Abstract
In health, we’re learning about wellness, technology’s impact on physical and mental health, and how media damages our brain. For the past 7 days, I have reviewed a wellness app titled “Structured,” which helps write down daily tasks & homework in an organized format.
Functionality
This app requires little to no prior experience to use it comfortably, and has a short tutorial when first downloaded for tips, tricks, and general knowledge about the app’s functions. This app overall has a very simple and visual design, which helps quickly look over and remember your schedule. You can customize the color theme of your app (I chose pink), which app icon you want, fonts (and sizes), and other visual features based on what you like. You can add what your energy levels are for the day (Energy Monitor), and choose to avoid or take on certain tasks based off how much energy you have left. Additionally, it does lack a couple of key features without a “Premium” annual subscription.
This app lets you add tasks to your day in a way that maps out your day, which is super helpful to visual learners like me. You can color code each task, assign it a time of day, assign a duration, and mark it when completed. Another feature is “Unstructured,” where you essentially create a task outside of your timeline, which you add in later on if you want. This is a helpful design for people who like to delegate their tasks in a different style (not following in order based off of time of completion). I personally don’t choose this method, since when it isn’t structured, it looks overwhelming and difficult to complete, but I see how it can benefit others. One thing that makes it a bit more difficult to use is the addition of a “Premium” version of the app, which includes AI planning and connection to your calendar app. It’s a great app if you’re willing to pay $15 USD a year, but if unable to or just testing the app out, then it may be a little harder to “structure” your schedule. Without connection to my calendar, I don’t get notifications on my phone and/or laptop, which makes it easy to forget. Overall, the key features of the app are simple enough to grasp and remember, but also have enough different functions to positively add to my daily life.
An additional helpful feature for women is menstrual cycle tracking. Structured can connect to your phone’s health app (which some use to track their period) and show you what stage of your menstrual cycle you’re in. I find this helpful, since depending on the stage I’m in, my productivity levels vary. This can help me better understand my body, and how well I can work and structure my days.
Usefulness
I believe the app supports my personal WOOP goal. My goal is to have extra time in the morning to get in the right mindset for school, but I can’t do that if I’m too tired to wake up early enough. I tend to focus all my homework for late in the day, and due to the time it takes, I don’t usually get enough sleep. This is my main barrier when trying to complete my WOOP goal. That’s why I chose to use Structured, since if I’m able to complete my tasks earlier in the day and don’t worry about due assignments before bed, I’ll get more (better quality) sleep, and wake up early enough in the morning to have that 5-10 minute period for mental prep.
This app strongly supports healthy habits for me, and will hopefully build lifelong habits to help me stay organized. For years, writing tasks down in a list has been used to keep people on track with their tasks for the day, and has been one of the most helpful ways to keep life “Structured.” This app’s main feature is writing your tasks down in a visual way to remind you, which will help build the habit of writing and remembering tasks to keep me orderly.
Structured helps me keep organized, which has greatly reduced my stress levels in the past week. At the beginning I was skeptical, but as I’ve gotten into the schedule of doing homework during reasonable hours, I have seen improvements in my energy levels, time in the morning for my WOOP goal, and sleep quality. All these benefits reduce stress, which also heals the brain. In our past unit in Health Class, we learned that the reaction “stress” produces a chemical called cortisol in our brain. Prolonged cortisol exposure can shrink and damage your brain, which is why I wholeheartedly believe that this app has had positive impacts on my brain health.
Design
Recently, I’ve asked myself the question, does Structured use a design that is humane, or addictive? At first I wasn’t sure how to answer this question, but after a few lessons in Health Class, I’m confident in my answer. Structured uses a humane design in its app. The human brain has something called the “Reward System,” which, when triggered, releases small amounts of dopamine. Dopamine is like the “happy chemical” in our brain, like how a fresh cookie from the oven or a puppy makes you feel. When our brain feels this dopamine, in our brain’s reward system, it begins to create “reinforcement.” Reinforcement is “the process of encouraging or establishing a belief or pattern of behavior” (Oxford Dictionary). This means when we eat that cookie or see that puppy, after we feel that dopamine, we’ll want to eat a second cookie, or keep petting the puppy. Different video games and apps try to take advantage of our reward system by providing small things that might trigger your rewards system over and over again, making you continue to go back for more and more. This is also how social media can be so addicting, that rush you feel when coming across a post you like makes you keep scrolling.
I believe Structured doesn’t use any inhumane/addictive designs to keep me using the app for prolonged periods. Since it’s primarily just a different way of looking at a calendar, it’s a bit difficult to get “hooked” onto it for continual use. That said, the feeling of checking a task and crossing it out does feel quite rewarding.
Demonstration
Below will show evidence of my use of the app for a week, along with highlighted key features and uses.
