Creative Bloke: A Motivational Product Idea
A mobile application to shoo creative block away!! [Design In-Sanity]
Disclaimer: I’m not good at UI. So, brace yourselves!!
Introduction
Creative block hits us all. In fact, it sometimes hits us like a bus when we are in the middle of perhaps the do-or-get-f**ked-up assignment of our lives!! Can’t help it, can we?
But.
We can help ourselves! Yes!!
Instead of groping in the dark for random ways to hit the arse of the creative block away, why not try tapping on a tiny weeny app icon on your phone, and get all sorts of weirdly brilliant ideas to tackle creative block to the ground?
Creative Bloke is a mobile application, still in its fetal stage, that helps everyone — from serious personalities to crazy weirdos — to win the battle against (here we go again!) creative block.
Why the Name
Because ultimately we become ‘blokes’ when any creative block creeps its way into our brains. And because we need to turn the tables, and turn this block into the bloke, and kick it away!
Target Audience
Any and every creative and non-creative person who feels like all brakes in their brains have been pulled.
Creative Bloke is for every individual who’s into any kind of profession or is active in pursuing their hobbies. Basically, any one who wants to sit back and take a break from the galloping work cycle can use this app.
The Backstory
A couple of months back I was suffering from a severe case of creative block. It started one fine afternoon and stretched on for almost a week. You can probably imagine how awful it might have been when I was sitting face-to-face with a huge pile of work that included reports, blogs, UX research and other forms of work that desperately pleaded for my imaginative side, and there I was staring blankly at my MacBook.
So, after a day or two of struggling, I finally gave up, took some time off, and started sketching randomly on my notebook (which always stays with me like my life depends on it). I realised that all my suppressed emotions were subconsciously portraying themselves in the tiny images that I was drawing. This helped me understand exactly what was bothering me, which in turn allowed me to find ways of fixing these emotions.
Next, I started talking to myself about how I was feeling. Blabbering would be more appropriate a word. I do that a lot, and believe me, if you’re not into it, then you’re missing out on a lot of self-help! When realisation hit me that what I was saying was no nonsense but was sharable, I started recording my thoughts on my phone, and guess what? I got an idea of starting a podcast on design and mental well-being!!
In that unlikely but golden moment, I had an epiphany that creative block can be tackled in the most creative ways, and while you’re at it, you might just find a new idea for something else. Maybe a new venture!
And later, this served as the plot for this app to be conceived! Wow! So much out of creative blocks!!
So, What’s the Plan?
The plan for Creative Bloke is to offer some activities that will best suit the user’s mood and will help them to unwind. It’s very simple if we look at the flow below. I’m bad at creating flowcharts — lost practice since 2011!! So, let me try words. I’m not bad at it ;)
Things to Remember
We must remember that a person undergoing a blockade in workflow will already be undergoing frustration or demotivation or any other sort of negative feeling. To ask the user to sign in or sign up as soon as the app launches will be like throwing a board on their face saying, “No Entry Unless You Play by Our Rules!!”
Not nice, is it?
So, I decided to give the user the liberty of using the application without signing up. However, the user will be requested to create an account whenever they try to save any activity or preference. We’ll come to that later. So, they can choose later between investing 2–3 minutes to sign up and discarding their activity or preferences.
How Do Things Start
Step 1:
I decided to start by understanding the mood of the already upset user. To begin with, the app can have six options for the mood. So, the first thing that the app will ask the user every time it is launched will be:
I’m feeling -
- Angry
- Frustrated
- Anxious
- Blank
- Demotivated
- Overwhelmed
These are the usual feelings that we unwantedly encounter while being neck-deep in work. Or maybe sometimes only our feet are stuck in the mud but our brain gets all whiny!
Step 2:
Once the user chooses any one of these moods, multiple options of activities will be presented to them. These include:
- Scribble
- Doodle
- Colour pages
- Soothing tunes
- Positive quotes
- Motivational stories
- Funny stories
- Jokes
- Breathing exercises
- Karaoke
- Record own voice
These options will be presented to the user based on the mood selected in the previous step. However, if they want they can choose an activity outside of the ones given under the selected mood.
