This brief is fictional. The business, people and numbers are invented for practice. Do your own research with real people where the brief asks for it, and never present invented findings as real in your portfolio.
The brief
Fictional client: Steady is a two-person startup that wants to build a habit app for people who have tried and abandoned other habit apps. The founders believe many apps rely on streaks, badges and pushy notifications that make people feel like failures when they miss a day.
They want an app that is supportive and realistic, works for one habit at a time to start with (for example drinking water, a short walk, reading or stretching), and earns a place on someone's phone through usefulness rather than pressure.
The problem to solve
People who start habit apps often stop using them within a few weeks, and some report feeling worse when they break a streak. Find out why people abandon habit tools and what actually helps them keep going, then design an app experience covering onboarding, daily check-in, missing a day, and reviewing progress.
Target users and assumptions
Users
- Adults who have tried at least one habit or wellness app and stopped using it.
- People with irregular schedules, such as shift workers or parents of young children.
- People who want gentle support rather than competition.
Assumptions to test
- Streaks motivate some people but cause others to quit after a miss.
- People want fewer, better-timed reminders.
- Setting a very small starting goal helps people continue.
- People want to see progress over weeks, not just today.
- Some users have health conditions that affect their capacity day to day.
Business goals and user needs
Business goals
- Retain users beyond the first month.
- Build a trustworthy brand that avoids dark patterns.
- Validate whether people would pay for a premium tier later (not designed in this project).
User needs
- Set up a habit quickly with a realistic goal.
- Check in within seconds.
- Miss a day without feeling punished, and get back on track easily.
- Control when and how often the app reminds me.
- See meaningful progress over time.
Scope and constraints
In scope
- Onboarding (maximum four screens), choosing and sizing a habit, reminders setup.
- Daily check-in, including partial completion.
- Missing a day and returning after several days away.
- Weekly and monthly progress view.
- Notification copy and settings.
Constraints
- Design for one platform first (iOS or Android) and follow its conventions; note what would change on the other.
- No medical claims; the app is not a health service.
- No social features in the first version.
- Data stays on the device in the first version; say so clearly to users.
Research plan
- Review app store reviews of three popular habit apps; collect at least 30 relevant quotes about quitting and frustration (paraphrase, do not copy at length).
- Interview six people who have abandoned a habit or wellness app.
- Ask two or three participants to keep a short diary for five days about one habit, including days they skip it.
- Do a competitive teardown of onboarding and missed-day handling in three apps.
Competitor analysis worksheet
Copy this grid into a spreadsheet or your design file. Fill one row per competitor you choose.
| Competitor | Onboarding length | Goal setting | Check-in effort | Missed-day handling | Reminder controls | Progress view | Pressure tactics noticed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Habit app A | |||||||
| Habit app B | |||||||
| Wellness app C | |||||||
| Paper or calendar method |
Interview questions
- Tell me about a habit you tried to build recently. How did it go?
- What did you use to help you? How did you choose it?
- Tell me about the day you stopped using it. What happened?
- How did the app respond when you missed a day? How did that feel?
- Which reminders, if any, were helpful? Which were annoying?
- What would a good week look like for this habit?
- What does progress mean to you here?
Synthesis
- Combine interview notes, diary entries and review quotes into one affinity map, colour-coded by source.
- Look for moments of drop-off and the emotions around them.
- Draw a journey map for "starting, slipping and returning".
- Write three to five insights and the design principles that follow from them, for example "Missing a day is normal, so returning must be easy".
Problem statement and success metrics
People trying to build a small daily habit stop using habit apps after missing a few days because the apps treat a missed day as failure, so returning feels discouraging and the app becomes a source of guilt.
A starting draft. Rewrite it from your own research.
Success metrics
- In testing: setup time and whether participants choose a realistic starting goal.
- In testing: whether participants can check in, including partially, in under 10 seconds.
- Participants' reported feelings when they see the missed-day screen (positive, neutral, negative).
- After launch (planned): percentage of users who return after missing three or more days.
Information architecture and user flow
- Define the app structure: Today, Progress, Settings (and nothing else in version one, unless research says otherwise).
- Draw flows for: first-time setup, daily check-in, returning after a missed week, changing reminders.
- Map notification triggers and what each one opens.
Sketching and wireframing
- Generate six different approaches to the missed-day experience on paper.
- Wireframe onboarding at low fidelity and remove any screen that does not change what the app does.
- Wireframe the check-in with at least two interaction options (single tap, tap and hold, partial amounts).
- Wireframe weekly and monthly progress that does not depend on unbroken streaks.
