Dust Buddies Case Study
Dust Buddies
Case Study Details
Dust Buddies - Mobile Cleaning App
My Role: Designer & Researcher
Tools used: Figma, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
Responsibilities: Creating wireframes, developing high-fidelity prototypes, conducting & documenting user testing
Dust Buddies is a project dedicated to encouraging users to clean their space through a task based,
game-like design. This app is designed to tackle "dirty home shame" and help those who may feel unmotivated to
clean by guiding them through a few short minutes of simple cleaning tasks.
Dust Buddies
Initial Concepts & User Flow
The Situation: Many users struggle with maintaining a clean living space due to lack of motivation, time constraints,
or emotional barriers. This often leads to feelings of "dirty home shame," where users feel embarrassed about the
state of their environment but are unable to consistently take action to clean it.
The Approach: Similar to the way fitness apps break down workouts into small, achievable tasks to motivate users to exercise regularly,
Dust Buddies aims to address this problem by providing a task-based, gamified approach to cleaning that encourages users to engage in short, manageable cleaning sessions.
Dust Buddies
Observations
& User Testing
Four types of user testing (Lynssa, Maze, Monitored, Unmonitored) have been performed
to hone the user flow based on the natural needs of the user, so Dust Buddies can sit comfortably
within their daily routine.
According to local research, Users tend to struggle with finding time and purpose to clean. 63.7% of
users feel the effects of "Dirty Home Shame" when outsiders perceive their living space, yet only 45.5%
of those users state that they don't clean as regularly as they would prefer due to factors like time or emotional burdens.
Dust Buddies
Prototype Development
The app's flow and navigation needed to be reworked and refined to ensure it had been designed to help the user feel engaged with the task. After multiple tests and surveys, I was able to hone in on difficult areas of the user flow that were causing friction, and as a result, the current design reduces confusion and removes distractions, letting the users focus on what they want to use the app for.
Dust Buddies
Results
Text, layout, and navigation were all improved in small increments that made an impactful
difference in the app's development. As a result of the overall development, Users reported feeling more confident and satisfied with the app experience, noting that the improvements made it easier to navigate and engage with the cleaning tasks,
ultimately helping them integrate Dust Buddies into their daily routines more seamlessly.
This information gathered through the development phase allowed me to identify what worked well and what needed further refinement,
which resulted in giving Dust Buddies a strong foundation for continued growth and user satisfaction.
Dust Buddies
Citations
All Character Figure Assets: Illustrated By Jessica Perlin
Assets Used In The Background Image of Bathroom, Bedroom, and Kitchen: Dany Santos from Canva under Canva's Free Content License Agreement
Photography of Bedroom: Photo by Monica Silvestre from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photography-of-bedroom-1034584/