RESEARCH ANALYSIS TOOLS

Comparing a mum’s morning and afternoon

Affinity Diagram

The participants' responses to the question about a digital personal assistant revealed valuable insights into their needs and problems. All six participants expressed the desire for a prompt before leaving the house to ensure they have everything they need, indicating the importance of time management in the morning routine.

Mothers tend to panic and rush 30 minutes before leaving the house as things often go wrong. This domino effect includes difficulties in finding parking, children arriving late to school, and the mother being late to work. Mornings are described as a mad dash to get everyone where they need to be with everything they need.

In contrast, the afternoon is less stressful for mothers, with the main task being picking up the children from school. Time is more on their side in the afternoon, allowing them to rest and prepare dinner.

This comparison highlights the morning as a trickier and more stressful time for mothers.

The affinity diagram was used as an analysis tool to make sense of the collected interview data. Sticky notes were used to write down the interviewees' answers, and then grouped and organized based on emerging themes.

Stewart Brand's (1994) original diagram “How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built” includes a set of layers that influence how a building and its parts change as the time passes (figure 7). Based on that diagram, the concept of layers inspired the creation of a diagram regarding the different roles a mother has to perform within the home. 

A mother's priorities revolve around her children, represented as the central layer. In addition to child-related responsibilities, there are household chores depicted in the second layer. The mother's role extends beyond this as she is also a wife, with responsibilities towards her husband represented in the third layer. Once these layers are fulfilled, the mother can finally prioritize time for herself, depicted in the outermost layer. Once those layers are completed, the mum will have some time for herself and that’s why she’s represented in the final outer layer

1. Child Layer: everything related to the children. That includes social interaction, waking them up, taking them and picking them from school, spending time with them, feeding them 

2. Domestic Layer: everything related to the chores around the house. Within a home there are sets of domestic jobs that need to be done (dishwashing, laundry, cleaning, ironing...). Regardless of what happens, these time-consuming chores need to be done.

3. Husband Layer: this ring focuses on the husband and that includes giving him her time and attention and not neglecting him.

4. Me Time Layer: this final ring represents a mum’s “me time”.  Once the previous layers are completed, this will allow the mother to have time for herself.

Once one ring is successful, it will impact the one after. That is known as the knockout effect.

Therefore, the "Me Time" is represented by the outside ring. Once the mother completes the first, second and third rings, she will then have her "Me Time". And when all the layers have been completed, that will create windows of opportunities for the mother to have her “Me Time”.

To analyze the image data, the investigator organized the pictures from the wearable camera on a timeline to depict a typical day for a mom. The images were then color-coded based on different categories:

• Blue represents interaction with the kids (child care).

• Green represents interaction with domestic household tasks.

• Yellow represents interaction with the husband/partner

• Red represents the mom's "me time."

This color-coded system helps categorize and understand the different aspects of the mom's day captured in the images.

The dominant color in the household is blue, followed by green, yellow, and red, reflecting the mother's priorities.

Her focus is primarily on her children, followed by home-related tasks and communication with her husband/partner. Personal time for herself is the last priority.

While the household lacks a rigid routine, certain fixed activities occur daily, such as:

• The child going to school or nursery

• The mother going to work

• Having dinner

• Going to bed

These are fixed but a lot of different and unexpected things can happen in between to which a smart assistant wouldn't understand the context of.

The analysis revealed that the layers of the home are not sequentially organized but rather erratic, with "Me time" occurring at different times throughout the day."

Findings Conclusion

One mother stands out as she carves out an hour or so of 'Me Time' after her kids' bedtime. She indulges in a bath, a drink, and reading, unlike other moms who lack such moments. Their days revolve around work, house chores, and childcare, leaving no time for personal relaxation.

The lack of 'Me Time' emerges as the biggest pain point for moms who already juggle multiple roles - office worker, caregiver, homemaker, and partner. Allocating time for themselves significantly helps them manage their responsibilities.

The most common words used by mothers are "stressed," "worried," "rushing," and "challenging". Beyond a reminder from a digital personal assistant, what mothers truly need is uninterrupted time for themselves, separate from work. With their day fully scheduled, they have no free time. A prompt or reminder from a digital personal assistant would greatly assist them in remembering important tasks, making their lives easier and bringing them closer to achieving "Me Time."

It would be interesting and helpful if this digital personal assistant had another level where she would help the mother have some "ME TIME" during her day. Hence providing the mom with valued experience.  In other words, it would be to design a smart digital assistant that will aid in making everything easier and achieving daily tasks better and quicker, which will automatically leave room for “Me Time”.

KEY INSIGHTS

• The household environment is spontaneous.

• Mothers need to adapt their behavior based on different scenarios, depending on their child's daily mood. If the child falls asleep, it creates a window opportunities for the mother to attend to other tasks. If the child is ill, challenges arise.

• There is a perception that working moms struggle to balance their job and family responsibilities effectively.

• Mornings are chaotic and challenging for mothers, often described as a "MAD DASH."

• Working mothers find solace in knowing that other moms share similar experiences with their children.

• Mothers devote less time to themselves compared to other family members.

• A mother's priorities are her children, followed by household responsibilities, spending time with her husband, and if there is any leftover time or energy, she can have her "Me Time."

• Mothers often overlook their "Me Time" in the quest for work-life balance, forgetting their own need for personal time as a working parent.

• A mother needs to distinguish between “Me Time” and “Spare Time” and remind herself that she is a person in the midst of it all.  

• Get mothers to develop their mindsets, to want and feel that it's OK to have "Me Time" and not feel guilty about it.

This project aims to go beyond simply providing mothers with a smart personal assistant. It is a behavior change initiative focused on persuading mothers that it is perfectly acceptable to take a break. It involves helping them understand that finding the time for themselves is a matter of logistics, while prioritizing self-care is a mindset shift.

• HMW create space and inclination for that
  "Me Time"?

• HMW get mothers not to feel guilty about having some "Me Time"?

• HMW help mothers remember that there is their "me" aspect?

• HMW change a mother's mindset? That it is ok for her to take a break

• HMW show mothers that it is not selfish to look after themselves and that it's not poor use of their time?

• HMW take advantage of the little pockets of spare time and change them to "Me Time"?  

Four analysis tools were used to make sense out of the collected Data

•  Comparison between a mother’s morning and afternoon

•  Affinity diagram

•  Mapping the experience of a mother

•  Development of new conceptual frameworks and module: The home environment

This tool used the data from all card sorting on a timeline (see figure 1 as an example) , shadowing (see figure 2 as an example) and storytelling in order to compare the morning and the afternoon of a working mother.

In the morning, the challenge is getting everyone ready and out the door on time. Participant 5 stated that the priority is getting the kids to school/nursery so the mother can make it to work on time. However, there are tasks that need to be completed before leaving the house. Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned, and there are potential issues that can arise (refer to Table).

keywords used by mothers to describe their morning while conducting the research method:

• Mornings are MAD 

• Things go horribly wrong  

• Mad dash 

• Morning is a struggle