6-Hour Case Study:
An Intentional Gift Planning App

Micro Case Study April 23, 2023

VIEW PROTOTYPE

Have you ever forgotten a friend’s birthday? or found yourself struggling to find gifts that people actually want because you left Christmas shopping until the last minute?

I have! 🙋🏼‍♀️

Every year, whether it’s for birthdays or during the Christmas season, I find it difficult to be intentional with the important people in my life.

I often have a stroke of inspiration at inconvenient times or hear relatives express their desires only to forget them by the time the holidays roll around.

Some people, like my aunt, are naturally intentional and thoughtful when it comes to gift-giving and staying in touch with people. But many of us find this difficult, so I sought out a solution to help ease the problem of intentional gift-giving.

How might we support people with their goal of becoming intentional gift givers?

To gain a better understanding of my user group and effectively tackle the challenge at hand, I created a rapid proto-persona. This enabled me to recognize the difficulties and goals of a potential user and uncover possibilities for design intervention.

Due to the time constraint on this quick mini project, I  went straight from wireframe to high-fidelity. I used an AI Figma plugin called Wireframe Designer to help get me started with a wireframe mockup.

Using this plugin felt like getting a turbo boost in Mario Kart. With a simple prompt, the tool was able to provide a starting base for the wireframes. From there, I made a few adjustments and got to work on my high-fidelity design.

My goal was to develop a user-friendly interface that could be easily customized by the user. Furthermore, it was crucial to enable users to personalize individual “gift lists” and easily catalog thoughtful and meaningful gift ideas for their loved ones.

Next Steps

1. I plan to create a suitable home screen and user flow that will allow for the editing of a gift list. This is an app I would love to use in real life and thus it would be great to work with a developer to bring it to life.
2. To prepare for this collaboration, I will conduct user interviews and usability tests. This will help refine the design further, all whilst ensuring that the product works seamlessly.

Key Learnings

1. When feeling uninspired and stuck in a design rut, turning to AI for a boost can be a great solution. With just a prompt, the Wireframe Designer plugin created a starting base that I could adjust in the direction of a high-fidelity design.
2. Auto-layout is an incredible tool that allows for a cleaner file while keeping everything within the prototype perfectly aligned.
3. If you’re short on time or looking to work on your UX/UI skills, micro case studies are an excellent way to keep it short and sweet while flexing those muscles.