Hi everyone! My name is Clara from Team Bull. Below, you’ll find my journey map and proto-person “Always in Huang.” I chose this name to capture someone who constantly feels overwhelmed by the amount of work they need to complete — someone who feels compelled to compensate by either reducing the number of hours they sleep or disrupting the consistency of their sleep schedule. As college students, I think many of us can relate to this persona at some point in our academic journey (I know I can!).
What I find especially compelling about this persona is the tension they hold around sleep. It’s not that they don’t care about it. On the contrary, they actually really value sleep and understand its importance. However, because they feel pressure to stay productive — and because “feeling productive” and actually being productive are often two very different things — they choose to sacrifice sleep. Ironically, the lack of sleep makes it harder to focus the next day, and the cycle continues. This contradiction, unfolding within a vicious loop, makes this persona both insightful and important to study.
The journey map traces this proto-person’s experience through emotional and behavioral states rather than strict time stamps. Instead of labeling moments by the hour, I chose stages such as “Receives Work,” “Ideal Bed Time,” “Late at Night,” “Early Morning,” and “Flow State.” I felt these moments better capture the lived experience of the persona — the shifts in motivation, dissatisfaction, and fatigue that define their routine.
I also included insights drawn from their emotions, behaviors, and thought patterns. Their attempted solutions are particularly revealing; they show how users try to solve their sleep challenges without relying on external resources like apps. This not only gives us a clearer sense of the competitive landscape, but also highlights existing coping mechanisms that we might thoughtfully incorporate into our final solution. Throughout the journey map, I’ve also marked key moments where an intervention could meaningfully support the user.
Link to Proto-Persona:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MQsEfnd49f5OWF6Be7-oUQxRcROSUrUEPKbAyChP2Wo/edit?tab=t.0
Link to Journey Map:
https://www.canva.com/design/DAG_7vvm1oI/xQJqzfuATlU0GXA9erbluQ/edit?utm_content=DAG_7vvm1oI&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton
