Thrive: Reinventing habit formation for consistent growth
Thrive
Where small habits lead to big results
Hey there! 🙌 Ever feel like building a habit is like climbing Mount Everest in flip-flops? You’re not alone! 😅 We all dream of hitting the gym regularly, eating healthier, or learning a new skill, but let’s be real—life (and Netflix) often get in the way. That’s where my project, Thrive, comes into play.
A Personal Journey into Habit Hacking
Introduction
The Habit Rollercoaster 🎢
The Problem
Picture this:
It’s January 1st, and you’ve decided that this is the year you’re going to read a lot.
Sound familiar? 🤦♂️
The problem with most habit apps is they expect you to be perfect, consistent, and motivated every day.
You download the latest habit tracker, set up an ambitious routine, and by week two, it’s collecting virtual dust.
Imagine an app that doesn’t guilt-trip you for missing a day but instead adapts to how you’re feeling. Thrive is like having that super understanding friend who cheers you on whether you’re crushing it or just showing up. This isn’t your typical habit tracker; it’s a flexible, mood-based habit builder designed to meet you where you are.
Introducing Thrive
The Solution
Introducing “Thrive”
Your personalized companion to build lasting habits.
Create habits that adapt to your mood
Track your progress with ease
Team up with partners
Mood-Based Habit Customization
Some days you’re crushing it, and some days just getting out of bed deserves a medal. Thrive gets it.
Select your mood
Personalized habit flow
Celebrate the small wins
Flexible Habit Levels: Celebrate Every Step
It’s not about being perfect,
it’s about showing up, trying, & celebrating the little wins
Four habit levels
Earn points for every effort
Keep the momentum
Progress Tracker: Watch Your Habits Grow 📈
Comprehensive views
Detailed habit insights
Milestones that motivate
Accountability Partner: Because Friends Make Everything Better 🤝
Find or add your squad
See each other’s progress
Because teamwork makes the dream work
I started by diving deep into existing research on habit formation. Studies showed that habits are influenced by numerous factors: motivation, goal clarity, emotional state, and the ability to start small and scale up.
But here’s the kicker—most habit apps fail to address these nuances. They treat habit-building like a straight line when, in reality, it’s more like a rollercoaster.
What the Data Tells Us
Understanding the Problem
Motivation Fluctuates
People don’t operate on 100% motivation 24/7. Apps that ignore this reality leave users feeling guilty and defeated.
Fear of Failure
The fear of missing a day often leads to complete abandonment. Users need to feel that it’s okay to slip up and still keep going.
Importance of Small Steps
Research emphasizes starting small, but many apps push users to take on too much, too soon.
Findings
To validate these insights, I conducted interviews with 10 users who had experience with various habit-tracking apps. Their stories echoed the findings of my secondary research but added personal depth that numbers alone can’t capture.
Listening to Real Voices 🎤
Primary Research
Users often set ambitious routines that become unsustainable, especially on off days.
Users expressed the need for encouragement and rewards, even for minor achievements.
A recurring theme was the rigid structure of habit apps that didn’t account for life’s ups and downs.
"I feel overwhelmed by my own goals."
"I want to celebrate the small stuff too."
"It’s all or nothing, and I usually end up with nothing."
To create a solution that truly resonates, it’s essential to understand who we’re designing for. Meet Ananya, a young, energetic student whose desire to build better habits perfectly aligns with Thrive’s mission.
Meet Ananya, The Ambitious Student 🎓
User Persona
I then analyzed popular habit-tracking apps like Habitica, Me+ Daily Routine Planner, and Fabulous to see what they were getting right—and where they were missing the mark.
Learning from the Best and the Rest 🥊
Competitive Analysis
After diving deep into the problem space and understanding the user’s needs, it was time to roll up my sleeves and get designing. This wasn’t just about making pretty screens. Here’s how I approached it:
The goal was to translate user pain points into intuitive flows and features.
Approach:
I started with high fidelity wireframes, focusing on making each interaction intuitive and straightforward.
Emphasized key touchpoints like the habit selection, mood adaptation, and progress tracking to align with user needs.
Ideation & Wireframing: Turning Ideas into Sketches ✏️
Design Process
These insights solidified the core problem: most habit trackers aren’t designed with real users’ daily experiences in mind. They assume users will always be motivated, ignore the reality of fluctuating emotions, and don’t offer the personalization needed to make habit-building feel achievable.
Key Decisions:
Mood-Based Habit Selection: Inspired by the idea that motivation fluctuates daily, I introduced a mood-based habit selection screen to cater to varying user states.
Flexible Difficulty Levels: To make habits feel achievable, I created four levels (Show up, Easy, Medium, Hard) so users could adjust based on their current energy or time availability.
Once the wireframes were ready, it was time to put them to the test. I reached out to potential users who fit our target persona and conducted user testing sessions to gather feedback. After all, the best way to see if a design works is to get it into the hands of real people.
Testing the Waters
User Testing and Learnings
What I Learned: Key Insights from User Testing🧐
User testing revealed some valuable insights, both expected and surprising. Here’s what stood out:
Mood Selection Was a Hit: Users loved the ability to select their mood, describing it as a unique feature that made them feel seen and understood.
Difficulty Levels Were Clear but Needed More Guidance: While most users appreciated the varying difficulty levels, some felt unsure about which level to pick. They wanted more prompts or suggestions, especially when trying a habit for the first time.
Rewards Were Motivating but Could Be Enhanced: Participants liked the rewards system, but feedback suggested adding more variety, like streak bonuses or visual celebrations when a new milestone was reached. It was all about making the experience feel more rewarding!
Accountability Partner Feature Was Intuitive but Needed More Social Elements: Users loved the idea of partnering up but wanted more interactive elements, like nudging friends or sending motivational messages.
Armed with these insights, I jumped back into design mode and made several key iterations to enhance Thrive:
Turning Feedback into Action
Iterations and Tweaks
Thrive is finally here—ready to help users build habits that stick. From mood-based habit customization to real-time progress tracking, every feature is designed to make habit-building feel less like a chore and more like a personal win.
Thrive in Action 🚀
Final Prototype
If you’ve made it this far, I’m guessing something caught your eye—or maybe everything did? ✨
I’m actively seeking full-time UX design roles. Let’s connect and talk about design, products, and making great things together.
Wrapping Up, Thanks for Sticking Around! 😇
All Rights © Vaibhav Wankhede 2024
Crafted with lots of love 💖
& passion to make every pixel count! 🎨
Link to Figma prototype