Chroll — On a Cleaning Roll with a Friendly Troll
Over the course of six weeks, my team followed the human-centered design process to develop Chroll, an app designed to transform household chore management through a playful, gamified approach. It promotes organization, communication, and accountability, catering to students and families alike.
We had the privilege of presenting our final prototype to guest judges who are UX designers at Meta, DocuSign, and Amazon. We were awarded Best Prototype.
Role
Product Designer
Timeline
Oct 2022 - Dec 2022
Tools
Figma, Qualtrics, Notion
Team
Product Designers (2),
Process
PROBLEM
Living with others can get difficult
Whether you are a student living with friends or parents raising kids, chores need to get done one way or another. Many factors including physical ability, personal schedules, age, and more influence how a household distributes tasks. Oftentimes, verbal agreements are forgotten and people end up feeling conflicted and frustrated around whether these duties are fulfilled.
How might we create an app that encourages organization, decreases passive-aggressive behavior, and promotes accountability between housemates who divide chores?
SOLUTION
Meet Chroll—a gamified, incentive-driven app that keeps you and your household on top of their chores
In a race against time, and each other, users must finish their chores to earn bubble points and compete to win first on the leaderboard. Through customizable troll avatars and anonymous communication tools, Chroll aims to reduce passive-aggressive tendencies and increase accountability among housemates.
Onboarding
• Demo of key features for new users—Redo Request, Chrolling, and Bubble Points
• Select their Chore Troll
• Either create a new group, join an existing one, or accept a group invitation
Chore Claim
• Compete to select chores on the start of a new cycle
• Chores are evenly divided among the group
• If a chore is already claimed, users are given a chance to select from the list again
Chrolling
• Users can anonymously "Chroll" a member, which sends a reminder to complete chores
• Users earn Bubble Points when completing a chore, the app's currency
Shopping & Customization
• Users can use Bubble Points to buy accessories to customize their Chore Troll
• Users can equip owned accessories
Request Redo
• Users can anonymously "Request Redo" a chore if a chore needs to be repeated or hasn't been carried out properly
Leaderboard, Notifications, & Settings
• Users can compete to be recognized as the first member to finish their chores in a cycle and earn bragging rights
• Users can keep up to date with what is being completed or requested
• Settings allows adjustment (length & frequency) of the chore cycle, and request to add or delete chores
• Members must vote to decide if these changes are implemented
THE DESIGN PROCESS
From research to informed designs, check out how we got to our solution!
01 RESEARCH
Kicking it off with a literature review
Our team began with a literature review to learn more about our topic as well as other existing platforms related to chores. This helped us in formulating our research goals to help us maintain a focus when creating questions for our user surveys.
Understand different household dynamics
Gauge current household chore practices
Identify how a household resolves conflicts
64% experience chore-related conflicts
With our research goals in mind, we sent out a survey asking both open and closed-ended questions to identify the types of chore distribution systems used, how people keep track of complete or incomplete chores, and, if any, how they resolve chore-related conflicts. We were able to collect responses from 105 participants with the majority being college students living with housemates. Out of those 105 participants, 56% use a voluntary chore system, a system where chores are done as needed with no assignment, 64% experience chore-related conflicts, and 40% use direct communication to resolve conflicts.
“My housemates can get very passive-aggressive…"
We conducted 16 interviews with college students, ages 18–22, who are living with housemates or family, to ask more case-specific questions based on their survey responses. Questions were framed to understand why a certain chore distribution system is preferred, what causes chore-related conflicts, how people hold each other accountable, and to dive deeper into why only 40% use direct communication to resolve conflicts.
02 SYNTHESIS & IDEATION
Affinity Mapping
After conluding our research, we took our findings and compiled them, determining three main key insights:
Communication
Most people avoid confrontation to maintain positive relationships, but for those who do, they prefer direct communication via text or in-person discussions. Unfortunately, attempts at communication tend to be deflected by passive-aggressive behavior.
Organization
Given that different households have different dynamics, most people also have different systems for keeping track of chore responsibilities. Some have rotational schedules while others prefer to maintain cleanliness by “cleaning as they go.”
Accountability
Most people rely on the “honor” system or word of mouth to keep track of finished/unfinished chores, but some also use diagrams and other tools to create a housemate accountability system.
REFINED PROBLEM
How might we create an app that encourages organization, decreases passive-aggressive behavior, and promotes accountability between housemates who divide chores?
Based on our synthesization of our research, we formed a more specific problem statement that would help guide our design decisions moving forward.
From "How might we improve the experience of getting household chores done when living with mutiple people?" to "How might we create an app that encourages organization, decreases passive-aggressive behavior, and promotes accountability between housemates who divide chores?".
Sketching opportunity areas
Incentives
Making chores a fun, interactive activity through a currency-based game, customizable avatars, and competitive activities.
Communication
Prioritizing anonymity to reduce housemate bias.
Dashboard
Centralize user and housemate's chores, scores, notifications, and general communication.
Settings
Allow users to control chore cycles, adjust chore lists, and add teams.
03 PROTOTYPING AND TESTING
Usability testing for informed decisions
We tested our prototype with 10 users (college students) and used their feedback to revise and expand on our designs. Participants explored the 4 task flows: New Chore Cycle, User Dashboard, Shopping & Avatar Customization, Notifications & Settings.
Participants were asked to complete the following tasks:
1. Select chores for a new chore cycle
2. "Chroll" a housemate
3. Send a "Redo Request" to your housemate
4. Swap chores with your housemate
5. Customize your troll avatar
6. Check your notifications
7. Approve or decline the addition of a new chore to your team's chore list
Testers enjoyed the overall concept of our app, but users had difficulty with...
05 REFLECTION
At the end of the 6 weeks, I learned...
Designing isn't a linear process.
It is okay to constantly iterate, adapt and refine based on new findings!
Collaborating with others facilitate learning.
This project was the first time I worked within a group as a UX designer. Throughout the project, I gained valuable insights from my teammates. Not only did I learn the significance of spacing and various Figma techniques, such as components and auto-layout, but I also realized the importance of sharing ideas and brainstorming with teammates.
Hii again, let's connect!
© Winnie Sich 2024