Focusmate: Favorite Partners
In this self-initiated project for Focusmate, an online co-working service, I design ways for users to control and customize their experience, while preserving the simplicity and social richness of the platform.
product design, UX/UI, user research
Challenge
How might we enable Focusmate users to control and customize their experience, while preserving the simplicity and social richness of the platform?
Action
I identified three of the most-requested features: adding co-working partners as favorites, booking sessions with favorites, and booking sessions of different durations (Focusmate currently only offers 50-minute sessions). I designed and tested a few different implementations of these features, using tools and methods such as journey mapping, user flows, wireframing, prototyping, and user testing through interviews and online surveys.
Roles and skills
product design, UX/UI, user research, prototyping, usability testing
Overview
The challenge
About Focusmate
Focusmate is a new (founded in 2017) and growing web-based service that lets people virtually co-work with partners around the world. You book a 50-minute slot, get matched with a partner and tell them what you’re working on (they do the same). Then both of you work on your respective task(s) while keeping video on. At the end of the session, you update each other on your progress. There’s also a chat feature to share goals or updates.
The home screen—dashboard—is essentially a calendar where you can book and join your sessions. Each session is a 50-minute video call with another Focusmate user
The design principles are inspired by—and meant to preserve—the most cherished qualities of Focusmate
Design process and timeline
I designed and tested three new features to give users more control over their experience, while preserving the simplicity and social richness of Focusmate
The Research
Primary research with 25 participants
Interviews, email correspondence, and survey responses from Focusmate users from around the world, including seasoned users (3000+ sessions) as well as those that joined just a few days ago
Secondary research using 30 responses
to the question ‘What would I change or add to Focusmate’ (available on users’ profiles)
I identified a number of opportunities at key moments in a user’s journey
The identified features present considerable design, technical, and philosophical challenges. How do we (or do we even) implement these features while maintaining the simple, unobtrusive nature of Focusmate that users love?
I worked closely with Focusmate users through all phases of the project—exploratory research, ideation, and validation
I adopted a dynamic, mixed-method approach to learning about user needs and validating ideas
Feature 1: Add partners as favorites
User flow v1
Sketches to explore the UI and flow
Prototype v1
I developed the initial sketches into an interactive prototype and shared it with users for feedback
Validation: Prototype v1
Revisiting the user flow
Discussions with users revealed that it might be a better idea to place the ‘Add as favorite’ option directly on the session card, instead of requiring users to click the ellipses to get to those options. This change might make the feature more discoverable.
Connection options placed directly on cards
Based on user feedback, I made another implementation for the ‘Add as favorite’ and ‘Message’ options, with the buttons placed directly on the session card.
Prototype v2
Adding partners as favorites: A/B testing
Feature 2: Book sessions with favorite partners
Booking sessions with specific partners: current flow
The opportunity
The current option for booking a session directly is unintuitive and clunky. It requires users to find their unique link through the invite button and share this link with a partner during or after a session (or put it on their public profile even though there’s no designated space for this link on the profile). A user can only request a direct session with a ‘favorite’ partner if the latter already has sessions added to their calendar. Personal experience and anecdotal evidence suggest that the discoverability of this feature is also low.
I created lo-fi explorations of the session options interface and tested it with four Focusmate users in short video call sessions
Prototype v1
I created a clickable prototype to explore how booking a session with a favorite might work
Validation: Booking sessions with favorite partner
Rethinking the flow
Upon receiving feedback from users that booking sessions with favorites wasn’t as simple as the rest of Focusmate experience, I set out to rethink the process of booking a session with a favorite partner. I realized that we could show favorite partners’ availability without requiring the user to open the ‘Session Details’ box. Instead, available favorites are shown on the default calendar view and users can book with them in one click. To view more favorites, users open the Sessions Details box. Upon selecting ‘Favorites’ under the ‘Match with’ panel, the calendar is updated so that it only shows favorites whenever they are available. Selecting a particular favorite will only show that individual’s availability on the calendar. Users can also search for favorites and see their availability in a similar manner.
