Reimagining Task Management for Neurodivergent Users

Ember

As someone who deals with executive dysfunction, I've always struggled with remembering daily tasks. Traditional reminders and to-do apps never quite worked for me - they were either too easy to ignore or lacked the real-world context that makes remembering natural. This personal challenge sparked the idea for Ember.

Contextual & Location-Based Reminders

Quiz-Style Setup for Personalized Reminders

Gamified Rewards & Progress Tracking

Habit Insights

User Research Methodology

To understand the fundamental gaps in task management solutions, Ember's initial discovery phase deployed a comprehensive research strategy focusing on both current behaviors and unmet needs. The research combined in-depth interviews with four carefully selected participants representing key user personas (professionals with ADHD and busy executives) alongside 22 interviews for broader insight validation. This was complemented by expert consultations with IoT specialists and educational professionals to validate technical feasibility and understand cognitive patterns.

The methodology deliberately began with open-ended questions about daily routines before introducing any concepts, allowing for unbiased insights into current organization methods. Each in-depth interview followed a structured progression from current behaviors through pain points to technology usage, with particular attention to moments where existing solutions fell short. Research sessions were recorded and analyzed using thematic analysis to identify patterns across different user groups.

This systematic approach revealed critical insights about reminder effectiveness, notably that while 98.2% of people use reminder tools, physical or person-to-person reminders were significantly more effective at driving action than digital notifications. Furthermore, the research uncovered that despite the availability of specialized reminder applications, none of the interviewed users utilized them, highlighting a clear gap between existing solutions and user needs.

Understanding the Problem

Ember emerged from a critical observation about daily task management: while 98.2% of people use reminder tools, these systems consistently fall short, particularly for those with executive dysfunction and busy professionals. This gap is starkly illustrated by medication adherence—70% of Americans take prescription medications, yet a majority struggle to maintain their regimens, highlighting how traditional digital reminders fail to bridge the intention-action gap. Through integrating sensor-fitted objects, smart notifications, and an intuitive app interface, Ember was developed as a comprehensive solution that provides contextual prompts without overwhelming users, with its design shaped by extensive user research and iterative prototyping.

Daily routine mapping to understand natural task management behaviors

Physical versus digital reminder effectiveness

Personal task prioritization strategies

Environmental factors affecting task completion

The Research Approach Prioritized Four Key Areas

Key Research Findings

User Behavior Patterns

Phone notifications were frequently ignored during busy periods
Written reminders (calendars, to-do lists) were preferred for their tangible nature
Most effective reminders came from either other people or physically seeing objects
No interviewed users utilized specialized reminder applications despite their availability

User Pain Points

65-70% of adults reported difficulty tracking medication intake
Notifications weren't effective when not delivered at the exact right moment
Users would instinctively turn off notifications when they were busy
Existing solutions required extensive manual input and maintenance

Market Context

28% of Americans identify themselves as early tech adopters
IoT device market projected for 100% growth over 5 years
Competitor analysis revealed a gap in integrated, context-aware solutions

Primary Personas

Device Architecture

UI Wireframes

Initial User Testing

Context matters more - users respond better to reminders based on their location & activity rather than strict scheduled times

Multi-device context detection to deliver reminders at optimally

Task grouping is essential - users prefer related reminders bundled together (like "drink water" with "take meds")

Smart task grouping for different times of day

Positive reinforcement drives habit formation - users engage more when progress is visible and rewarded

Gamification through points and rewards ("Spark" system)

Personalization is crucial from the start - users need the system to understand their specific routines and preferences

Personalization quiz during onboarding to customize the experience

Feedback highlighted several critical insights & led to those defining core features of the system and app

Smart Context Engine

Develop proprietary proximity detection that understands not just location, but interaction patterns
Create adaptive algorithms that learn from daily routines to optimize reminder timing
Implement low-latency local processing to ensure instant response

Seamless Integration Layer

Engineer a multi-modal reminder system that chooses the most effective way to reach users on their context
Develop a hardware-software bridge that enables physical objects to participate in the reminder ecosystem
Extend the core functionality of the tags to both phones and smartwatches

