Project 1: Ideate

Brainstorming Ideas (October 5th, 2017)

• Create a schedule or use a timer to proportionally distribute work and entertainment
• Undermine the value of frequent distractions (browsing the same thing over and over again is boring)
• Save distractions for later just as if they were work
• Put away potential distractions while working (e.g. put phone away)
• Work in public or with friends
• Friendship goal (challenge and competition of getting things done)
• Promise yourself snacks if you finish
• Break down large tasks (as abstract as possible)
• Switch to other work when stuck
• Try achieving entertainment and work at the same time, such as listening to music or eating while working
• Have someone to supervise you
• Tell others your goal so you can vision it better and have someone to remind you
• Don’t seek for perfection and just do it, perhaps you can go back and fix when done
• Break down tasks and complete them over time
• Make your bed in the morning
• Learn to pre-commit, completing tasks before rather than the night before the due date
• Set goals and minimum quotas
• Compete with your friends in getting things done
• Try to think like a lazy person so you will seek an easier way of completing tasks

• Think about the success you will achieve and the joy you will feel
• Start with the most enjoyable part of the work or project

• List everything down (everything seems more plausible afterwards)
• Switch of work scenery every so often
• Imagine oneself as a hard worker in the middle of hard work before entering work
• Find/imagine a minigame in the work one does (patterns in a bubble sheet of a test)
• Actively look for help on work (collaboration)
• Make promises to another person
• Random daily draw (what task am I to do today?)
• Add tally or arbitrary sense of progression that can lead to an arbitrary reward
• Envision oneself drawn in by distraction

Brainstormed Categories

• Schedule
• Supervise/put away distractions
• Work in public/friends/Promise/Collaboration
• Rewards/Minigame/Competition
• Switch Work/Scenery

PROTOTYPE 1

• Competition between students that have similar schedule
• We will design a schedule and set of methods to fight procrastination
• Earn points when complete tasks
• “Reward” in the end
• Collaborate to earn points together
• Tell them to develop methods together and note them down (however, not too slacking off)
• Assets: Salina, Max, Bryan, Jason
• We need:
• Checklist
• Schedule
• Reflection section for each day (straight up questions)
• Do you feel productive?
• Did you start working before 7?
• Did you sleep before 12?
• Does the current pacing make you feel comfortable in completing all the tasks?
• Survey for after experiment

	3	2	1
Productivity	I complete tasks on time and efficiently	I complete tasks, but sometimes go overtime	I totally botched my time management
Motivation	I feel like working task after task	I sometimes feel like working	I don’t feel like working at all
Satisfaction	I am very satisfied with my improvement in productivity	I am satisfied with my improvement in productivity	I am not making any improvement in productivity

PERSONAL PREFERENCES

• Do them the day just before due, space them out (Max Chen)
• Easiest to hardest (fastest to slowest)
• Start around 19:00 (Salina Kuo, Jason Liu, Max Chen), 20:00 (Bryan Ying)
• Sleep before 11:00-12:00, 7 hrs

PROTOTYPE 2

• Give methods for them to use
• Day 1: put phone away while working
• Day 2: work with friends
• Day 3: change in normal working environment
• Day 4: reward yourself with something after completing each homework, preferably snacks
• Day 5: try listening to music or eating at the same time
• Day 6: break down tasks and complete them over time
• Day 7: switch to other homework when stuck and/or start to procrastinate on one
• Evaluate if there is an increase in productivity

Reflection (October 12th, 2017)

Describe
My group took some time to brainstorm ideas. We did so on the same document, as we thought that seeing each other in process of ideation may inspire us to build on ideas or create new ones. I brainstormed many ideas based on past experiences, some information from the past interviews, and other people's advice.
When we finished generating ideas and methods, we went over every single point and realized the overall similarities in many of them. Aside from analyzing each point in validity, significance, and interest (we eventually scrapped the ones that faltered in too many aspects), we organized the remaining ones into brainstormed categories.
From there, we realized that any single method was not enough to be considered worthy of a class called "Innovator's Space." We needed a system or overall strategy that possibly combines several ideas for a simple and accessible solution. To start simple, we decided only to combine up to two ideas.
The concept was to integrate the feeling of challenge based on the assumption that people often get invested into something for little practical reason other than competition and collaboration based on the assumption that support, familiarity, and responsibility can bring beneficial results to productivity. To hopefully increase interest in the prototype, we designed it to be like a game. The ultimate product was supposed to involve a point system to reward competing rival groups and foster friendly competition, collaboration, and sense of responsibility.
For the first prototype, we had to cut down much of the plan to test out certain variables. We started with simply creating tasks based on the schedules and preferences of our clients to simulate the challenges of a game. We asked them to fill several surveys and write any reflection or notes on their experiences.

Think/Feel

I felt somewhat accomplished when I generated the highest volume of ideas, although I did acknowledge their limitations when we analyzed everything we brainstormed. I feel as if our ultimate plan seems like the right direction, but think that there are too many variables to consider, that it is too difficult to implement, and that we simply do not have the ability to carry it out.

Evaluate

The brainstorming process likely generated ideas that were too similar and limited. The prototype we first came up with did not consider proper criterion or detailed planning, meaning that we couldn't determine success.

Envision

We still need to test more methods in less complex procedures before developing the original ideas.

Plan

I need to develop Prototype 2 fast.