Samuel He
Samuel He
Fructus
The minutes tick by one at a time, like slow, inevitable steps marching you closer and closer to the dreaded yet welcoming sense of exhaustion that threatens to knock you out cold as you embrace bedtime and postpone your work for tomorrow — yet you’re barred from such comforts today, for your deadline has come and passed, and so you force your heavy eyelids to remain open. I, like so many, tend to miss deadlines because I procrastinate and leave things to the last minute. Hope is not lost, however, for I, unlike many others, have not given up on my fight against excessive procrastination. Procrastination is a multi-faceted die that can take on any number of forms. However, most of it boils down to a combination of poor organization and a lack of self-discipline. Fructus seeks to combine proven countermeasures against procrastination with helpful organizational objects to help users build productive habits in tackling tasks.
Samuel He
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90% of college students procrastinate. The methods in which they do so are endless, but the causes usually fall under a few categories.
At the end of it all, procrastination usually boils down to a combination of poor planning and a lack of self-discipline. The ultimate result is a reduction in overall happiness.
So, how might we assist procrastinators in improving productivity through the formation of healthy work habits?
There are numerous established methods to countering procrastination, but not many of them have been properly integrated into products. For my project, I focused on breaking complex tasks down into smaller steps, as well as creating "predecisions," which are if-then statements dictating your responses to distractions, thus eliminating spontaneous decision-making
After much exploration and ideation, I landed upon Fructus, a segmented sticky note system that intuitively encourages the user to split jobs up into smaller steps, helping them in getting started, visualize their progress and logically eliminate a complex task.
A molded plastic case protects the Fructus stack whilst providing a place for the user to keep their predecision list. The center window displays the "task" sticky even when closed, reminding the user of their incomplete task.
The 3 main interfaces include the outer facing cover where the user writes down their predecisions, the in-facing instruction page (the reverse side of the cover), and the petal cluster, where the user lists out the steps to accomplishing their task.
Billy is a struggling student. He knows he needs to start working on his paper, but the just doesn't know where to start. He's tried making to-do lists, but "finish final paper" is vague and daunting, so he turns to social media while waiting for a "Eureka" moment to come. Luckily, Fructus allows him to logically break down his task, and once he gets going, it's actually hard to stop!
Sensory pages provide detailed information on objects that are culturally significant to the city. They provide a brief history as well as how to use the object in the home in order to feel closer to the location.
The Fructus sticky cluster is a replaceable cartridge secured through tabs and friction-fit pins.
Fructus is ideal for on-the-go work thanks to its small, compact size and protective case.
Available in a variety of colors!
The optional Fructus Stand acts as an at-home base to Fructus, helping users juggle multiple tasks at once by establishing a hierarchy to tasks, as well as a visual representation of the day's work progress.