Privacy-First Architecture

Design a distributed system that keeps sensitive data on users' devices
Create an innovative approach to pattern recognition that doesn't depend on cloud processing alone
Implement end-to-end encryption for all data synchronization

Implementing the Solution

Ember emerged from a clear insight in our research: while digital reminders are prevalent, they often fail due to lack of context and real-world connection. Our research with professionals like Brody and Sarah revealed that people don't need more reminders—they need smarter ones. By combining physical IoT devices that attach to everyday objects with intelligent context-aware software, Ember creates a tangible reminder system that adapts to users' environments and routines. This approach bridges the intention-action gap by providing gentle, timely prompts exactly when and where they're needed, turning daily tasks from stressful obligations into natural parts of users' routines.

Design Decisions

Based on research insights, the team developed a system of interconnected tags with specific features:

Context Awareness

Proximity detection

Usage tracking

Intelligent timing for reminders

Physical Integration

Size optimization for medicine containers

Flexible attachment methods

Voice-based alerts

User Interface

Centralized app control

Task completion tracking

Basic gamification elements

Onboarding Flow
1. Welcome/introduction screens
2. Personalization quiz
3. Sensor explanation screen
4. Initial setup process
Main Interface Structure
1. Three main sections: Stats, Reminders, Rewards
2. Detailed reminder configuration options
3. Points and rewards system
Context System
1. Location, Bluetooth, and Motion sensing
2. User response handling
3. Points and statistics updates
Navigation Structure
1. Clear paths between main sections
2. Settings and configuration options
3. Reward redemption flow

Data Architecture

Experience the App

The prototype here is a dynamic interactable element that let's you get first hand experience of the UI of the app

Setup (2 min)
1. Take the personalization quiz
2. Review your recommended schedule
  (pick from the recommended times)
3. Pick the devices that would work for you
Daily Use (3 min)
1. Check your reminder timeline
2. View your progress stats
3. Review your completion streak
Rewards (1 min)
1. See your Spark points
2. Check available rewards
3. Customize your spark avatar and space

Lessons & Insights

Ember started as a challenge to reinvent how people interact with reminders, and evolved into a masterclass in user-centered product development. Leading this project from concept through execution taught me invaluable lessons about building products that truly impact people's daily lives.

Turning Research into Innovation

By deeply analyzing user behavior, we discovered that traditional reminders fail not because people don't care, but because they lack context. This insight led to our multi-sensor approach .

Balancing Ambition with Execution

While the vision was ambitious—to create a comprehensive reminder ecosystem—we succeeded by taking a measured approach. Starting with high-impact core features and expanding based on user feedback.

Building and Iterating for Scale

The technical architecture we developed isn't just clever—it's pragmatic. Our context engineis built processes user patterns locally, enabling both privacy and immediacy of the alerts.

Driving Innovation Through Constraints

Some of our most creative solutions came from working within technical and user-experience constraints. For example, our challenge tomeet user's needs for context awareness, while giving unobtrusive reminders sparked the development of our adaptive notification system.

My Contributions

As the product strategist and UX lead for Ember, I drove the development from initial concept validation through technical implementation, bridging user needs with innovative solutions. My role required orchestrating both the technical architecture of our context-aware system and the development of an intuitive user experience that could seamlessly integrate into daily routines.

Key Contributions:

Spearheaded the development of our context-awareness system, creating a novel approach that combines multiple sensors to understand user availability and optimize reminder timing
Designed and validated the core reminder experience through iterative prototyping, conducting user research with both ADHD and neurotypical users to ensure broad accessibility
Developed the gamification strategy and rewards system, creating a sustainable engagement model that transforms task completion into habit formation
Crafted a clean, minimalist UI system that prioritizes glanceability and reduces cognitive load, using progressive disclosure to manage complex reminder settings while maintaining an approachable interface
Established the app's visual design language, focusing on clear information hierarchy and subtle gamification elements that motivate without overwhelming users