Just One Thing!

Target users

Students struggling with managing time and deadlines.

User research

Semi-structured interviews with 2 participants via convenience sampling.

Interviewees

Key insights

• Users felt that remembering assignment requirements across classes resulted in perpetual cognitive load
• Users struggled to track deadlines across the full semester, especially toward the end
• Large projects, assignments, and exams created avoidant behaviour

Key user tasks

1. Collate assignment and exam requirements across classes for quick reference
2. Encourage daily tasks for incremental progress on their workload
3. Track personal progress and check upcoming deadlines

Feature ideation

Persuasive element: Just One Thing

• Encourage user to complete just one task a day to break inertia

Persuasive element: Streaks

• Apps like Duolingo and Snapchat use daily streaks to build user habits

Anti-procrastination feature: Pomodoro focus mode

• Based on the Pomodoro technique, the user can set 25 minutes of focus time using the app, where they work on a single task

The solution

Wireframing key flows

I created wireframes for the following key user flows:

• Adding a new task
• Entering Focus mode
• Searching existing tasks

Final prototype (mid-fidelity)

I chose a bright, friendly colour palette for the final designs, aiming for an approachable but uncluttered visual style.

Entering focus mode

The user can choose a task to focus on, and number of focus sessions.

The user starts a countdown timer and a cheerful micro-animation to motivate them.

Tapping the Close button will prompt an alert, allowing the user to end their session early.

On completing the focus session, the user will view an encouraging success screen.

Adding a new task

The user can add a new task from the Home page, with title, description etc

The user can assign the task to an overarching project, like a class or a larger assignment.

The user must assign a date to complete the task, encouraging them to use time-blocking.

The user can also break the task down into smaller sub-tasks.

Searching existing tasks & deadlines

The home page provides an overview of the user’s daily streak, tasks and deadlines.

The user can search or browse by project or module.

The user can view their deadlines at a glance.

The user can also view all tasks in chronological order.

Final thoughts

This project explored design’s potential for positive behaviour shaping. Rather than treating procrastination as a discipline problem, JOT! treats it as a systemic one — expanding opportunities for students who struggle most.