Our culture is in a hurry and our busyness has become a source of self-worth — but this is not what God intended for his people. When Jesus entered into Jerusalem, just days before he would be crucified, those that recognized him as their King and Savior laid palm branches on the ground so not even his donkey's feet would touch the ground. They recognized he was worthy of even the smallest gestures that would glorify him. Palm is a scripture-based planner app and notebook that empowers Christians to align their plan with God's plan by putting Christ back on the throne of their ever-glorified to-do lists.
App and Graphic Designer
Concepted and designed this multi-media planning experience
The Palm planner app provides users the ability to create and organize custom tasks and events by category, as any planning app would. In addition to this, Palm frames the planning process in scripture through weekly and monthly focuses and an emphasis on Sabbath principles.
The Palm planner notebook applies the same biblical concepts of the app to a traditional medium. Everyone plans differently, so the Palm notebook is designed to be able to be used in tandem with the app for any on-paper and digital planning combination the user prefers.
Planning and productivity apps abound, but not with a Biblical basis. The Palm app not only gives users the ability to track events and tasks, but pushes them to plan their week with rest in mind, reminds them of their weekly scripture verse and month-long devotionals, and encourages them to reflect on their progress, right from their planning app. A simple interface means this multipurpose app is a comfortable home for all of these elements to come together. Putting these capabilities in users' pockets opens many doors for notifications and more to further help them in reversing the patterns of busyness that work against the plans God has for them.
The first step was to think through every aspect of this customizable and comfortable planning experience by hand sketching the interaction model.
Once the interaction model was laid out, it was time to fit real content into the model. This low-fidelity mockup of the app enabled me to work through the details of each screen, down to every last setting.
The final UI design for this app is intended to promote calm feelings and call to mind the palm branches that are the basis of this app concept. Simple and familiar interactions make this app comfortable for many different users.
With the app design on the move, it was important to consider how this app would be advertised in the app stores and on social media. These concepts aim to communicate the feel, features, and mission of the application.
The Palm planner notebook applies the same concepts as the app to users that prefer pen and ink for planning their days. Each month is sectioned out in a typical full month then week-to-week planner flow. In addition to these basics, each month features a devotional concept and weekly installments that pair well with the scripture verse highlighted at the top of each spread. An emphasis on predetermined rest and prayer times tailors this planner to the Biblical life rhythms of a Christian, even in today's busy world.
It was key for the notebook to follow the same conceptual flow as the app from the introductory pages through the weekly scripture focuses, since users are intended to be able to use both products in their day-to-day if they wish.
Good design is invisible, so this planner design is intended to stay out of the user's way. Simple text and lines and very few colors keep the focus on what's important in this context: scripture and the to-do list.
It was key for there to be an app component to Palm that would track and remind users of their to-dos and focuses throughout the day. Yet, many people prefer to plan with traditional mediums, so the Palm app provides devotional options that follow each annual installment of the Palm notebook, in case users want their app and notebook to work in sync.
The concepts of the Palm app all apply in the notebook by keeping scripture focuses at the forefront and making room for users to plan out rest and prayer. The difference here is that users can't as easily customize away the Palm core values, making the notebook component key to the Palm planner concept.
Two key takeaways from this project were the hidden complexity of apps and the importance of user research. This was my first real attempt at a full app wireframe mockup, and it was made clear pretty quickly that the more you think through each step of the user's journey, the more screens you have to build. Every step of the design process, from hand-drawn interaction models to the final UI, is vital to designing a quality user experience. In addition to this, more upfront and interwoven user research would have enhanced this project's outcome. Most of the decisions made for this project were based on personal conversations and hunches, but the reality is that users are way more diverse than my personal circle of potential users.
