Level Up

An iOS app to track and visualize daily activities. Published in the App Store, 2021

Role

Product Designer

Industry

Productivity

Duration

4 months

Problem

Tracking daily routines can help build good habits, but automated tools such as fitness trackers can't record all the important behaviors we might want to track.

Design Process

I used the double-diamond framework to guide my design process of Level Up.

Research

To understand the behavior tracking market, I did secondary research into habit building and wearables, followed by a competitive analysis, and interviewed four people about their behavior tracking routines. My most significant findings were:

1. Certain daily activities, like mood and medication tracking, are not well served by existing habit trackers.

2. Users are overwhelmed by the multitude of specialized tracking apps.

3. Friction is the biggest killer of habit progress.

Personas

I created three personas to guide my design process based on my research.

Design Goals

I wanted Level Up to track a wide range of events with as little friction as possible. Based on my research, I settled on the following principles to guide my design process:

1. Simplicity: Make it frictionless to log events, even in the middle of a complex activity like a workout.

2. Versatility: Make something that works for tracking a wide range of activities.

3. Familiarity: Use Apple's HIG and native design language to make the app familiar to iOS users.

Design Process

I examined two methods for updating tallies: incrementally, using the + button, or manually by inputting a number. After analyzing the user flows for each method in the context of the relevant use cases, I sided with incremental over manual inputs for tallies.

The flexibility of Level Up allows for a wide range of activity tracking compared to other apps.

Wireframes and UI


Final Designs

Learnings

I launched Level Up in February 2021, and it has maintained a solid 2.2% conversion rate, and 4.7 star ranking in the App Store. By gathering feedback from users within the app, and using App Store Analytics, I have been able to gain insights into how people use Level Up and identify areas for improvement. Improvements I’m making to based on feedback include location-based reminders, an Apple Watch App, and shared tallies using CloudKit.


App Store Link →

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Julian Chiesa

Copyright 2024 by Julian Chiesa