Users can either book or request sessions with favorites: if a favorite is immediately available at the user’s selected time, a booking is made. If the favorite isn’t immediately available, a session is requested. If the favorite accepts the booking request, the booking is put on the calendar and the user is notified. If the favorite refuses the invitation, Focusmate tries to match with another favorite (or the community, based on the user’s preferences). If the favorite doesn’t respond until 10 minutes before the requested time, Focusmate matches with another user.
On the default calendar view, a star badge is added to favorite partners’ display pictures. In the session booking options, users can select specific partners and see their availability laid out on the calendar.
I created a few sketches to visualize the process of booking a session with a favorite partner.
Favorites with a star badge
On the default calendar view, a star badge is added to favorite partners’ display pictures. In the session booking options, users can select specific partners and see their availability laid out on the calendar.
Prototype v2
The second iteration of booking a session with a favorite partner
A clear favorite
All of the users who responded to the test indicated a preference for the second flow
Feature 3: Book longer or shorter sessions
I considered several options before deciding to test only a 25-minute session option (in addition to the standard 50-minute session)
A 25-minute session?
Several users have asked for more session duration options in addition to the current 50-min offering. As I weighed more duration possibilities, I decided to only add a 25-min session option. There are a few considerations behind this decision: 25 or 20 minutes is the standard duration for the popular Pomodoro technique which is supported by productivity literature suggesting that our brains can only focus for roughly that period before needing a break. Another reason for choosing this direction is the limitation that if a user does not have the full 50 minutes (or, realistically, an hour considering it takes time to find a match), they cannot use Focusmate. If they only have 30 or 40 minutes, there’s no way for them to use that time productively with Focusmate. A 25-minute session makes it possible for them to take care of tasks that do not require extended periods of focus—email, chores, etc. Furthermore, some people might prefer to focus for shorter durations.
Another important reason for choosing this direction was feasibility. Too many options (25, 50, 75, 150-min) might overwhelm users while also making it a lot more difficult to find matches—a lose-lose situation. However, if users do want longer sessions, it can be achieved through adding more functionality to the favorites feature—for example, a user could put a 3-hour block on their calendar and choose to have it shown to their friends, the entire community, or both. I am currently exploring possibilities here.
User flow of the process of booking a longer or shorter session than one’s default setting
Prototype: Book a 25 or 50-min session
The flow received excellent feedback from test users
Things tried along the way
Vertical toggle
I tried a vertical toggle button on one of the earlier design explorations but abandoned it due to its unfamiliarity.
Extra taps
An earlier prototype had a confirmation dialog box, informing the user that the session had been booked. However, while talking users through this prototype, I realized there was an opportunity to reduce the number of steps here: the confirmation—or more information—message could be tucked into the booking card on the calendar.
Sidebar options
I mocked up another option for the session booking details panel, utilizing the sidebar space in the current layout. However, users pointed out (and I agreed) that this might be too much information at once and might compromise the beautiful simplicity of the Focusmate experience.
Key lessons
Embrace complexity
Even seemingly simple and straightforward features can present significant design, technical, and philosophical challenges. All of the features I worked on in this project raised questions about the pros and cons of including and excluding them from the experience.
For example, while the ability to add favorite partners may seem like a no-brainer to some users, for me it brought to fore critical questions about the value of a social, inclusive, everyone’s-invited experience I’ve had with Focusmate. How do we ensure that in adding favorite partners, users are not forgetting the delightful experience of supporting, and being supported by, strangers around the world.
Learn and create with the community
While I enjoyed all aspects of the project—initial research, ideation, and prototyping—I especially loved interacting with the wonderful, dedicated, and sincere Focusmate community. Not only were they eager to help me as a designer, they were also genuinely invested in the potential for improving and refining the platform.
I learned that Focusmate is one of those rare companies that are truly loved and supported by their users. I am glad I had an opportunity to work on Focusmate and, hopefully, helped the company’s designers and engineers in some way.
Prioritize
There are numerous opportunities to add value—user interface, branding and messaging, UX writing, and more—and it was easy to lose focus of the opportunities I had identified as crucial.
This project helped me hone my ability to identify what really is important and to focus on it fully.