Timeline
Tools
Role
June - August 2021
UX Designer
UI Design, Product Design, User Research, Wireframing, Prototyping, Testing
Figma, Miro, InVision, Blender
CarroTask
Overview
The shift to remote learning due to COVID-19 created a high-stress environment for students, introducing challenges beyond academics - such as maintaining motivation, managing time effectively, and prioritizing self-care. During my first full semester of virtual classes, I wanted to design a digital solution to improve students’ wellbeing and productivity by helping them manage tasks, set goals, and build healthy habits in our new virtual world. Hence, CarroTask was born and so did “Carrot Buddy”.
Meet Carrot Buddy!
Solution
Leveraging my interdisciplinary major in psychology and human-computer interaction, I explored the psychology of motivation and applied gamification principles to uncover how long-term engagement can improve satisfaction, happiness, and habit-forming behavior.
I wanted to paired a digital experience with a physical experience. Carrot Buddy is the physical device while the mobile application is called CarroTask.
The name “Carrot Buddy” embodies both motivation, companionship, and habit-building in a fun, approach way. The carrot symbolizes rewards and positive reinforcement - just like the classic “carrot-and-stick” approach to motivation. But also, the carrot represents growth, progress, and small steps leading to a bigger goal - just like habits.
By pairing it with “Buddy”, the name emphasizes a friendly, supportive presence in your habit-building journey. The physical device acts as both a tangible reminder and an encouraging partner on your desk, making productivity feel more engaging and rewarding.
“It’s hard to do everything because every day meshes together and I lose track of the date and time constantly. I’ve been lacking motivation because staying inside everyday is getting tiring and not being able to socialize.”
User Interviews
User Pain Points
Personas
Storyboarding
Brainstorm/Sketches
Affinity Diagram
User Research
Challenge
Ideation
Ideation
Ideation
Consolidated findings
To inform the design process, I conducted 10 user interviews with university students from Drexel University, University of Pennsylvania, University of the Arts, and Temple University. These interviews helped uncover key pain points and opportunities.
Contextual Research - Observing students’ daily remote-learning routines to understand their challenges in real time.
User Interviews - Gathering data on student behaviors, preferences, and daily challenges to validate my assumptions at a large scale.
Student’s schedules have become more hectic/difficult during remote learning because of distractions and motivation being harder to achieve.
Students need a motive/incentive to combat the feelings of loneliness at home.
Remote-learning decreases levels of self-care and motivation, goal-setting mindsets, and efficiency in getting tasks done.
Individuals that work/study from home need a method to manage their time effectively while contributing to productivity in their leisure time in order to improve their mental and physical wellbeing.
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Problem statement
Survey Findings
How might we help students maintain self-care and boost productivity in a remote learning environment?
The vast majority of students found scheduling to be more hectic with remote learning.
Despite this, many students actively planned ahead by setting deadlines and allocating specific times for tasks.
Increased Scheduling Challenges
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When asked the downsides of working from home, students highlighted lack of motivation and increased distractions as primary challenges.
Barriers to Productivity
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To improve concentration, students mentioned practices such as meditation and establishing a consistent routine. In terms of time management, common strategies included:
Creating to-do lists
Tracking due dates
Updating planners daily
Blocking out dedicated time for tasks and goals
Strategies for Focus & Time Manage
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Students ranked features based on importance, with 1 being the most valuable. The data revealed the the most crucial elements for a digital solution included:
Customization (personalizing the experience)
To-do lists (for task management)
Goal and progress tracking (for organization and habit-building)
Feature Prioritization
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I created a character that students could relate and empathize with as well as devise a plot that they would more likely remember. Stories motivate us to do certain things and can act as a persuasive communication tool. This is where I applied my background in psychology to expand on the psychology of motivation in attempt to develop a feeling of connectedness.
How might we motivate users to stay organize in this newly remote world and feel excited to create healthy habits for themselves?
Carrot Buddy
Site Map
Visual Prototype
Visual Prototype
The Solution
Final Design
CarroTask is a habit-tracking and productivity app paired with a physical reward system designed to help students stay motivated and organized.
The app encourages users to build healthy habits through gamification, where completing tasks removes leaves from a personified carrot device called Carrot Buddy.
Paired with a mobile application.
User Surveys
User Research
To better understand students’ backgrounds, challenges, and needs during remote learning, I conducted a survey with 47 students (Drexel University, University of Pennsylvania, and University of the Arts) incorporating both quantitative and qualitative questions. Below are samples of the data.
These insights directly informed the design of our solution, ensuring it addressed students’ core needs for structure, motivation, and focus in a remote learning environment.
Onboarding Experience
The onboarding experience for Carrot Buddy is designed to be engaging, intuitive, and motivating, helping students seamlessly integrate the app and device into their daily routines. From personalization to quick tutorial to demonstrate how to create a goal or habit and steps to interact with their Carrot Buddy.
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Dashboard Experience: Create a Goal or Habit
You can create either a goal or habit to track, choosing from curated suggestions or custom entries. Be sure to set reminders and preferred reward milestones, reinforcing motivation.
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Achievements & Rewards
To keep users motivated, Carrot Buddy integrates a playful gamification system that provides tangible and digital rewards for habit completion.
Leaf Removal Mechanic - Every completed task allows users to remove a leaf from their Carrot Buddy (both in-app and on physical device), creating a satisfying, visual sense of progress.
Streaks & Milestones - Can earn streak bonuses for consecutive days of task completion and unlock achievement badges.
Leveling System - If habit are maintain, can level up Carrot Buddy and evolve it’s appearance and unlock new customization options such as themes and sounds.
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Carrot Buddy Faces
Carrot Buddy has different customizations and faces shown throughout user interactions. The variations in facial expressions gives it a more humanized experience.
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By combining visual progress, incentives, and personalization, the Carrot Buddy gamification system makes habit-building fun, rewarding, and engaging.
SAMPLE
DEMONSTRATION
CONNECTION
TASK COMPLETED
REMINDER
Process Overview
my design approach
Below are the points I engaged in the most throughout this project.
User Research
Analysis
Design
Discovery
Test/Iterations
The Challenges of Remote Learning: Supporting Student Well-Being and Productivity
problem
Currently, based on the preliminary research and survey findings, students across the nation are facing pressing challenges during their remote-learning due to lifestyle transitions from being in-person to completely virtual. The transition from face-to-face interactions to complete alienation can be a daunting experience, and living with unforeseen circumstances in general.
A few factors explain why this is occurring:
Lack of self-motivation and structure
Cannot separate work/school from personal time
Unchanging environment
Dimensions & Packaging
Branding
Unique Experience
Applied Interdisciplinary Thinking
Engage with Core Users Early
CarroTask was a unique experience as it was built entirely from scratch, allowing me to explore product design from ideation to execution. One of the biggest challenges during remote learning is the blurred boundary between home and work life, which can impact productivity and well-being.
With Carrot Buddy, the goal was to create a system that not only helps users stay organized but also encourages healthy habit formation in a fun and engaging way.
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Through my interdisciplinary background, it allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and apply my non-design concentrations such as psychology, human-computer interaction, and entrepreneurship & innovation it allowed me to expand this concept passed traditional design. By integrating gamification and tangible rewards, CarroTask transforms routine tasks into a more motivating and enjoyable experience.
Designing a physical product alongside a digital experience introduced new challenges beyond traditional UX design. Product design requires a more expansive process, including measuring components, ensuring material safety, and adapting when the final outcome differs from the initial vision. This experience reinforced for me the importance of patience, iteration, and flexibility in the design process.
Takeaways
REFLECTION