Project management solutions often emphasize professional use cases, particularly for distributed teams. Software like Jira, Asana, or Smartsheet are feature-heavy and difficult to learn for casual users looking to manage their personal projects. I opened a research inquiry to understand how people were tackling their personal projects with existing tools.
User interviews revealed that people often didn't have centralized management solutions. Instead, they were using a variety of digital and paper products depending largely upon the type of project they were managing. The affinity diagram below synthesizes data gathered during the interview process, isolating key, recurring ideas.
I began the discovery phase with the assumption that project management was often a positive, creative outlet. On the contrary, the affinity diagram highlights interviewees' self-directed frustration. Some personal projects cultivated negative relationships. People reported not only that the negativity impacted their current projects, but that it impeded new projects down the line.
User interviews revealed that people often didn't have centralized management solutions. Instead, they were using a variety of digital and paper products depending largely upon the type of project they were managing. The affinity diagram below synthesizes data gathered during the interview process, isolating key, recurring ideas.
I began the discovery phase with the assumption that project management was often a positive, creative outlet. On the contrary, the affinity diagram highlights interviewees' self-directed frustration. Some personal projects cultivated negative relationships. People reported not only that the negativity impacted their current projects, but that it impeded new projects down the line.
