Basecamp Mobile Todos

During the application process for a Senior Mobile Designer role at 37signals, I was given the terrific opportunity to work on a redesign of the Basecamp mobile app. The main focus was on the To-Do feature, which should be evaluated further with the goal of proposing possibilities for a redesign. Using the design tools FigJam and Figma, I used a multi-step design process to uncover problems, generate ideas, and communicate them in both low and high-fidelity designs. The time frame of this case study was around 10 hours.

Read the case study here

The Problem

The project management tool Basecamp is looking for improvements to the To-Do section of its mobile app. Currently, this feature is implemented entirely as a web view and thus has friction points for some users of the mobile app. Creating to-dos is complex, takes a long time, and feels different from to-do apps. Also, one of the essential features of Basecamp, the Hill Charts, is not very usable in the current mobile version.

So I'm looking for improvements and design changes that will make the mobile experience more efficient and native for users.

Hypothesis

If you look at the context in which users use a to-do app on a mobile device, you will notice that other functionalities than the desktop experience is in the foreground. Tasks on the smartphone need to be more efficient and speed is an essential factor. Furthermore, one could argue that the information density on mobile devices should definitely be reduced since one has much less screen estate available.

All in all, such small changes could already lead to a better experience without having to add large, new functionalities to the app.

Solution

To better visualize these changes and ideas, I created various sketches and detailed designs in Figma. In the end, I connected everything to an interactive prototype.

The design changes shown here focus on one major task of the To-Do section, namely adding tasks, as well as setting up Hill Charts.