Step 3:
Once the desired activity is selected, the user can interact with it or can opt out and choose any other activity.
Step 4:
If the user is doing any creative activity, like scribbling or drawing or colouring pages or recording voice etc. then, if they want, they can save the output to their device or in cloud storage.
This is where the account creation comes in. The user will be prompted to create an account/log in order to save the work. So, it’s up to the user if they want to go ahead or discard the work. The app will never force the user to do something that they do not want.
Additionally, the user can save their preferences for activities like karaoke, breathing exercises and activities related to stories. Here again, the user will have to create an account/log in to do so.
Step 5:
Unlike most applications, Creative Bloke will never make the user stick to it. Being a UX researcher, I understand the value of both business need and user empathy. Finding a balance between the two is part of my job.
The user will be able to interact with each activity 5 times, unless the user opts out of the activity themselves. After 5 rounds of interaction with one activity, the user will receive a prompt saying something along the lines of, “Are you feeling better now?” With the meaning of the message remaining the same, the words will vary in order to avoid being mechanical and to avoid sounding monotonous. The user will be able to choose between “Yes” and “Not yet”.
- If the user chooses “Yes”, then the app will politely ask the user to get back to work, and come back later for relaxation.
- If the user chooses “Not yet” then the app will ask the user if they would like to
a) try some other activity or
b) allow the app to suggest some activity for them
If the user chooses option (a), then the list of all activities will come up, thus allowing the user to choose the desired activity.
If the user chooses option (b), then the app will take the user to Step 1 where the user can select their current state of mind.
Other Notes
The app will allow the user to browse through and select any activity without setting the mood first. However, selecting a mood will provide them with a curated set of activities suitable for tackling that particular mood.
Wireframes
UI Design
Prototype
Challenges
Size of the app
Now, having all these different activities integrated within the app will make it very heavy. So, the application can fetch data from third party apps and websites, and change the CSS properties so that these can be shown within Creative Bloke.
Thus, the application will be lightweight and can be installed in the phones of even those people who don’t bother to free up space in their devices.
Value of the App
User PoV
When we’re upset, we usually find it difficult to understand what will satiate our grey moods. We usually find ourselves at a loss to put a finger on some activity that will help us get back to our cheery self.
With Creative Bloke, the user can get a wide variety of activities at hand. They can choose from multiple options or try every option available.
The activities can be done in a serious way, like create something serious, or can be messed around in a nonsensical way. Either way, the user can do things that they like, and can relax and get back to work.
Business PoV
Like I had mentioned, integrating everything into this app will make it very heavy. So, third party APIs can be integrated for activities concerning music, karaoke, stories and colouring. This way, different apps can benefit from it.
Additionally, although this hasn’t been planned thoroughly yet, the app can have some premium features for every activity. While most activities can be enjoyed to a great extent free of cost, some advanced features can be tucked under the premium belt.
Ethical PoV
This definitely doesn’t have any monetary benefit to it but just can’t keep my hands off ethics!!
No Mandatory Sign up/in
The app will allow the stressed out user to use the application without signing in/up. They will be prompted to sign in/up while saving any work done on the app but can ignore it and discard the work if they want to.
Easy Login
While the initial process of account creation will require the user’s name, email address, a password and phone number, subsequent logins can be done by using an OTP only. This will make the task easier for the user, and they won’t have to worry about remembering the registered email address and the associated password when their brains are already screaming for relaxation!
Not Addictive
One feature of the app is that it will prompt the user to take a break from the app, and return to their work if they feel like it. While most apps try to hook their users in for hours, Creative Bloke will remember that using an app for long hours is not good for the health and for the professional career of the user.
This, in turn, also means that there is less consumption of energy, less carbon footprint and less heat produced. Now, that’s not just a motivational app but also an (almost) eco-friendly app!
Conclusion
The idea of the app is in its infancy and its design is still just a fetus. So, there’s a lot of work to be done, and probably some ideas might be modified as the work progresses. Nevertheless, the ultimate goal of the app will always be the same: to tackle creative block down in a fun, creative and ethical way.
