If you are interested in applying to GTI's Fellowship program, you can access our application link here.
1.Overview
In today's digital age, many of us find ourselves endlessly scrolling through bite-sized videos and posts on platforms like Instagram and YouTube. It's all too easy to get caught up in this sea of short-form content, often spending more time than we planned. This not only eats up our free moments but also leaves us feeling like we're not in control of our digital habits.
That's where our app, ScreenMitra, Designed with the user in mind, it's here to help you balance your time on these platforms. While you can still enjoy your favorite clips and updates, our app ensures you're not overdoing it. With features like "Detox Days" and customizable limits, we're bringing back a sense of balance to your digital world, letting you enjoy content without feeling consumed by it.
2.User Research
To deeply understand the challenges of managing digital media consumption on popular social platforms, we undertook a comprehensive user research survey across varied age demographics. The feedback from this survey has given us a clear picture of user preferences, behaviors, and the stumbling blocks they face.
Observations:
a)Platform Preference:
Most users are gravitating towards YouTube and Instagram, particularly drawn to reels and short video content.
b) Struggling with Screen time
Almost half, or precisely 48.2% of participants, shared their struggles in keeping their screen time in check, especially when engaging with short videos.
c) Current Coping Mechanism
Participants use a mix of methods to curb their screen time, from completely uninstalling apps to tapping into in-built features like 'digital wellbeing'.
Challenges Identified from the Survey:
● A common difficulty expressed was the inability to limit the time devoted to social media apps.
● Many have resorted to basic tactics such as app removal or using the 'Do Not Disturb' mode to curtail usage.
● There's a glaring lack of user-friendly tools that allow for scheduled or structured media interaction.
● Overindulgence in these apps is impacting users' daily productivity.
Conclusion:
Our research underscores the prevalent challenges individuals face in balancing their digital screen time. It's evident that users often feel compelled to adopt rudimentary methods to limit their exposure. The dearth of intuitive tools to manage and structure their screen time has further exacerbated the issue, affecting their day-to-day efficiency. This underscores the urgent requirement for more refined solutions that harmonize online engagement with real-world activities.
3.User Persona
3.1User Pain Points
a) Excessive Engagement
Users often find themselves spending more time than planned on short-form content, which hampers their daily tasks and efficiency.
b)Lack of control options
There's a noticeable gap in the market for tools that can effectively help users regulate their consumption of short media content.
3.2User Needs
a) Balanced Consumption
A need for a solution allowing balanced consumption of short-form content while permitting general usage.
b)Effective Management Tools
A demand for more refined and sophisticated tools to manage and plan digital media consumption effectively.
3.3User Motivation
a)Enhanced Productivity
The inherent desire to manage and limit unnecessary consumption motivates users to seek solutions.
b)Balanced Lifestyle
The aspiration to maintain a balanced lifestyle drives users to regulate their interaction with digital platforms.
4. Problem Statement
To offer our users a personalized and efficient solution for managing digital engagement, allowing them to set boundaries on app usage, monitor their screen time habits, and empower them with tools to foster a balanced digital lifestyle. Our focus extends to nuanced features like "Detox Days" and specific controls for platforms like YouTube, ensuring a tailored experience that aligns with individual needs and promotes overall digital well-being.
5. Solutions & Features
Our objective is to develop a comprehensive application designed to empower users to effectively manage and reduce their screen time. In the current digital era, where screen-time overload is a prevailing concern, our app aims to stand out as a holistic solution. Instead of users manually trying to balance their digital habits or juggling multiple apps for various aspects of screen time management, our application offers a consolidated platform.
From monitoring daily app usage to setting customized digital detox schedules, the app equips users with the tools they need to strike a healthy balance between connectivity and well-being. We've carefully brainstormed and prioritized the features, ensuring users not only gain insights into their screen habits but also have actionable tools to cultivate better digital practices
6. User Flow
6.1 User Onboarding
Sign up: The journey begins with user registration on app through their email id or mobile number, providing them access to the application's array of features.
Permission Request: Immediately post sign-up, the application seeks user consent to access other apps and their data. This step ensures our app can effectively monitor and regulate screen time across a variety of applications.
Offer app selection: Once permissions are granted, users are presented with a list of apps available on their device. They can select which apps they want to monitor or control using the application.
