foca Case Study
Foca was developed during the first mini-challenge of the Apple Developer Academy using the Challenge Based Learning (CBL) methodology, which consists in 3 distinct phases: Engage, Investigate and Act.
Phase One | Engage
"During the Engage Phase, the Learners move from an abstract big idea to a concrete and actionable challenge using the Essential Questioning process. The goal is to personally connect with academic content through the identification, development, and ownership of a compelling challenge." - The CBL Framework
Big Idea:
Music and productivity
Essential Question:
How to ally music and productivity?
Challenge:
Positively impact a person's productivity in conjunction with music
Phase Two | Investigate
"Building from the Challenge Learners develop contextualized learning experiences and conduct rigorous, content and concept-based research to create a foundation for actionable and sustainable solutions" - The CBL Framework
Guiding Questions
We brainstormed 24 Guiding Questions to identify problems and solutions for the app. Those questions were organized into 5 major thematic groups:
Ⅰ What does science say?
Ⅱ What do people enjoy in music?
Ⅲ What is the relation between music and our minds?
Ⅳ What is the relation between music and activities?
Ⅴ What technical skills do we need to learn?
Guiding Activities & Resources
After organizing the questions into thematic groups, we classified* them into Guiding Activities and Resources: Desk Research, Forms and Interviews, Interviews with Experts, Articles and Digital Ethnography.
*Questions can be classified in more than one activity or resource
Synthesis of Forms and Interviews
The form had 101 total responses, 76 of them stated that listening to music is essential in their daily lives. We got several responses about how listening to music improved mood, sleep, relieved tension, made activities more pleasurable and improved productivity. Also we had a very similar answer to the result of our research on the subject: listening to music distracts from other tasks, but if it is minimalist it helps to alienate from the external environment.
Ⅰ A couple of questions about music:
How much hours do you spend listening to music?
31% 5 hours
25% 3 hour
23% 1 hour
16% 10 hours
5% more than 10 hours
Which music streaming app do you use?
70% Spotify
14% Youtube or Youtube Music
7% Deezer | 6% Apple Music
3% Others
Do you have selected playlists for specific activities or moments?
Do you listen to music during your study, work or household activities?
Ⅱ A couple of questions about productivity:
Do you feel more productive when listening music?
Do you use any productivity tools?
What productivity tools tools do you use?
46% To Do List
27% Pomodoro
19% Kanban
3% GTD (Getting Things Done)
5% Others
Synthesis of Desk Research, Interviews with Experts, Articles and Digital Ethnography
Does listening to music improve productivity?
Everyone relates to music in a different way, so it's up to each person to take in consideration the pros and cons of listening to music in order to increase productivity.
In general these are the downsides and upsides of listening music for productivity:
▼Downsides:
● Music can be distracting: if you are listening to a song that you already know the lyrics or a song with a "plot twist"you can have an emotional response to it.
● If we're trying to remember a list, we practice it on working memory. When we are doing something that requires a lot of concentration to absorb new information, adding music can mean a decrease in productivity.
● When reading, the brain focuses to retain as much information about it as possible, but when adding music, the brain is divided between reading and trying to understand the music.
▲ Upsides:
● Rewarding yourself with your favorite music can provide the motivation to learn new information.
● A good mood helps you to stay focused on the activity you are doing.
● With music the brain can better understand the data and lessen its frustration.
● Some songs give your brain a boost leading you to retain more information.
● Listening to music with colleagues creates intimacy, improves cooperation and gets everyone on the same pace.
● Listening to music releases oxytocin, which is linked to reductions in anxiety and feelings of calm and security.
● When we have to work in a group, sharing music is a way to connect on a personal level with others.
Phase Three | Act
"In the Act Phase evidence-based solutions are developed and implemented with an authentic audience and the results evaluated. The Learners combine a desire to make a difference with a demonstration of content mastery." - The CBL Framework
Solution Concepts
Value Proposition Canvas
"Identify your customer's major Jobs-to-be-done, the pains they face when trying to accomplish their Jobs-to-be-done and the gains they perceive by getting their jobs done." - Strategyzer
Customer Segment:
Students and workers who can listen to music while working
Customer Jobs
Be more productive in activities
Have a well-defined day and routine
Choose and find music to listen to during your activities
Finish your planned activities
Decrease times of procrastination
Pains
The customer did not adapt to productivity applications
The customer has discouragement to carry out their activities
The customer wants motivation to work
The customer doesn't have a routine
The customer spends a lot of time choosing songs or can't find them to carry out their activities
The customer cannot handle all the activities of the day
The customer procrastinates during the day
Gains
The customer takes a light and balanced routine
The customer has an ease in planning their daily routine
The customer improves their comfort, mood and stress relief from noisy places with appropriate music.
The customer achieves his goals and targets in his activities.
The customer focuses on the activities.
The customer does not procrastinate and finishes the goals on time.
Value Proposition:
An application that unites music and productivity through gamification.
Products & Services:
Your personalized productivity
Playlists suitable for each user activity.
Playlists suitable for each user activity.
Know what you have to do
Clear notion of the defined objectives/activities.
Clear notion of the defined objectives/activities.
Musical Pomodoro
25 minutes of songs you like selected to keep your attention and 5 minutes of hits you love
25 minutes of songs you like selected to keep your attention and 5 minutes of hits you love
Back to focus
Notify you to go back to focus
Notify you to go back to focus
Pain Relievers
The customer can use an easy productive methodology that helps him in his routine.
The customer can be satisfied with the completed tasks.
The customer can find new songs with personalized playlists, and adapt them to their routine without having to spend time searching.
With the "back to focus" feature, the customer can overcome procrastination and fulfill their goals.
With a clear view of the objectives/activities, the customer is able to focus on what is most important and not get lost in their activities.
Gain Creators
Our solution provides motivation for work
Our solution makes it possible to create a routine for using the app
Our solution brings a ready-made playlist with the style that the user likes and that fits their activities
Our selected songs motivate the user to carry out activities.
Our solution makes it possible to quickly choose playlists for productivity.
Solution Development
To keep a healthy and exciting workflow we need a music app, a productivity app and a great well-being tool
The Pomodoro is a method for staying focused and mentally fresh, focusing on the work that needs to be done for 3 cycles of 25 minutes and taking a 5 minute break, and for the last cycle you focus for 25 min and take a 25-min break.
Our solution is the unification of the Pomodoro Technique & Music
Solution Features
Our app was developed from start to finish in 3 months. These are the features implemented in foca!, each one carefully designed to deliver the most of the product in the shortest possible delivery time.
Our Figma Prototype was essential to test foca! with users and receive feedbacks. We used the maze platform to get user insights about usability and design.
Solution Next Steps
The challenge that guided us during the development of our app was to use the power of music to make a difference in people's well-being. For many of us, now more than ever, keeping a healthy workflow is essential to our lives. Focusing in your tasks while still managing to keep both your mind and body healthy is a daily challenge for most of us. Let's focus with Foca!?
foca! was developed with love by Apple Developer Academy Students in Curitiba
Alessandra Souza | iOS Developer
Ana Kessler | Product Designer
Erick Martins | Product Designer
Gustavo Tatarem | iOS Developer
Gabriel Puppi | iOS Developer
