Research Process
Data Collection & Analysis
Among the two types of data I tracked, which was sleep and mood, I chose a few specific variables within to find correlations between. These variables were: - Daily Caffeine Intake (in cups per day)- Stress Level (scale of 1–10)- Sleep Duration (in hours and minutes)- Sleep Quality** (score of 1–100)I wore a Fitbit Inspire 3 to track my sleep duration and quality specifically, but the rest was tracked by manually logging values into the data sheet. All the information shown below was logged at the end of each day between the days of January 13 and 26. For this project, I chose to only include a 14 day range, leaving out the 13th.
**Sleep Quality or Sleep Score is tracked on the Fitbit app to help better understand our sleep each night so you can see trends in your sleep patterns. It's based on heart rate, time spent awake or restless, and sleep stages.
Initially, I noticed no patterns when comparing all of my raw data because all my data was unorganized. but when i rearranged it to suit how it could be easily visualized, I started to make some minor correlations. I noticed that on the days when my stress level was the highest, I slept less. But what I found interesting is that my caffeine intake level was very random, where there were only 4 days that I consumed coffee more than once.
Since my data range for each category ended up being slightly less extreme than the scales I set for it, I changed it to reflect this:
- Daily Caffeine Intake = 1–2 cups
- Stress Level = 3–6 range
- Sleep Duration = 5–10 hours
- Sleep Quality = 69–82 range
Design Process
The initial concept aimed to visualize overall patterns, but it was too abstract and difficult to interpret. A first attempt using "conceptual slices" for each day proved limiting and confusing. Refocusing, the designer chose to explore caffeine as a daily ritual and its connection to stress and sleep. Sketches using coffee mugs evolved into a more engaging concept incorporating latte art for sleep duration, coffee color for stress levels, pie charts for sleep quality, and extra cups for multiple coffee intakes. Through feedback and critique, the design was refined to balance clarity, aesthetics, and data integrity.
Final Product
I chose to use browns and pinks to have a more inviting feel that I mentally correlate with bakeries and cafes. I chose more distinctive coffee colors and successfully implemented the pie chart that depicts each sleep quality score. I also added dimension to distinguish the cups from the saucers and made the second cup more obvious by making it face the opposite way with the handle facing out. I used a visual key to show each factor and explained the visuals in the included blurb.