The Art of Procrastination
The Art of Procrastination is an interactive sketchbook designed to be a creative outlet for procrastination.
Abstract
The Art of Procrastination was designed to provide a creative outlet for procrastination in the form of a sketchbook. Doodling has a positive effect on learning retention and maintaining focus, which is beneficial when trying to stay on track when working. The pages of the sketchbook include prompts that encourage the user to acknowledge their negative feelings in a lighthearted way; coloring pages, free draw pages, and examples of how you might complete the prompt.
Research and Conceptualization
As a year long independent study, the process for this project was driven by my personal interest, creative freedom, and unique experience with the subject matter. It was supported by my peers and professors.
Early Ideas and Sketches
Initially I wanted to create an app that would force you to acknowledge your tasks through notifications using customized vibrations. It would remind you to make your daily to do lists each night, give you tips to help curve your procrastination, and could lock you out of a list of apps that the user chooses during specified work times. I began by creating a mind map outlining things I might want to include.
However, on my first day of research every article that I read explicitly said that apps are not the solution.
Finding the Final Idea
Through doodling, The Art of Procrastination came to fruition. I decided to create a prompted sketchbook that users could keep by their side while working. When users wanted to take a break, instead of going on social media or physically leaving their workspace, they could give their brain a break by completing a doodling prompt instead.
Once this was decided, I began to research doodling's impact on procrastination as a whole. After reading Sue Shellenbarger's article "The Power of the Doodle: I learned that doodling helps improve your focus, learning retention, and helps you understand new concepts quicker. To me, doodling seemed like an obvious aid for managing procrastination.
Design Process
Early Prompts
My earliest drawing prompts were presented to my peers at our midterm review. I felt that they were lacking visually, and needed more of a voice. The idea to include a narrator to guide you through the book was suggested.
Introducing Cleary and Alden
I decided to introduce two narrators, Cleary and Alden, to act as guides. Cleary is designed to represent the left brain. He is knowledgeable, focused, and encouraging. Alden represents the right brain. He is humorous, nonchalant, and restless.
I wanted them to have their own unique voice so users could easily connect with them. To further emphasize this, each narrator's voice was written in their own font. Cleary was given the clean, sans serif font Neuzeit Grotesk Black. Alden was given the loose, handwritten font Lore.
I began creating the guided prompts in my sketchbook. It was imperative to the project that everything was hand drawn. I wanted the sketchbook to reflect this look, so after some baseline drawing, I began working in ProCreate. Every prompt was hand drawn and formatted by me for the final printed book.
Below are early prompt sketches.
Moving into Procreate
The images below provide a look into my drawing process. Procreate allows you to use layers, so I could duplicate my rough sketches and lower the opacity to draw my final copies with a reference. It was also beneficial when I needed to use reference photos to get poses that were drawn in proportion. I did most of my sketching in a bright red color, so they would contrast the final drawings that were drawn in black.
Final Prompt Creation
Working off of my initial idea, I created prompts with a designated, or "framed," drawing space for users to fill in as they pleased. I believed that this set up would make the sketchbook less intimidating to users that don't naturally gravitate to drawing, allowing a broader range of users to benefit from my product.
However, as I created my final prompts, I began to think that some of the frames I was drawing were too constrictive for a 5x8 layout. To remedy this, I began creating example pages that would be shown on the left page. On the right would be a small amount of text, and an open space for users to doodle in. From this decision stemmed the idea of coloring and free draw pages.
To add a pop of color, I decided to incorporate a light blue. In the research stage of this project, I looked at color psychology. Research showed that the color blue has a positive effect on concentration, productivity, and and alertness.
Final Products
The final product for this project was a physical version of the sketchbook. In total, the sketchbook was 50 pages. In addition to the prompts, coloring pages, and free draw pages, there were pages that introduced the research, characters, main idea, and gave information on the text, drawings, and myself.
A pdf of the project can be found at the top of the page.
At the Thesis Show where I presented my work, I created two handouts: stickers and to-do lists. I created 5 different stickers using my favorite and most humorous prompts, as well as the cover art.
While creating my to-do list handouts, I spoke with fellow designer Melissa Carroll. She told me about the format she uses for her personal to-do lists and allowed me to use it in my work. The idea is that you'd separate the list into three columns: the first being everything you need to do, the second being everything you could accomplish on an average day, and the third being any tasks you can get done in 10 minutes or less. You would then work backwards, giving yourself a quick boost of serotonin from finishing an easy task, and use that boost to propel you into your longer ones. On the back of the to-do list is a coloring page from the book, which could be used during the user's break.
Main Takeaways and Next Steps
While designing The Art of Procrastination my motivation was to destigmatize procrastination and confront it in a fun way. I believe that users will benefit from a space where they can manage their procrastination in the form of a creative outlet.
The next steps I would take are to add more prompts, and eventually create an app for the project so users could complete their prompts digitally. I acknowledge that this is contradictory to my research, but I feel that an app would increase the project's reach and accessibility. I've started to wireframe a basic UI of the app and plan on developing it further in Figma.
Ideally, The Art of Procrastination would be a one stop focus app. Users would be able to track their tasks on a calendar and with the three tiered to-do list. From here, they could start a customizable work session. Inspired by the Pomodoro Technique, users would pick a "focus duration" and a "break duration" as well as how many prompts they'd like during their break, and how many times they'd like to repeat these focus/break durations. These session customizations can be saved to reuse at a later date. Once their session is complete, the user's "stats" will update. I'm also considering a minor social aspect so that users will be able to share notes amongst each other and check out their doodles.
I hope to take these next steps in the near future!
