exploringoursenses-blog

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This is my flowchart for the app

one hour before bedtime a push notification is send to remind the user to read his/her bedtime story, this is to help users to calm down and relax before sleeping. :)

Note: you may need to double click the image to view it.

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An app i found that seems a bit similar to mine

Source:http://coolbabykid.com/tag/apps

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Reflections

I realise that during presentation i had spend too much time on how to input the information before you sleep that i didn't had enough time to go through how the story works... As the story is more like a planner which tells you your plans for the day. After looking at the other presentations i think it would have been better if i had put the mock ups in categories in the powerpoint so that i didn't have to go through one by one. Also i should have thought that since it was a mobile app i didn't really need the back and continue buttons when nowadays, phones can be swipe across to go back and forth.

Well, at least i learn a lot from the other presentations and there are some things that i could have done to make my app more interesting for users to use as well as how to layout my slides. :)

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My mock up part4

user will get to be honest and choose if he/she had been on time and the different endings will be shown base on their choice. A happy ending if the user had been on time and a sad ending if the user could not make it on time.

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My mock up part3

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MY mock up part2

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My hifi wireframes part4

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My wireframes part3

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My wireframes part2

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My wireframes part2

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My Wireframes part 1

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My consultation notes

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I edited the back and next button and changed it to a swiping action, so that when the user swipes left it go back to the previous page and when it is swipe right, it go to the next page. (part2)

[exploringoursenses-blog]

I edited the back and next button and changed it to a swiping action, so that when the user swipes left it go back to the previous page and when it is swipe right, it go to the next page.

[exploringoursenses-blog]

Why teens are sleepy in class?

Research has shown that teenagers don't get enough sleep at night and go to school tired. Some experts believe the cause is biological. Others believe that teenagers stay up late because of adolescent distractions. Early high school start times can also contribute to teens' tiredness. This article will explore possible causes and solutions to this problem.

Research shows that teens need eight to nine hours of sleep at night, as compared with eight hours needed for adults. However, they are not getting enough sleep. A recent study at Drexel University of students aged 12 to 18 found that "20 percent of those studied got the recommended eight or more hours of sleep during school nights with the rest getting less than eight hours.

The average sleep for U.S. adolescents is seven hours..."  A study of Rhode Island teenagers found that "85 percent were chronically sleep-deprived and accumulated a minimum 10-hour sleep deficit during the week. Forty percent went to bed after 11 p.m.; 26 percent said they usually got less than 6.5 hours on school nights." Thus, sleep deprivation in teens is causing a growing concern among researchers, educators and parents.

So why aren't teens getting enough sleep? For one thing, they are staying up late. A variety of things can contribute to this night-owl tendency among teens, including social life, caffeinated drinks, electronic media such as computers, TVs and cell phones. Other factors include procrastinating on homework, and even depression. Adolescent work schedules are also a concern. Teens who work more than 15 hours a week at a job have less time for sleep.

Lack of sleep affects teens' ability to function at school. A recent study showed that "sleep deprivation can affect mood, performance, attention, learning, behavior and biological functions."

In less clinical terms, "Daytime sleepiness makes it difficult to concentrate and learn, or even stay awake in class. Too little sleep may contribute to mood swings and behavioral problems. And sleepy teens who get behind the wheel may cause serious — even deadly — accidents." 

The typical start time for most high schools is 7:00 am, which can exacerbate this problem. Some schools have experimented with later start times. The study at Oxford found that "By delaying the start of school by one hour, and moving more demanding subjects to later in the day, then absenteeism and depression will fall... But that does not mean young people should be indulged and allowed to stay in bed late." Researchers at Norwalk Hospital's Sleep Disorders Center in Connecticut found that "Teens whose high schools have a delayed start time sleep longer and report less daytime sleepiness." 

Source:http://www.mathgoodies.com/articles/teens_sleep.html

[exploringoursenses-blog]

This is my Moodboard, the overall feeling of it is like a fantasy and whimsical feel. 

i used green as it is the color of nature, It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. It is the most restful color for the human eye as, it can improve vision.

I also used yellow as it is the color of sunshine. It’s associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.

Yellow produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy.

Brown is a natural, down-to-earth neutral color. It is found in earth, wood, and stone.it 

represents steadfastness, simplicity, friendliness, dependability, and health.

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How to Develop Perfect Sleep Timing

Poor sleep timing is the number one reason teenagers and young adults suffer with insomnia. During this time their body clock naturally prefers to sleep late and wake late, which makes it harder to keep to good sleep timing.

Choose your sleeping pattern

The first step is to choose your sleep pattern. Your sleep pattern is like a template for your body to align its sleep wake cycle.

For most people the monophasic sleep pattern would probably be the easiest and most natural sleep pattern to stick to.

Alternatively, the biphasic sleep pattern might be a better option if you find it hard to stay asleep the whole night or suffer from a significant dip in alertness during the day. Older people may have more success with this sleep pattern.

