Goally Manager

Overview

Goally, a company that offers software driven behavior therapy to help kids with cognitive challenges like ADHD and Autism, was a part of the 2018 Boulder Techstars graduating class. I designed and help develop the MyGoally Parent app, which is a partner app and control panel for the children’s Goally app and device. The Parent app guides parents through creating routines, activities and rewards for their children to promote a successful daily routine. The MyGoally Parent can be found on the App Store and Google Play store.

 Problem Definition

The Parent app needed to pair with the Goally Children’s app and create an easy to use, stressless interface that enables the parent to create routines for their child to follow. Whether it is getting through a successful morning routine to make the morning carpool, or getting homework done in time for bed, the app had to be easy and useful.

Team

I worked closely with a small team comprised of Engineers and a Behavioral Technician. The parents and children that were involved in the testing of Goally are people that I also consider a part of the team. I was the sole designer and was relied upon to be the driving force for the branding and user experience. Additionally, because I was working within Techstars at the time, I had other designers from other companies to bounce ideas off of and get feedback from.

Audience

Millennial and Gen X parents with children that have cognitive challenges are the main focus for the parent app. These parents tend to incorporate application based solutions in their daily lives for both themselves and their children.

Constraints

Similarly to the Children’s app, we had quite a tight deadline of about three months to re-design, develop, and test the experience. Previously, parents had to manage their child’s routine online and it was difficult and inconvenient to use. Parents voiced their desire to manage the routines from their phone, so that creating, managing, and keeping track of them would be more convenient on the go.

Design Process

I was given full design rights for the overhaul of the Goally app. First, I asked a lot of questions about the parents that I would be designing for, gathering as much information as I could and drawing upon the experience I had designing for parents at the Denver Public Library. I also did research on time and goal management apps for reference.

After my research, I started by drawing up some sketches of what I thought the flow of the new Parent app should be. After finishing high fidelity designs for the screens, I created a prototype on InVision to show to the team as well as the Techstars mentors for review. We utilized this feedback to make quick improvements to the prototype and completed the app. After the launch of the app, we layed out scheduled updates.