Alleo app. to make life balance
After a year of collaboration, Linkup Studio successfully developed and launched the life optimization MVP — Alleo app. Designed to help users achieve a better work-life balance, it has been nominated for UX Design Awards and has earned two top spots on Behance, among hundreds of other task management solutions. Over 1,000 people worldwide have already downloaded the app and are actively using it to improve their lives.
Nataliya Sambir, the Design Director of Linkup Studio, shared insights on how the team created a comprehensive, nature-inspired product design. She also discussed the unique aspects of the development process that set the Alleo app apart from others and revolutionized the way users manage their time and tasks.
No time to breathe
According to the American Time Use Survey conducted in 2021, people today are constantly busy and have a lot on their plates. It’s a real struggle to find enough time for tasks from various aspects of their lives: picking up children from school, completing urgent reports at work, buying gifts for loved ones, taking care of pets, sports, managing a business, etc. The list of responsibilities seems endless and the question that arises is:
How to keep up with everything?
Many turn to to-do lists for help but find it overwhelming and lose sight of important tasks. Work management apps only cover 40 hours of the week, leaving the other 128 hours unaccounted for. There’s a need for a comprehensive app to manage daily life and its various personal aspects.
Client’s idea kicks off research
With this idea in mind, the client approached Linkup Studio. He had conducted initial surveys of various groups of people, gathering information about their needs and frustrations regarding time management. On this basis, our business analysis team carried out a comprehensive user interview campaign.
The research results showed a few distinct ideal customer profiles (ICPs), including freelancers, entrepreneurs, and owners of small and medium-sized businesses. These groups had one common characteristic: they had imbalanced working days and struggled to manage their overloaded schedules and numerous tasks.
This research gave us a clear understanding of the critical features needed in a solution for this particular group of users.
What other solutions propose is not enough
Conducting a competitor analysis helped broaden our perspective. Even though over 130 time management and time tracking apps are available on the App Store and Google Play, we found that almost no app effectively addressed comprehensive life planning. We divided the apps into three main categories to better understand the market.
The first category of apps is similar to Atlassian Jira, which is feature-rich and convenient for team collaboration, tracking personal work and performance, and helping teams deliver results. However, these apps do not address the need for managing non-work-related tasks or finding a proper balance between work and personal life. Another issue with these apps is that they can be inconvenient to use on mobile devices, which is crucial for a solution that addresses the needs of busy individuals.
The second category of apps, such as “Notion,” offers highly customizable abilities to create a unique task management structure. Nonetheless, this flexibility can be overwhelming for some users, who may require more suggestions in planning and organizing their tasks. User research showed that many people prefer a solution that is easy to set up and use rather than building their system from scratch.
The third category of apps, while closer to the desired solution, still only met the client’s needs by 7% out of 100%. These apps offer the ability to divide tasks into work and non-work categories but still fall short of fully addressing the needs of individuals looking to manage their entire lives on a daily basis.
The most precious resource needs to be managed
In summary, the client had a rough idea for an innovative time management app but was unsure of the best approach to bring it to reality. A great idea can be quickly overshadowed by poor design and subpar development.
The client needed a trustworthy and professional partner to work with to create the application from the ground up, one that would surpass existing solutions in terms of its concept and be user-friendly in its implementation.
The project idea aligns with the words of Steve Jobs, who famously said that his most valuable resource was time.
“We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? And we’ve all chosen to do this with our lives. So, it better be damn good. It better be worth it.”
Steve Jobs
The application that Linkup Studio and the client aimed to create was designed to assist individuals in living the lives they want and making conscious choices about how they spend their time. The goal was to help them achieve a better work-life balance and become more balanced individuals.
Nature-inspired app idea
User convenience and visual interface are often the deciding factors for whether customers will like or dislike an application. That’s why we began by creating wireframes to outline user flows and the placement of all pages, system components, structures, and elements.
We delved into the style and had an epiphany when we noticed parallels between nature and human life management. Despite having millions of tasks simultaneously, nature never seems overwhelmed. This is balance. When certain things disrupt the initial plans and established order, like a herd of elephants destroying plants, nature adjusts and fixes all troubles by growing again. This is flexibility. Additionally, seasons change at the appropriate time every year, creating a seamless circle of life, growth, and fruition. This is stability.
With this in mind, Alleo.ai had to help find balance through the ability to overview different aspects of life in diagrams. Flexibility had to be established through detailed time planning with two-way calendar synchronization. Stability was to be managed through the ability to create multiple levels of tasks, including the main task and subtasks, with time estimates.
