographics
AGE: 27 | OCCUPATION: Personal Assistant | LOCATION: Denver, CO | RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single
👋 Social ⛺ Outdoorsy
📖 Intellectual 🎨 Creative
Centralizing hobby information
Improving self-expression
Finding drive for hobbies
Goals
Lack of motivation
Post-work fatigue
Time constrains/duties
Frustrations
Sharing projects
Personal growth
Fear of missing out
Motivations
User Stories
Alex Hutchins - A third-grade teacher, juggling lesson plans and homework grading, looking for a reminder to knit a scarf for her nephew's first birthday.
Marc Lopez - A professional photographer in the thick of wedding season who wants a tool that helps him commit to finishing the book on his nightstand.
Jessica Smith- An accountant who wants an easy way to share her recent painting with friends and family across platforms while on a quick coffee break.
Logan Rider - A barista who wants a digital platform to collect writing inspiration and tools while at work so he can finally quit his job to write full-time.
Creating the experience
Dabbler, designed for young professionals, is a hobbyist app facilitating time and space for personal passions. Developed through research, the app focuses on key features identified as high-use. The design process included creating a user flow and information architecture aligned with these features. Validation was done through a paper prototype, followed by creating low-fidelity and high-fidelity wireframes for further user testing and development.
Final Thoughts
Recommendations for this project include exploring user insights for potential future features. Consider integrating auto-logging from Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram. Conduct additional user testing on high-fidelity frames to ensure usability.