UI, components and prototype
UI and component requirements
- A calm visual language: type, colour, spacing, iconography, and motion guidelines.
- Components: habit card, check-in control with partial state, progress chart, reminder time picker, notification permission explainer, empty and returning states.
- Dark theme for evening use.
- Respect reduced-motion settings.
- Copy and tone guidelines with examples of supportive, non-judgemental language.
Prototype requirements
- A high-fidelity prototype covering onboarding, three days of check-ins, a missed day, a return after a week, and the progress view.
- Realistic micro-interactions for check-in with a reduced-motion alternative.
- A notification permission request that explains the value first.
Usability testing and iteration
Testing plan
- Recruit five people who have abandoned a habit app.
- Tasks: set up a habit you would realistically do; record today; it is now a week later and you have not opened the app, record today; change your reminder to evenings.
- After the missed-day task, ask how the screen made them feel and why.
- Record setup time, errors and the goals people chose.
Iteration
- Address any moment where participants felt judged or confused.
- Simplify onboarding if anyone took longer than two minutes.
- Retest the missed-day and return flow after changes.
Accessibility checklist
7 items
Final deliverables
8 items
Portfolio case study outline
- Summary: a habit app that treats missed days as normal.
- Why people quit: insights from interviews, diaries and reviews.
- Design principles that guided the work.
- Onboarding: what you removed and why.
- Check-in and missed days: the alternatives you explored.
- Ethics: decisions about notifications, streaks and data.
- Testing results and changes.
- What you would measure after launch.
Assessment rubric
Score yourself honestly, then ask a peer or mentor to score you. Aim for Competent on every row before calling the project finished.
| Criterion | Not yet | Developing | Competent | Excellent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Problem framing | Problem restates the brief or jumps to a solution. | Problem is stated but not supported by research. | Clear problem statement supported by your own evidence. | Sharp, evidence-based problem with explicit scope and trade-offs. |
| Research and synthesis | No real participants or sources. | Some research, but findings are listed rather than synthesised. | Real participants, themes and insights that clearly shape decisions. | Well-chosen methods, honest limitations, insights that changed the direction. |
| Structure and flow | Only isolated screens. | Flow covers the happy path only. | Complete flow including key errors and empty states. | Flow is simplified with evidence and covers edge cases thoroughly. |
| Visual and UI quality | Inconsistent type, spacing and colour. | Mostly consistent with some rough areas. | Consistent visual system, clear hierarchy, all states designed. | Polished system with reusable components and thoughtful detail. |
| Accessibility | Not considered. | Contrast checked only. | Contrast, focus, labels, target sizes and colour independence addressed. | Checked with keyboard and screen reader; issues found and fixed. |
| Testing and iteration | No testing. | Testing done but no changes made. | At least five sessions with clear findings and documented changes. | Multiple rounds, prioritised findings and a measurable improvement. |
| Case study communication | Gallery of screens without explanation. | Process described but long or unfocused. | Concise, skimmable story with annotated decisions. | Compelling and honest story a reviewer can understand in five minutes. |
| Ethical design | Uses guilt, false urgency or hidden settings. | Avoids obvious dark patterns but does not discuss them. | Explicit, user-respecting choices about reminders, streaks and data. | Ethical choices are evidence-based and explained with trade-offs. |
Milestones
Tick tasks as you finish them. Progress is saved in this browser.
Progress is saved in this browser.
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Milestone 1Research
4 items
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Milestone 2Flows
3 items
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Milestone 3Wireframes
3 items
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Milestone 4Visual design
4 items
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Milestone 5Prototype and test
3 items
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Milestone 6Case study
3 items
Optional extension challenges
- Design a home screen widget or watch complication for check-ins.
- Design how two or more habits would work without overwhelming people.
- Design an export of the user's data in a readable format.
- Write guidelines for notification copy, with ten example messages.
Hints and worked example
Try the project yourself first. The worked example shows one way through, with illustrative content that is not real research.
Show hints and the worked example
Illustrative only. Not real research.
Example principle: "Progress is the trend, not the streak." In this imagined example, the progress screen shows "You walked on 5 of the last 7 days" and a monthly calendar where each day is filled proportionally, rather than a streak counter that resets to zero.
Example missed-day screen: After four days away the app opens with "Welcome back. Want to start with today?" and one button, "Record today". A secondary link, "Change my goal", appears below. There is no mention of what was missed unless the user opens Progress.
Hint: ask participants to show you the notification settings on their own phone. Many people have already turned off notifications for apps that nagged them, which tells you a lot about reminder design.