Brief
Create a mobile weather app that addresses the needs of a specific demographic.
Everyone on Earth is affected by the weather in some way. Many people are affected in ways that don’t allow them to perform recreational activities. We, however, wanted to address a group that didn’t have a choice in how they were affected.
This led us to wanting to create an app that was specifically designed for people with seasonal affective disorder or other mental disorders that were heavily influenced by the weather.
Team
Oliver Amyakar Interviews, Research Survey Development, Concept Development, Visual Identity, UX Design, User Testing
Breanna Fuqua Competitor Research, Visual Development and Implementation, UI Structure, UX Design, Product Video, User Testing
Research
We put out a survey which 34 people took.
71% of those people reported that their mood is noticeably affected by the weather.
62% reported that their mental health is affected by the weather.
This research helped to solidify that there is a definite correlation between the weather and people’s mental health and this informed the decision to move towards an app that addressed mood and how it is related to weather.
We interviewed four people. All four suffer from some kind of mental disorder, one of them suffers from a chronic illness.
Here are some insights we found:
People who have depression tend to feel worse on days that are cold, overcast, or rainy.
The amount that people check the weather is variable based on their job, routine, and plans. Most people just want to know if the weahter is going to be sunny or not.
People who suffer from a mental disorder tend to have days where their work performance is impacted by their disorder.
People who have anxiety need to practice a lot of self discipline and self- maintence and plan ahead of time to ensure tasks are done.
Most of the interviewees reported having a hard time keeping track of their physical help and said they use mobile apps to assist them.
Here’s what they said they want to see:
To know for sure what the weather will be like.
A way to track the correlation between their mood and weather, but not in a way that turns into a chore.
Weather alerts in advance that alleviate the need for checking it to get rid of that extra thing that needs to get done.
Something to motivate them to get out of bed. Reminders to help alleviate anxiety and positive reminders.
Competitor Research
Problem
There is a lack of empathy in weather apps.
Weather apps on the market are overcomplicated and give a lot of information without explaining why it is relevant to the user or personally connecting with them. There is not currently an app that specifically addresses the issues of human biometeorology and the effects of emotional disorders and chronic illnesses that may be negatively affected by the weather.
Our goal is to provide users with the information they need quickly and efficiently by streamlining and personalizing their weather app experience.
Goals
User Goals
Easily check weather and navigate through features
Organize tasks into manageable chunks
Personalize weather forecast to what is important to them
Personalize weather forecast to what is important to them
Brand Goals
Make rainy days feel as positive as sunny days
Help users feel in control of their day and emotions
Help users feel in control of their day and emotions
Motivate users to perform healthy self-care habits and take care of themselves
Business Goals
Provide users with quick access to weather information that is relevant to them
Provide tools to help users understand their behavior patterns as they relate to the weather
Encourage users to invest in continuous use
Show users that we are trustworthy and accurate
User Journey Mapping
User Flows
Creating user flows helped us to better understand how the app would realistically be used and think critically about how we normally check the weather and use to-do apps. How would our app be different and how could we express that in the way the app was used? To answer these questions, we decided to create a flow for a theoretical morning alarm and check in and the process which a user could use to log their mood, create tasks, and check the weather. These became the basic features of our app.
Wireframe Sketches
User Testing
We developed a few baseline screens with which to do basic user testing and printed them. This allowed us to watch users interact with the screens and work out basic bugs.
Summary of Feedback
Navigation is confusing and needs to be reworked. Some icons were clear and understandable, but some were not.
Interface of the task area needs to be reworked to help the user understand what they have and have not completed.
Task and mood areas both need to give feedback after something new has been created.
Mood area needs to be reworked to be clearer and more concise. Wording throughout should be revised.
Overall, lots of positive feedback to keep moving forward with the concept.
Branding
We started the process of branding the app with a naming brainstorm which led us to the name Dew. After a few sketches, we moved to digital and decided on the logo that would best fit the atmosphere of the concept.
Our final branding concept was centered around this dew drop logo and colors that were reminiscent of the dawn. Dawn is a time of day where things start a new, we hoped this positive reminder would help our users to gain motivation for the new day.
Every type of weather is associated with a different gradient and color scheme. There is a primary and secondary color for each weather which may also be associated with time of day in an attempt to connect with the appearance of the sky at the time of the weather.
Final Screens
Weather
The weather screen is the home screen of the app. At base level, it shows a seven-day forecast, the day, a weather summary, and the temperature.
The New Location feature of the weather screen has the locations you’ve already added on it. Select a location to see a more advanced report add a new one. Delete by swiping to the left.
The settings screen allows the user to change the forecast details on the weather screen so users are able to customize their report with what they speci cally want to see.
Tasks
Agenda’s list view shows how many tasks are scheduled for each day and what the weather will be like on each of those days.
Agenda’s month view shows the same information but with the entire month in mind. Its dynamic background changes to the gradient assigned to the day’s weather when it is selected. Days with tasks on them are marked with a dot.
At the New Task screen, users are able input tasks, add reminders, make the tasks reoccuring, and add a location where the task is to be completed. The weather will always correspond to the task’s set location.
Mood
The mood graph has two modes: one which shows mood by weather and one which shows overall mood over the course of a few days.
Logging a mood is intuitive: simply touch anywhere on the screen. The higher you touch, the better your mood. The dot stays where you touched. Touching elsewhere helpd you change your mind. Con rm when the mood feels correct.
Product Video
