Open Tasks

Kano Feature Survey

Person(s) Responsible: Gavin, Dom

Due Date: Oct 16

Person(s) Responsible: Dom

Due Date: Oct 20

• Feature survey using the Kano survey method

• Describes a feature then asks users to answer how they feel if the feature did exist vs. if it didn't

• The survey is complete, currently surveying users

Answer types:

• I like it (I really want this to be a feature, I don't see it very often)

• I expect it (I consider this to be a norm)

• I am neutral (I don't care)

• I reluctantly accept it (I'm not fond of it but there's nothing that can be done about it)

• I dislike it (I don't like that you are adding this and it's existence is not natural)

Takeaways:

• 72.7% expect photo posts

• 90% like or are neutral about discord style reactions

• 71.4% like connection limits

• 95% like feed organization

• 90.5% like interest based profile

User Personas

Person(s) Responsible: Gavin

Due Date: Oct 16

Core Feature Sketches

Person(s) Responsible: Everyone

Due Date: Oct 16

• Group effort to sketch out some of the core features we have in mind

• Practice for getting the wireframing started and also working to get everyone on the same page

• Modify/add new sketches on Wednesday or Thursday so that we can start wireframes on Thursday, to be completed October 19.

Wireframing

Person(s) Responsible: Chem, Enoch, Ella

Due Date: Oct 19

Use our kano and desirability surveys, sketches, and task flows to inform our wireframing.

Screens for wireframing:

• Posting feed 

  • Reacting 

    • where does the add reaction vs already added reactions live

    • pop-up window of emojis

  • Comments view

• Connections page 

  • should include remove buttons

• Posting process

• Profile page

  • Edit profile

  • settings 

  • share

• Profile item detail

• Adding profile item

• Onboarding 

  • log in / sign up

  • notifications

  • Profile info (name, image, bio)

  • Adding a profile item 

  • Adding a custom item

  • sync contacts

Logo + Colors

Person(s) Responsible: Chem, Enoch, Ella

Due Date: Oct 14

• Whittling down our options for colors and logos based on our desirability survey

• Had a variety of logos and colors that covered a range of looks and feels

• Our desirability survey informed use that our users associate our app with organic, earth and plant orients shames and earthy colors.

  • 3 new color palettes of 5 colors will be created, leaning into warm and natural colors

  • Our type logo will remain the same (organic host grotesk lettering)

  • Developing 6 new icons to choose from, leaning into plants and roots.

Task Flows / User Journeys

Person(s) Responsible: Dom

Due Date: Oct 17

High Priority:

• Editing a profile item

• Deleting a profile item

• Commenting

• Reacting 

• Adding a connection

• Removing a connection

Low Priority:

• Creating a feed

• Physical product ideas

  • open profile?

  • Other interaction?

• Sharing a profile

• Settings

Ethical Nudge analysis

Person(s) Responsible: Joe

Due Date: Oct 19

We're exploring how notifications shape engagement, wellbeing, and trust and how we can design Loam’s in ways to help grow relationships instead of stealing attention.

Purpose:

We’re doing this research to help define Loam’s notification philosophy. We want to figure out how our app can use behavioral insights responsibly. The goal is to design notifications that encourage authentic connections and sustained wellbeing, rather than the anxiety loops common in other social apps. To start our research, we’ve looked into two books: Wendel’s Designing for Behavior Change and Thaler & Sunstein’s Nudge. We’ve also received a workbook to go along with Designing for Behavior Change that can help us apply our research to Loam in the following weeks.

Main Takeaways

Notifications can reconnect people at the right time, but constant pings lead to stress and fatigue
• Ethical design respects user autonomy; manipulative design leans on FOMO, streaks, and reward loops to keep users hooked
• The best notifications are timely, relevant, and user-controlled, not noise disguised as engagement
• Accessibility matters! Multimodal alerts (sound, vibration, visuals) keep the experience inclusive and humane
• Gamified streaks (like Snapchat) use manipulative reward loops, and false urgency cues that fuel anxiety instead of connection. This is something we want to avoid!
• Contextual nudges, clear purpose behind every alert, and giving users full control over how and when they’re notified is what we want to embrace!

Going Foward

For next week, we’ll need to dig deeper into how nudge theory can be customized for Loam. We want to be able to identify specific, ethical notification strategies that would genuinely foster organic connection on our platform and how we can apply them. To do this, we’ll be diving more into public reports, articles, papers, and UX critiques to gain more insight and data. Then, by brainstorming and using Wendel’s workbook as guidance, we can start to plan how we want to shape Loam’s notification system.