Redesigning the Screen Time app

Project: Screen Time
Services: UI/UX Design, Visual Design, Web Design
Year: 2017-2019

Screen Time

I loved working as Lead Designer for the startup Screen Time Labs and leading everything UI and UX related – the Screen Time app, a parental control app available on Android, iOS and as web app, has millions of users worldwide and has been downloaded by parents more than 2 million times.

The main projects I have worked on were very interesting, both from a UI and UX point of view:

A total UI redesign of the app
An improved onboarding experience for all users (parents and kids)
A Schedules feature to allow parents to block their children's apps
A Rating & Reviews project to receive App Store and Play store reviews and/or feedback from users
A Web Filtering feature to allow parents to monitor and block their kids' web usage
A new Cancellation flow to improve retention and reducing churn
A Location Tracking feature for parents to see where their children are
A Geo Trips feature for parents to see the routes taken by their kids
A Geo Fencing feature for parents to get alerts when their children arrive to specific locations or leave them

Other than working on these specific features, in collaboration with the Web Development team both in the UK and in the US, I have also regularly led usability research and user testing sessions, improving the app in a lean way with an iterative approach. I've also redesigned the website and created all visual assets (print & digital) and marketing materials needed.

Software used: Sketch, Balsamiq, Invision, Adobe Creative Suite, WordPress, GitHub

The UI Redesign

The brief for the user interface redesign was to modernise the current UI, with the goal of having a clean, minimal and functional interface. I enjoyed the challenge, especially because I redesigned the app with the users in mind and that allowed me to take strategic decisions that would improve the user experience as well. It was great to hear from users that they thought the app performance was better when we actually just changed the UI!

I maintained the main brand colour throughout the app, a deep blueberry, while removing the accent colour that had previously been yellow. One of the biggest changes was adding more whitespace in all areas of the app in order for the elements to breathe and to be easily accessible, while using subtle elements to display statuses and actions. I also added a few moments of delight in the interaction to improve the overall experience. The redesign was received very well by users.

Web Filtering

The Screen Time app had a series of solid features but was lacking from the point of view of kids browsing the Internet on their devices. Parents were able to check all Web History and Search History but had no further abilities. From the feedback we received, it was clear parents wanted to be able to action the information they saw in the Web History, by blocking suspicious websites or allowing only specific websites. We added a Web Filtering feature to our roadmap: it would be an add-on paid feature on top of a monthly subscription.

The Research

I started the process by running a competitors research and collected quantitative data by sending a UX survey to 90.000 premium users. The findings showed what functionalities parents deemed essential:

a series of website categories to restrict or allow
a blacklist & a whitelist for websites
the ability to control Web Filtering through the Web History feature

The Process

The information collected allowed me to start sketching and lead a whiteboard UX session with the Web Development team to determine what kind of constraints we were facing. Following the session, I tested some prototypes on a remote usability session and iterated further on the User Interface designs.

The Results

We prepared for the launch by creating a series of guides on how to use the feature in the Screen Time Help Center.

In the first two weeks from the launch we observed 5000 7-day trials, of which 55% led to a conversion. The launch of the feature was frictionless and parents had a lot of positive feedback.

UX Sketches

Cancellation Flow

New Cancellation Flow for the Screen Time app: a way to increase user retention and decrease customer churn. By collecting structured feedback and offering solutions to common issues, I was able to improve the flow and designs and create a feedback structure essential for future iterations.

Sounds interesting? Click here to get a detailed case study on the Screen Time Cancellation Flow.

Screen Time Schedules

Screen Time schedules: a feature that allows parents to set custom schedules (ie. school, play time, piano lessons) in which to block their kids devices. The feature was well received as before parents only had the ability to block their kids devices manually or during bedtime.

Feedback & Rating

Feedback & rating: a new flow to improve the way we were collecting ratings from parents, encouraging them to leave a positive review on the Play Store if the rating was higher than 4 stars or to leave feedback if it was lower.

Geofencing

After launching a geolocation feature, I designed a Geofencing expansion of the feature: this would allow parents to select a radius on a map and receive notifications when their kids were leaving or entering the area.