Routinely
Track habits effortlessly for a sharper routine
ROLE
UX Designer
EXPERTISE
UX/UI Design
YEAR
2024
Overview
The iOS mobile app for habit tracking helps you develop and maintain habits. It is a valuable tool for anyone who wants to improve productivity or maintain consistency in their daily routines.
Our app offers a seamless way to build and maintain habits by providing an intuitive system to track progress and stay motivated.
Discovery & Research
Many people struggle to maintain habits due to a lack of structure, motivation, and progress tracking. While various habit-tracking apps exist, many are too complex or too restrictive to fit users’ needs.
To better understand market trends and pain points, I conducted a competitor analysis of 8 apps, identifying common features and the limitations of free vs. paid functionalities. This research provided insights into what works, what frustrates users, and where opportunities lie for a better solution.
Why are people giving up their habits?
In the market, there are dozens of products and services designed to help users build and maintain habits. However, many people still struggle to stay consistent, even when using these tools.
Based on user research, the key reasons why people give up on their habits include:
Lack of a clear visual overview
Users prefer to see their progress in calendar format.
Without it, they feel disconnected from their routines and struggle to track their consistency.
Inflexible repetition settings
Users find it frustrating when they cannot easily set up repeating tasks or select specific days for habits. If this feature is hidden behind a premium plan, they often give up.
Difficulty in setting reminders
Many users want individual reminders per habit, but they struggle to find the reminder settings or navigate complex interfaces.
These pain points reveal that habit-tracking apps must be intuitive, flexible, and visually engaging to keep users motivated. Our design aims to solve these challenges by providing a seamless experience with clear visual tracking, customizable settings, and intuitive navigation.
Understanding Human Behavior
To create a habit-tracking app that truly supports users, I first needed to understand how habits are formed and sustained. I explored scholarly research to identify the key psychological factors that influence habit-building and user engagement.
I found two insightful studies:
Don’t Kick the Habit: The Role of Dependency in Habit Formation Apps
PDF document / Resource
Beyoung Self-Tracking and Reminders: Designing Smartphone Apps That Support Habi Formation
PDF document / Resource
These studies highlight that the two most crucial features in habit-tracking apps are habit-building mechanisms and reminders. If an app effectively guides users in forming habits and provides timely reminders, it significantly increases the chances of long-term engagement.
By integrating these research-backed principles into my design decisions, I ensured that the app not only tracks habits but also actively encourages consistency and motivation.
Ideation
To ensure a structured and intuitive user experience, I started with a blank canvas, sketching out different concepts to explore layout and functionality before moving into digital design. This process allowed me to focus on core interactions without being distracted by visual details.
I explored various ideas, considering:
Customization flexibility – allowing users to tailor habit tracking to their needs.
Minimizing friction in navigation – ensuring quick access to habit setup, progress tracking, and reminders.
Daily focus vs. long-term motivation – balancing immediate habit tracking with streak-based encouragement.
After sketching multiple layouts on paper, I transformed the best concepts into Figma wireframes and interactive prototypes. Through testing, I identified areas where usability could improve, iterated on the structure, and refined the designs to align with user needs.
Solution
To help users effortlessly build and maintain habits, this app focuses on simplicity, flexibility, and engagement. By eliminating common frustrations like complex habit setup, lack of progress visibility, and rigid scheduling, the app enables users to create and track habits with ease.
Highlight Features:
Stay on track with your habits
Customize your habit routine
Track time with a built-in timer
Increase engagement with streaks
Design System
To ensure a cohesive and seamless experience, I established design principles and guidelines tailored for iOS, with a strong emphasis on dark mode.
Key Points:
Typography & Color Schemes: Optimized for readability and accessibility in dark mode.
Component Library: A scalable system for buttons, input fields, and interactive elements.
Consistency & Collaboration: Regular meetings with the development team ensured that the design was user-friendly, visually consistent, and technically optimized for implementation.
This structured approach provided a flexible yet unified design foundation, making it easy to maintain and scale while ensuring a polished user experience. By establishing a systematic design structure, the app remains adaptable for future updates, allowing for seamless iterations without compromising usability.
The result is a habit-tracking app that is visually cohesive, user-friendly, and scalable, ensuring a smooth experience for both users and developers as the product evolves.