The user interface we were creating was also inspired by nature. We avoided a dark theme to ensure friendliness and clarity in reading the text. The primary color is green, symbolizing calm and confidence. The design combines horizontal and vertical lines, creating the feeling of using a personal notebook under the user’s fingertips.
Delving into the Alleo features
After the first sign-up for our product, we offer users the option to choose their primary life “Areas.” These are areas of focus for many years to come, such as finances, health, work, etc. We provide them with a list of 19 ready-made areas to choose from and even consider adding some new ones.
Business people often focus mainly on work and neglect other important areas of their life. To help address this issue, we created the ability for users to complete projects, tasks, and events in each life area. This feature enables users to understand that all aspects of life can be managed, but all require some time.
Our primary user types prefer fast solutions and tangible results. That’s why we have also set up a “Getting Started” area, a comprehensive guide to Alleo.ai that explains all app platform features in two minutes.
An essential feature that sets Alleo apart from other competitors is the Lifeboard. We have created a unique feature that displays life areas as multi-colored bubbles, allowing users to visually understand how much time they dedicate to each area and the projects within it. The more tasks and areas the user has, the more bubbles appear.
This innovative diagram, inspired by the famous life balance wheel, is animated when the mouse glides over the “area ball.” This allows customers to interact and reflect on whether they are satisfied with their current tasks and priorities in life.
The next significant section of Alleo.ai is the Dayboard. We have developed an algorithm that displays a “pilot panel” from which users can organize and edit their day, as well as view current and ongoing relevant tasks.
Users can easily add new tasks, set priorities, and eliminate procrastination, as they can also plan for rest and breaks.
We also plan to add AI features to ease day planning further. The technology will analyze the user’s priorities and current resources and advise on the best schedule for maximum efficiency during active and passive hours.
The Calendar section was a noteworthy and challenging feature to implement. We met all requirements and passed all verifications from Google to gain access to their two scopes — users’ calendars and events within it.
While many other solutions have calendars as part of their feature set, our research showed that no one had two-way synchronization.
It means that Alleo users can see events in the app calendar that they added to Google Calendar and also add events in Alleo and see them in Google Calendar. Users have shared feedback that they find this a progressive and highly user-friendly feature.
We have also added the ability for users to add multiple Google accounts to the Alleo calendar and switch between the scheduled events in this section.
We have created an integration that allows customers to add meeting links to newly added events directly within the app, such as Google Meet, Zoom, and other conferencing platforms. This is a crucial feature for freelancers and business people.
Alleo is a task management tool that lets users create tasks with details such as name, description, estimated time, repeatability, and end date. They can be linked to global projects and life areas and assigned urgency and importance levels for better prioritization on the Dayboard.
As part of our goal to make Alleo.ai a powerful planner and a day-to-day personal assistant, we implemented the “Capture Thoughts” feature. This allows users to quickly make notes on the fly as ideas come to mind.
When planning, users can easily convert their written thoughts into well-described and organized tasks and events. All notes are saved in the library and are easily accessible on both mobile and desktop versions of the app.
It’s a rule of thumb for a task planner to provide users with notifications about upcoming events, important projects, or urgent task deadlines, and Alleo is no exception. These notifications are also two-way synchronized with Google calendars.
To align with the overall concept of the app, we have also added notifications when users have highly imbalanced days and life priorities. This allows them to reflect on their tasks and plan more effectively to ensure they don’t miss anything important.
Alleo.ai solution recap
Linkup Studio has developed an MVP among personal task management assistants that prioritizes flexibility. This tool is tailored to meet the needs of business professionals and goal-oriented individuals seeking a more streamlined and comprehensive approach to managing their daily activities and prominent areas of life.
The user-friendly interface, coupled with a clear and consistent design, allows easy adoption without needing prolonged onboarding. Additionally, advanced technology optimization guarantees a seamless user experience and maximum satisfaction for those who integrate Alleo into their daily routine.
Final thoughts
As Steve Jobs once said,
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.”
That inspires our team in Linkup Studio as well. We are committed to building a house of great solutions that matter and make a difference in human lives. Alleo.ai is one of its significant bricks.
Also, welcome to read about digital product redesign, a guide for the stress-free selection of an outsourcing UI/UX designer, a list of the top 20 UI/UX agencies to work with and the new product development process.
