Forest: Focus for Productivity

 

With so many responsibilities, it can be hard to be productive. In school or in a working environment, there are countless distractions and expectations put on an individual. This can seem daunting and potentially increase procrastination. This blog will review an app that is designed to increase productivity with gamification. The app, "Forest: Focus for Productivity," was created by seekrtech. It has a 4.7 star review on google play and over 540 thousand reviews with 10 million downloads. Any user can be the intended audience for this application as it focuses on increasing productivity. It can particularly help students in school, in the workplace, and even working out. 

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This app allows the user to set a timer anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours for a specific activity. There are preset options for user to select from including study, work, and exercise. It allows users to add their own custom options for what they are setting the timer for. When the user selects a time and starts the timer, a small bud appears on the screen. As the timer reaches the end, a tree has grown on the screen which the user can then add to their forest of trees. The goal of this is to block distractions while using the app - specifically targeting cell phone use. The app continues to work with the phone locked as long as it is up and running in the background which helps save battery power. If for some reason, the user exits the app, their tree dies and they have to redo the initial timer. The app also includes a sound/noise option for users to listen to while they study or work (calming/rainforest sounds). 

The interface is relatively simple to use and comes with an initial tutorial/walkthrough on how to use the app for first-time users. The side bar on the left-hand side of the app includes additional features and options for the user to explore. Users can view their forest from one of the options. The app also includes tracking/statistics for users to see how much time they have spent on the app in the different categories (study, work, etc.). The statistics can be viewed by day, week, month, and year, which can help increase motivation to use the app. 

There is an optional purchase for the pro version of the app which unlocks additional features and options for the user, which is at a relatively low cost (less than $4). 

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One downside is that the icons are relatively small depending on the device used. It may not be easy to read for visually challenged users and may be harder to navigate for those who have cognitive or physical disabilities. There appears to be no accessibility features included in the free version of the app. The biggest downside in my opinion is that the app still allows usage of the phone as long as the forest app is open in the background. Users have to be disciplined enough to leave their phone alone for the duration of the timer, which may be harder for younger users or those who are heavily influenced by texting and social media.

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The app can help users with time management skills and it is made more appealing by using the gamification techniques. It could be used in the classroom as a creative way for teachers to use a timer on classwork or assessments. Students are often reluctant to give up their cell phones in class, so integration of mobile devices in the classroom is one way to get students more engaged with their learning process. It can also help outside the classroom with keeping students motivated to study or do other tasks to build their forest and unlocking achievements. The pro version also allows users to friend each other which could build a friendly competition between users on who has the most logged time in the app. The catch, of course, is that users need to use the time to be productive instead of just logging hours while doing something different for ranking.

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In terms of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), this app does a fair job of following the principles. While there are downsides to the design, the interface is fairly simple for users to be able to navigate. The inclusion of the initial tutorial is especially helpful to learn how to navigate the app at the beginning. The app has some design challenges when it comes to being easy to navigate for those with any kind of physical limitations. There are no accessibility features built in to the app and some of the options are very small (depending on screen size) and could pose problems for users with physical disabilities. The app does eliminate the possibility of accidentally exiting the app by popping up a warning error and asking if the user really does want to exit the app because their tree will die. 

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Overall, this is a fun app to use to boost motivation and productivity for users. Being able to see a physical manifestation of the time used (forest) is a huge plus for users like me who are visually motivated. I love unlocking new features and this app has plenty of that for users. If used in the classroom, it could help with curbing cell phone usage by utilizing it for a classroom task. It can also go beyond the classroom for students to use at home. The designers of the app should think about adding accessibility features in for users who would benefit from text-to-speech options, ways to expand the categories to make it easier to see and use, and also adding in ways to navigate the app without use of hands for those who are motor challenged.