MiTime | A Time Management Application
Time always seems to be out of our control. Some, have too much Time and others don’t have enough, but it is the Ruler of our Days. MiTime is a Time Management app for anyone who wants to use their Time more efficiently. This could mean making more Time at the end of the day to do the things you want to do, and then beyond that, achieving your goals step by step.
When I started this project I wanted to create something that would help inspire people to make positive changes in their lives. As I started to talk to people about how they would do this I found that most of them struggled with either finding the Time or re-adjusting their Time to do this. So, I decided to share my focus of change with the “Idea of Time” because if the issue of Time was resolved, beneficial change would follow seamlessly.
Through my user studies I found that most people use multiple platforms to track, schedule and plan their days. Naturally there is a big divide between our work and our personal schedules and a lot of people prefer to keep their personal time free and open to manage this as their day goes on. When people do schedule things for their personal time its usually in the form of a diary or a notebook. Separate apps and platforms are usually used to set goals for themselves and then keep track of them but these are easily neglected when people are busy. I wanted to create something that would combine all of these aspects into one application to break through the clutter of screens and papers.
The early prototype of MiTime focused on creating a simple way to synchronise all calendars and schedules to one place. Then, like most other mediums used, the user can schedule tasks, reminders and appointments at their leisure. The second aspect of the app was to incorporate the ability to insight positive change without this being the ruling focus of the app and to allow the user to see their free time as well. I wanted the app to make time work for the user so that they could focus on the things they wanted to do.
This inspired the idea to add customisation to the app. By asking the user to input their average daily routine like their working hours and their usual bed time, MiTime could show them a more accurate representation of their free time everyday. Users are then given the opportunity to add a goal or two which is discreetly added as reminder to their daily schedule.
With the main features of the app finalised I went on to design the basic functions like adding and editing tasks as well as adding the ability to filter the users day so that they could view specific aspects of what was on their schedules. Free Time being the most important filter to the user. I wanted to keep the design as simple as possible so I tried to stay away from the clutter of too many graphics and colours.
Through users testing my digital prototype I learned a lot about what people recognise as standard and what users liked and disliked and even though I designed the app with all kinds of people in mind I got to define the kind of people who would truly be interested in MiTime. This is not the end of the road in terms of developing the app for me, I hope to refine and distill the app into a solution that everyone would like to use as a part of their daily lives.