I would definitely recommend avoiding one of the polyphasic sleep patterns until you’ve mastered the monophasic or biphasic sleep pattern. It might seem attractive from the outside, but if you can’t stick to one or two sleep / wake times, it’s very unlikely you’ll be able to stick to 4 -6!

If you really want to adopt a polyphasic sleep pattern, start with a consistent monophasic or biphasic sleep pattern and then try out the polyphasic sleep pattern when you’ve mastered it. Take it one step at a time.

Choose your sleep and wake times

With your sleep pattern decided, you’re ready to choose the times you want to wake up and go to sleep.

To do this, first choose a time to wake up. Then work out your bed time by taking the amount of hours sleep you need per night away from the time you wake up.

For example, if you want to wake up at 6am and need 8 hours sleep per night, your bedtime would be 10pm.

The amount of hours sleep an average adult needs is around 7-8 hours per night, but this is only a rough guideline. If you’re not sure how many hours of sleep you need per night, try 8 to start with.

Choose different wake times and work out your sleep time until they fit perfectly with your daily activities. Make sure you can stick these times every day of the week, even the weekends to begin with.

Some people like to wake early in the morning to get a head start on the day while others enjoy socialising into the night. Choose the times that suit you best.

Wake up at the same time each day

The keystone of your sleep pattern, wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends.

For the first few weeks at least, stick to this like glue. To begin with, your sleep pattern will be very fragile and easy to mess up. Only once it has set in place can you afford some flexibility, but even then you would need to be careful.

This will no doubt be very hard to stick to when you first begin so you’re going to need a good dose of self discipline and motivation to get you though it.

To help with this, before you go to bed each night set your alarm and imagine yourself getting up as soon as soon as it goes off. Go through in your head what you’ll see, what you’ll do first and what you’ll do for the rest of the morning. Doing this will renew your commitment to getting up on time as soon as your alarm goes off.

If you can’t find the motivation to wake up before you go to bed, you certainly won’t find it when it’s time to wake up. If you leave any room for negotiation, you’ll end up convincing yourself to go back to sleep so make sure you give yourself a good enough reason to wake up.

If you really want to hammer it home, you can actually practice waking up. Set your alarm clock to go off in a few minutes, get undressed, go to bed. Get up as soon as it goes off and get dressed. Do this until you don’t even need to think about it. Sounds crazy but this technique works really well. By going through this process again and again, you’ll condition your mind to do it almost on autopilot. Fantastic if like me you’re not fully with it in the morning!

Go to bed only when you’re feeling sleepy

While the time you wake up should be the same each day, you should only go to bed when you’re sleepy.

Doing this increases what’s called your sleep efficiency, the time between going to bed and falling asleep. Not only do you save time wasted lying in bed, but you begin to associate your bed with falling asleep instead of lying awake, avoiding what’s called learnt insomnia.

The more you do this, the easier it will be for you to fall asleep in the future. It usually takes me around 10 to 15 minutes to fall asleep when I first get into bed. Compared to the two hours it previously took me, that’s quite a result!

While ideally you should only go to bed when you’re sleepy, to begin with you should aim for a window of around 2 to 3 hours before and after your suggested bed time you worked out above. When you’re first starting out, it’s likely you’ll either not feel sleepy or feel sleepy way in advance so you have to give it some boundaries.

You should never go to bed early if you’re not sleepy or try to force yourself to sleep. One of your peak points of alertness during the day is actually just before you feel sleepy before bed time. This stage of alertness has been nicknamed the forbidden zone by sleep experts because trying to get to sleep at this time can be very difficult if not impossible. Even if you do manage it, may well wake up in the night and not be able to get back to sleep.

If you still find yourself lying awake in bed, consider what’s called sleep restriction therapy. This technique involves going to bed only at the time you usually fall asleep. For example, if you usually go to bed at 10 but don’t get to sleep until 12, go to bed at 12 instead, sticking to the same wake time.

The idea make you so sleepy that you fall asleep as soon as you go to bed, making your mind associate you bed with falling to sleep. Once you’ve done this for a few days, you can slowly move your bedtime earlier. This technique is very difficult to stick to because it will inevitably cause sleep deprivation, but it’s reported to work extremely well if performed correctly.

Stick to regular meal times

Meal times are one of the cues your body clock uses to calibrate itself and work out the time of day. This in turn effects your bodily cycles that align themselves to this time and this includes your sleep wake cycle.

So basically, the more regular your meal times, the more regular and predictable your sleep timings will become.

The timing of your last meal is especially important since it’s the last meal time of the day your body clock has to calibrate itself.

Keep the night times dark and the day bright

During the day:

Opening your curtains as soon as you wake up in the morning

Going for a morning stroll

Using a lightbox in the morning if it’s still dark outside

At night:

Avoiding any bright lights

Keeping your computer’s screen brightness right down in the evening

No watching TV just before you go to bed.

Source: http://sleepforall.com/timing-of-sleep.htm