6.2 App Experience
Selected app permission: Users are asked to grant permission for the application to access and control the selected apps.
Granular Control option : With each feature of an app comes a tailored set of control options. Users can set time limits, modify notifications, adjust video frequency, or even block access to that section of the social media app.
Feature-specific Settings: When focusing on a particular app feature, like YouTube's "Home Tab", users can adjust settings exclusive to that feature.
Selected feature - Options: When a particular feature is selected, say, the "Home Tab" of YouTube, users can fine-tune the control options specifically for that feature. As mentioned in the granular control options section earlier.
Apply settings: After configuring the desired settings for each feature, users can apply these settings, which will be active and effective during their app usage.
6.3 App Dashboard
Reports and analytics: Users can access comprehensive reports and insights about their screen time, app usage patterns, and more. They can also filter this data based on specific dates for a more focused analysis. They can also adjust the filter to construct more specific reports on apps used and type of content that is being consumed on the apps.
Screen Time Snapshot: This dashboard section grants users an at-a-glance look at their cumulative screen time across all observed apps.
App-wise Usage Breakdown: Users can dissect how they spend time on each specific app.
In-depth Feature Analysis: This section delves deeper, revealing time spent on individual features within a chosen app.
Detox days: A unique feature that encourages digital well-being. Users can select specific days on a calendar when they want to limit or detox from screen usage.
Select the apps to be locked: On detox days, users can choose which apps they want to lock or restrict access to, thereby minimizing distractions.
6.4 Social Media Experience (Post Controls)
Applied control: This section shows the effects of the controls set by the user on a specific app, using YouTube as an example.
Shorts Video frequency 20: After setting a frequency limit, users will receive an alert after scrolling through the set number of short videos, encouraging a break or cooldown period.
All the notifications from creators are silenced: Based on the user's settings, certain notifications can be silenced to reduce interruptions.
Home Tab and Trending Tab are hidden after the time limit is reached: After a user has reached the set time limit for certain features, those features or tabs will become inaccessible or hidden, promoting reduced screen time.
7. Key Success Metrics
In understanding the effectiveness and value of our screen time management application, it's essential to assess both user acquisition and actual impact on behavior. Here are the key metrics that can provide a comprehensive view of the app's performance:
Account Registrations: Total number of users who have registered, indicating initial interest and engagement.
App Installations: Total downloads from various app stores, showcasing the app's visibility and outreach.
Screen Time Reduction Rate: The average percentage reduction in screen time among users since installing the app, indicating its direct impact.
Feedback & Satisfaction:
NPS (Net Promoter Score): Evaluates user satisfaction and the likelihood of them recommending the app.
User Reviews & Ratings:Feedback collected from app store reviews to identify areas of improvement.
User Engagement Metrics:
DAU (Daily Active Users):Number of unique users who interact with the app daily.
MAU (Monthly Active Users): Number of unique users who engage with the app on a monthly basis.
Stickiness Ratio (DAU/MAU):Represents how frequently users are returning to the app.
This revised list provides a concise overview of the metrics that offer insights into the app's performance, user adoption, and satisfaction.
To align with the app's core mission, the North Star Metric would be the "average reduction in daily screen time." This singular, focused metric ensures that the main goal (reducing screen time) remains at the forefront of all development and improvement efforts.
Meet The Thought Leader
Kshitij is a Mentor at GGI and is currently working as a Senior Product Manager @Betterhelp. After doing his Engineering from Delhi Kshitij went on to work with ZS Associates & then commenced his journey of working with Impact making startups in Silicon Valley (Tesla, Invoice2go,etc.).
Meet The Authors (GTI PM Fellows)
Akashdeep Gangrade is an R&D engineer skilled in creating thermal management solutions for electronic devices. His inquisitive nature has led him to delve into product management, believing it to be a bridge between engineering innovation and real-world applications. Outside of work, he enjoys traveling and trekking, always seeking new experiences and ways to challenge himself.
Harshavardhan is a software engineer with a specialization in developing web apps and mobile apps. He possesses a strong desire to transition into product management, driven by his profound passion for AI and technology. Beyond his professional endeavors, Harshavardhan takes pleasure in activities like badminton, chess, and is a dedicated aficionado of anime.
If you are interested in applying to GTI's Fellowship program, you can access our application link here.