What if you had a calendar that could help protect and balance both?
The Need
For many students, the first year represents a significant step towards adulthood while balancing study, work, family and personal commitments (Richardson, King, Garrett & Wrench, 2012). The ability to cope with stress is intensified by issues such as adapting to a heavier workload, new situations and social relationships (Baras, Soares, Paulo & Barros, 2016). While peer-to-peer mentorship services on campuses are available, participation can overload students already struggling with time management. Usability studies analysing university students’ use of productivity apps on mobile devices revealed a strong need for a calendar-based app with integrations to support well-being (2016, p. 2).
Source: Council of Ontario Universities: Mental Health (2018), Government of Canada: Mental Illness (2017)
The Solution
With smart notifications, you take back control of your calendar and get personalized tips, supporting your well-being.
FirstYearU encourages you to practice time blocking, an effective practice in managing commitments and expectations.
Get suggestions to improve your productivity and well-being, based on the commitments you book. Take regular breaks, and block time off for deep work.
Connect the app to your health tracker and sync with data such as sleep and heart rate. Future features include syncing with on-campus devices.
Securely transfer calendar data with another NFC-enabled device, without relying on Bluetooth or an internet connection.
Combined with the portability of mobile, the digital calendar has significant advantages over print-based tools, to support individual time management strategies (Wu, 2009).
Preview
Accept browser cookies to participate.
1. Sign in. Looks like your day is packed.
2. Check the weekly view to confirm.
3. Get a notification suggesting a break.
4. Yes adds a break at the suggested time. (No takes you back to the previous screen).
5. Check the daily view to plan for tomorrow.
6. Book tomorrow off to recharge. Nice, tommorrow is all about you.
7. Turn on smart bookings to get helpful time blocking hints and additional wellness suggestions.
Important: Refresh (Ctrl/Command + R) at any time to restart the demo or tap FirstYearU (top left) to return to the sign in screen.
About
Aiann Oishi, Project Lead
Aiann is currently the Senior Digital Communications Associate at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto. She is passionate about making online experiences more inclusive, and has been a past presenter at the Annual Accessibility Conference in Guelph, speaking about building a case for web accessibility. Aiann is pursuing a Master of Educational Technology from the University of British Columbia. Recently, she explored Near Field Communications (NFCs), student mental health and productivity, as part of her growing interest in higher education. Follow Aiann on LinkedIn if you're interested in working together.
Please note: This project was designed and developed for the ETEC 523 Open and Mobile Learning course, as a forecast presentation for a proposed app.
Baras, K., Soares, L., Paulo, N., & Barros, R. (2016, July). ‘Smartphine': Supporting students' well-being according to their calendar and mood. In 2016 International Multidisciplinary Conference on Computer and Energy Science (SpliTech) (pp. 1-7). IEEE.
Doist. (n.d.). The Complete Guide to Time Blocking. Todoist: Productivity Methods. https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/time-blocking
Richardson, A., King, S., Garrett, R., & Wrench, A. (2012). Thriving or just surviving? Exploring student strategies for a smoother transition to university. A Practice Report. Student Success, 3(2), 87.
Wu, D. (Ed.). (2009). Calendar Tools: Current Practices, New Prototypes and Proposed Designs. In Wu, D. (Ed.), Temporal Structures in Individual Time Management: Practices to Enhance Calendar Tool Design: Practices to Enhance Calendar Tool Design (pp. 38-51). IGI Global.