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DIANE BOWEN
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Bible App Design Ideation

A project to demonstrate my process from initial request to design-review-ready user interface.
Problem
23 percent of Millennials and Gen-Xers reported using the Bible in a digital format several times per week. YouVersion can encourage and reward their engagement by:
  • Improving daily reading plan completion rates.
  • Improving plan completion rates.
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​Approach
The project was presented from this request:
"Redesign the flow and UI for completing plan days and finishing a plan."

To design effectively, I needed to understand "Why?" first. Starting from "Why", which involved secondary research sources,  
I crafted a focused problem statement (see Problem above). The problem statement serves to:​
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View preview as a png
  • ​​Clarify context for user needs and organizational goals.
  • Create a shared understanding among stakeholders and project collaborators.
  • Compare design impact against​.
    ​
The project was divided into two phases, Discovery Research and Design.
1. Discovery Research
  • Understand a general layout of the app through exploration to gain insights for all the locations a user encounters an opportunity to engage in plans.
  • Seek out sources to understand how people engage in a digital Bible.
  • Choose design tenets to design from, encouraging engagement with plans. 
 
2. Design - ​Craft an interaction and interface design targeted to make an impact on:
  • ​Daily reading plan completion rates.
  • Plan completion rates.
​
Discovery Research
A literature review provided an understanding of American YouVersion user goals, motivations, and behaviors. 
  • Six in 10 Americans believe the Bible has transformed their life and 2/3 of Americans are curious to know more about what the Bible says.
  • YouVersion plans in English were the most common.
  • YouVersion users were 24 times more likely to read a chapter than to complete a reading plan.
    ​​
An exploration of the YouVersion app indicates plans for Millennials and Gen-Xers are accessible through all primary navigation elements.
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Yellow highlights are selections that lead to plans or plan notifications. Dark text in top whiteboard boxes is primary navigation.
View whiteboard as a pdf
Provisional Persona
A Provisional Persona was created from sources related to digital Bible use and App reviews. The persona provides a focus for design outcomes and testing. 

Design Tenets
The YouVersion Bible app is a sovereign app, intended to engage users for a period of time. Designing for habits as illustrated in  Hooked by Nir Eyal provides a frame for Design Tenets. 
  1. Trigger - External prompt to take action.​
  2. Action - Streamlined, delightful, and simple.
  3. Variable Reward - User takes action and receives a variable reward.
  4. Investment - User's contributions add value to the engagement. 
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View persona as a pdf
Interaction Design  
App Reviews indicate user pain when they missed a day and lost their streaks. To encourage engagement, 
  • Users should always feel supported and celebrated when they engage with the Bible app. The inner work of behavior change is personally challenging.
  • Provide a friendly, supportive app notification or a text as a trigger to engage if a user has a plan selected but has not engaged with the plan for three days or more. 
  • If a user is not on track, the app 'helps' them through a
    "Catch me up" link.
  • If "Catch me up" is selected, the user may select to listen to audio to catch up.  "Catch up" triggered audio auto-plays until all days are caught up. 
  • ​All plans should have quick access to audio controls.
  • When a day is completed, a unique celebration icon and a notification sound should celebrate the user's engagement for the day.
  • When a plan is completed, a big celebration with an animation and special notification sound should play. 
    • ​Screen show display # Plans | Streaks | Weeks.
    • Ask the user to leave comments through a "Journal" feature for others who choose this plan.
    • Display recommended plans for re-engagement.
      ​
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Orange annotations explain implementation of Design Tenets
View Interaction Design (user flow) diagram as a pdf. 
An abbreviated Service Blueprint serves as an artifact for conversation between project managers, development, and design. 
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View Service Blueprint as a png
Wireframes
An updated card navigation on the home page focused on plans for specific users:
  • Signed In
  • Selected at least one plan

Sketches to explore ideas before jumping into a digital tool.
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The Home page for these users started with information about their plans, with a clear CTA to read or listen. Buttons open to the selected plan.  

Approach to digital wireframe designs:
  • Reconfigure existing elements for speed to development.
  • User-centric navigation and page layout to help users accomplish the goal of completing a selected plan.
  • New elements to help uses engage with a plan with ease and simplicity. ​
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View Home Wireframes as png
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View Plans Wireframes as png
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View Completed Plans as png
​Results
The annotated design documentation below illustrates user-centric designs for daily plan completion and plan completion. These designs are ready for a design review. Before implementation, the designs should be revised based on designer and stakeholder feedback and tested with users. 
  • Engagement with plans is encouraged by making plans the default first card for signed in users who have selected a plan. The default provides a trigger for user activity. 
  • Users will feel supported and celebrated when they finish a plan. The daily and plan celebration animations mark milestones of achievement for users, giving them a variable reward.
  • If a user is not on track, the app 'helps' them through a "Catch me up" link, giving the user an opportunity for action. 
  • ​All plans have quick access to audio controls encouraging user action if the user is unable to read at that moment. 
  • When a day or plan is completed, a unique celebration and a notification sounds  to celebrate the user's accomplishment, reinforcing their investment of time. 
  • Prototype of Catch Me Up. Would be improved by subtle animations. 
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View Bible App Design Ideation document as png.
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Get in touch

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I am a champion of the user, seeking to understand user needs, motivations, and behaviors. Highly collaborative, I facilitate and create design solutions to deliver the best possible experience, resulting in success for both user and business.

Currently a UX Research Manager, I invest in jr. and mid-level UX professionals. I've led Service Design, exploring end-to-end services to reveal moments that matter. 

When not coaching or collaborating on research or problem solving, I enjoy spending time with family and friends.
diabowen@gmail.com
​© Copyright Diane Bowen 2023