Preventing and Recovering from Autistic Burnout Through Energy Accounting
Posi | UX/UI Design and Branding for Mobile App
Overview
My team and I were given the opportunity to design for Posi, a mobile application that aims to assist neurodivergent individuals in preventing and recovering from autistic burnout by providing a daily energy management solution.
The team was entrusted with the considerable task of bringing Posi to life from the ground up. With no prior product or branding guidelines, and only the founder's vision for Posi, we were able to deliver a final mockup of the app's core functions, along with a fully developed style guide and working prototype within a three-week turnaround time.
Team
Eric Houng
Natalie Woo
Nolan Golden
Yoon Han
Timeline
January 2024 | 3-Week Sprint
Tools
Figma, FigJam, ChatGPT, DALL-E 3
Style Guide
Project Brief and Spoon Theory
Research and Building Empathy
After the initial client meeting, the team collectively agreed to dedicate significant time into familiarizing ourselves with neurodivergence and autistic burnout before making any decisions, given our limited knowledge and experience with these topics. The goal during this time was to develop an accurate and academic understanding of the subjects, build empathy with the neurodivergent community by gathering real insights into the daily lives of its individuals, and visualize Posi's potential features and aesthetics.
Exploring the (Posi)bilities
Onboarding
The primary goal for Posi's onboarding is to keep the process concise while still obtaining and providing all of the necessary information the app and its users would need for a productive user experience. The most crucial aspect of the onboarding process is to clearly communicate the problem Posi aims to combat and how the app can help the user resolve these issues.
Dashboard
With the concept of energy accounting being the heart of Posi, we placed this feature on full display where users would be interacting with the app the most. Representation of the user's current energy level was designed in the form of a circular meter that fills and empties as tasks scheduled for the day are marked as complete. Although not displayed in the wireframe above, the user's aura emanates from the center of the energy meter all the way past the circle's perimeter. The dashboard is also where users are able to view and edit their plan for the day. When adding a new task, users are asked to name the entry and assign how many points Posi would add or subtract from their current total when the task is completed.
Insights
The insights page provides users with a history of task entries along with statistics and trends that Posi derives from previous data. With the insights provided by the app, users are empowered to continually improve on building healthy habits.
Community
The community page is driven by the concept of an "Aurbit" (a clever mashup of the words "aura" and "orbit"). An Aurbit is created when a group of users come together with accountability in mind to support one another's energy goals. Aurbits can also participate in group challenges to reinforce a sense of community and belonging for neurodivergent individuals that often find themselves feeling alone in a world that caters to the neurotypical audience.
Applying Visual Design
Pictured above are the final mockups of the Onboarding, Dashboard, Insights, and Community features with Posi's style guide finalized and applied.
Driven by Accessibility
The team determined that a substantial portion of the app's user base would benefit from a dark theme aimed at reducing visual overstimulation by minimizing bright lights and colors. With the decision made to continue in a dark theme, we were able to construct a color palette that offered adequate contrast against a black background while remaining easy on the eyes through the use of soft pastel tints.
AI Graphics and Brand Identity
A number of graphics (including the Posi auras) were generated through OpenAI's DALL-E 3. The inclusion of these graphics significantly contributed to fostering a unique brand identity for Posi by tying together all of the app's colors and typefaces with a consistent art style that aptly communicates its goals and message.
Final Thoughts
The opportunity to lay down the groundwork for a project like Posi has been both uniquely exciting as well as ambitiously demanding. I'm not sure when I'll ever have another chance at being so involved with all of the different aspects of building a product from scratch, but I'm happy to have experienced this challenge, especially with how exceptionally talented my team was.