Design Brief: 730hours

730Hours Design Brief

A brief summary of the business / site goals.

This is personal budgeting applied to time, not money: You Need a [Time] Budget. Based around the ideas that personal change that you do not “fund” with time will not happen, and that you cannot improve what you do not measure.

The key users.

Users are motivated but time-poor (by definition). They are analytical, with a high level of introspection and goal adherence, but absolutely do not need more chores and busywork in their life.

Scenarios in which your app or site will be used.

Time tracking: Many times per hour, always on mobile. Handled by an external app (SaveMyTime) and not part of this project.

Monthly review/planning session: User reviews results against plans for previous month, notes reasons for variances, and sets a plan for the coming month. Focused, detailed session (>5 mins, maybe >15 mins). Probably happens on desktop.

Ad-hoc review session: User reviews progress against plan during a month. Could be as short as a quick glance. Almost certainly happens on mobile.

Design style guidelines to follow.

Fast fast fast fast fast. Users are busy, don’t like doing this, and will eagerly accept any excuse to context-switch away from it. One second of lag is probably okay; three seconds, anywhere in the application, is definitely too long.

Businesslike. Think “budget variance analysis in Xero”, not “new badges awarded in Candy Crush”. This is a power tool; it’s not meant to be fun.

Focused. Users are busy. Make them do only what they have to do. Prioritise actionable information. Be respectful of the user’s attention.