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Sarina Maharjan

Help Me Decide

"Because every decision feels better together."

Many people struggle with decision-making, especially when faced with multiple options and conflicting opinions. Current solutions like group chats and polls lack structure and make it difficult to track feedback, weigh different perspectives, and arrive at confident decisions.

View Prototype

Initial Quantitative Research

6 participants were surveyed with simple questions. They were asked about their decision making journey if they had two movies they wanted to watch equally.

78%

of people wish they had an easier way to gather opinions when making decisions.

66.7%

often decide to either give up or make a completely different choice.

16.7%

felt confident in their decisions when they didn't take input from others.

Product Users

User research revealed that Help Me Decide resonates most powerfully with a specific, underserved audience: people who struggle with decision fatigue, individuals living with ADD/ADHD, and those navigating unfamiliar choices/experiences. Rather than a general-purpose tool, the app fills a genuine gap offering structure and clarity to users who need it most. This focused insight sharpened the product's direction and affirmed a core design principle: the best tools don't try to serve everyone. They serve someone exceptionally well.

User Persona

Aayusha Maharjan

Aayusha Maharjan

Demographics
  • Age: 24
  • Occupation: Entrepenuer
  • Location: Youngstown OH
  • Tech Savvy: High
Goals
  • Make informed decisions with input from trusted people
  • Save time in the decision-making process
  • Reduce anxiety around important choices
  • Keep track of everyone's opinions clearly
Frustrations
  • Group chats become cluttered and disorganized
  • Hard to keep track of who said what
  • No clear way to weigh different opinions
  • Decision fatigue from too many options

"I trust my friends' opinions, but I need a better way to organize all their feedback when I'm trying to make a decision."

Task Mapping

Stage Action Touchpoint Thoughts Opportunities
Awareness User hears about app from friend Word of mouth, App Store "This could help with my weekend plans decision" Clear value proposition in app description
Onboarding Downloads app and creates account Sign-up flow "Hope this is easy to use" Simple, quick onboarding process
First Poll Creates first decision poll Poll creation screen "Let me try this for picking a restaurant" Templates and examples to guide users
Sharing Invites friends to vote Share feature "I wonder if my friends will actually use this" Easy sharing options, notifications
Voting Friends submit their votes Voting interface "I want to see what others think" Real-time updates, engaging voting UI
Results Reviews results and makes decision Results dashboard "This makes it so clear which option is best" Clear visualizations, export options
Retention Returns for future decisions App home screen "I should use this for my vacation planning too" History of past decisions, suggestions

Information Architecture

Welcome Page Sign up / Log in Home Explore Notifications Settings Create a poll Location-based Templates Privacy Share Comment Duration Following Location-based View Profile Follow View Profile Profile Edit Profile Change Photo History Themes Help

Sketches to Screens

From rough ideas to polished designs, exploring different approaches to key screens

Initial Sketch 1

Initial Sketch 1

Initial Sketch 2

Initial Sketch 2

Initial Sketch 3

Initial Sketch 3

Usability Testing

Conducted moderated usability tests with 8 participants to evaluate the poll creation and voting flows. Participants were asked to complete key tasks while thinking aloud.

Initial Screen

Initial Sign Up Screen

Finding #1

Issue: Users were having trouble filling all the fields all on same screen.

Solution: Broke them down into two separate screens for better organization and smoother experience.

Final Screen I

Sign Up Screen I


Initial Screen

Initial poll creating screen

Finding #2

Issue: Users mentioned wanting customizable timer options for their polls.

Solution: Added a button for poll creators to set custom timer options.

Initial Screen

Final poll creating screen with added button for customized timer

Final High-Fidelity Screens

Final Screen I

Profile

Final Screen II

Shared Post

Final Screen III

Post Update

Final Screen IV

Updated Post

Final Screen V

Post, Comment and Reply

Final Screen VI

Settings

Reflection

What I Learned

This project taught me the importance of balancing feature complexity with user experience simplicity. The biggest challenge was creating a weighted voting system that felt intuitive rather than overwhelming. Through multiple rounds of testing and iteration, I learned that progressive disclosure - revealing advanced features gradually - was key to maintaining simplicity while offering depth.

Impact

The ultimate goal is to reduce decision fatigue and increase confidence in choices by providing structure and community input. Early user feedback suggests that the app successfully addresses the core problem of scattered, disorganized feedback that makes decision-making harder than it needs to be.

Want to see more of my work?

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Let's Connect!

Interested in working together? Get in touch!

📧 [email protected]