Crafting a Solid Foundation

With countless habit tracker apps already on the market, I faced both an opportunity and a challenge. On one hand, there was a wealth of inspiration and user feedback to draw from and improve upon; on the other, I needed to differentiate my app sufficiently to stand out from the crowd. Through a combination of rough sketching, open-ended design exploration, and rapid prototyping of interaction ideas, a concept gradually began to develop. My primary focus from the start was on the CRUD functionality, aiming to achieve a smooth balance between simplicity, versatility, and uniqueness.

At one point, I considered how best to handle logging data for past days. This eventually led to the "Great Book of Habits" concept and pushed me to lean heavily into storytelling, using it as a guiding principle for the design process moving forward.

Details, Data, and Decisions

Alongside my emphasis on storytelling, I saw an opportunity to harness data and numbers to boost engagement and drive positive user sentiment. Several key decisions emerged from this approach.

For instance, I included a day counter and daily check-in reward system on the Today view, allowing users to start each day with a sense of progression—even before completing a single habit. The app also centers on completed reps (the number displayed in front of each habit on the Today view) rather than streaks, which can be discouraging when reset to zero.

This focus on progression over perfection extends to other key screens, such as the daily check-in summary and habit stats. These choices are designed to maintain user momentum without being overly pushy and allowing for enough leeway. After all, habit-building is a journey marked by natural ups and downs.

From 0 to 1

From the outset, I explored a wide range of features to ensure the app could scale effectively. Once I gained full confidence in the UI’s scalability and grew increasingly eager to bring the design to life, I narrowed my focus to define my MAP (Minimal Awesome Product)—perhaps the biggest challenge I had faced thus far.

After a couple of meet-ups, I partnered with a local iOS developer. Together, we set up a Notion board to track and manage the app’s development progress, propelling the project into its next phase.