The Breakroom Coworker Interface
The Breakroom is a game-based desktop interface designed to encourage remote workers to take healthy frequent breaks during their day. The Breakroom aims to facilitate breaks through a gamified approach, encouraging remote workers to interact with their coworkers in a fun and professional way.
The Process
Project Attributes
UX Research, UI Design, & Usability Testing
Project Scope
4 Months
Team
Elina, Evie, & Nadean
Lovingly named by us as
"Happy Habits"
My Role
Co UI Design Lead
The Problem
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, working from home is now a prevalent characteristic of many people's work lives. Working from home can be a luxury and has allowed for several to adapt a healthy work life balance; however, working from home has also led to the common development of remote workers feeling isolated.
The Breakroom strives to help combat the feeling of isolation by providing a space where remote workers can go to reconnect with their coworkers in easy and fun ways - a lot like a digital 'break room.'
Research
My team began our journey with the question:
What are current habits of remote workers and can they be improved?
Through research, we discovered that there are 4 categories of not-so-healthy habits among remote workers:
Physical Habits
Remote workers often struggle with physical habits such as not moving enough during the day.
Focus Habits
Remote workers have difficulty with staying focused throughout the day due to activities like multitasking for too long
Taking Breaks
Remote workers often experience burn out resulting in taking too long of breaks, too little breaks, or too many small breaks interrupting their work days.
Social Interaction
Remote workers tend to lack social interaction throughout the day due to them typically being alone in their environment.
User Studies
Interviews & Surveys
We interviewed 6 different remote workers about their habits and how they feel in their remote work environment.
Our Users included:
User1: 25, Researcher, Hybrid
User2: 19, Student, Hybrid
User3: 23, Software Engineer, Remote
User4: 49, Software Trainer, Remote
User5: 21, UX Designer, Remote & Student
User6: 21 Program Manager Intern,
Remote & Student
We also surveyed 96 participants to gather more general data related to remote
working habits.
Through these studies and affinity mapping exercises, we were able to empathize with our users' day-to-days and develop insights that aligned with our previous research.
Our Narrowed Focal Points
Breaktime: Remote break times are often inconsistent and it can be difficult to self motivate healthy break habits. Intentional breaks are effective in refreshing workers.
Coworker Interaction: Lack of casual and spontaneous interactions over remote work makes it harder to feel a sense of connection at work. People are only available for formal/scheduled interaction rather than "water cooler talk" that often casually grows friendships at work.
Potential Design Directions &
Concept Refinement
Potential Design Directions
* Closest to Final Design! *
Refined Direction
A platform that helps remote workers structure their workday to include healthy, restful breaks. It will encourage them to prioritize their social emotional health, to form better relationships with their coworkers, and to improve their mental health through the implementation of gamification.
Icons designed on
Adobe Illustrator & Figma
Wireframing
Conceptual Models to
Assist in Wireframing
Mental Models & Interface Inspiration
Participatory Research
Before designing a Lo-fidelity prototype, we conducted a series of participatory research workshops through figjam.
Our workshop consisted of several phases of digital interactive "worksheets" for users to complete in order to direct us in our design decisions.
Cognitive Walkthrough Through Lo-fidelity Prototype
Cognitive Walkthrough Findings
Final Prototype
The Breakroom is a game-based desktop interface designed to encourage remote workers to take healthy frequent breaks during their day. The Breakroom aims to facilitate breaks through a gamified approach, encouraging remote workers to interact with their coworkers in a fun and professional way.
