Building new habits can be tough, and sticking to them over time is even harder. Using Nir Eyal's Hooked model, this app aims to make habit formation easier by creating an engaging, rewarding experience that encourages users to log their dreams consistently.
The Problem
Struggling to Build Lasting Habits
Difficulty in Sticking to New Routines
We’ve all tried to build new habits, only to lose motivation after a few days—dream logging is no different.
Lack of Engagement
Current apps don’t offer the kind of engaging experience that keeps users coming back, making it hard to turn actions like dream logging into a consistent habit.
KAMs wasted hours analyzing Excel sheets to identify customers below 80% compliance.
Enhance Habit Formation
Make it easier for users to consistently log their dreams
Increase User Engagement
Encourage long-term use through personalized reminders and rewards.
Improve Retention
Create a compelling experience that keeps users coming back daily.
SOLUTION
Turning Habit Formation into a Fun Routine
Building Consistency through Engagement
The app uses Nir Eyal's Hooked model to help users form the habit of logging their dreams consistently.
Creating a Rewarding Routine
With rewards and personalized reminders, the app keeps users motivated to log their dreams every day.
KAMs wasted hours analyzing Excel sheets to identify customers below 80% compliance.
97%
success rate in habit formation, solving the challenge of consistency.
85.5
usability score, addressing user disengagement.
20%
more recommendations, showing improved long-term engagement.
Uncovering Key Challenges
Understanding the User's Struggles
I began with secondary research and found that while users are curious about dream meanings, their biggest hurdle is remembering their dreams clearly.
Many fear disturbing dreams or recurring nightmares, and they long for a way to share and discuss these with loved ones or professionals.
I spend hours cross-checking compliance data between different systems. It’s frustrating and time-consuming.
– Jeff, Key Account Manager
We rely on sales call notes, but they’re either incomplete or do not have a dollar value. It’s hard to get a clear picture.
– Jane, Product Manager
KAMs wasted hours analyzing Excel sheets to identify customers below 80% compliance.
Users want to log their dreams, but recalling them clearly is difficult. This impacts their ability to build a consistent habit. The challenge was to design a system that not only makes logging dreams easy but also keeps them coming back.
Efficiency
Reduce time spent on identifying compliance issues.
Transparency
Ensure KAMs and PMs view the same information.
Actionability
Provide data-driven insights for proactive customer engagement.
Strategizing the Solution
Build a product that engages users and encourages them to log dreams regularly
I used Nir Eyal’s Hooked Model to create a habit-forming experience. The goal is to make dream logging simple and rewarding. I prioritized core features for the MVP, such as dream logging, triggers, rewards, and investment, and I iterated quickly with the Build-Measure-Learn framework.
A comparison of the existing workflow, highlighting inefficiencies, and the proposed workflow, integrating DRL's existing platforms for a seamless experience.
Helping University Students Track and Understand Their Dreams
Health and Wellness - UX Design | User Research
My Role
Product Designer
User Researcher
Project Timeline
8 weeks
Tool
Figma
About the project
The purpose of this project was to swiftly build a minimum viable product (MVP), of a habit-forming mobile application, with a ‘fail early to succeed sooner’ mindset.
What's the problem?
Students want to track and understand their dreams but struggle to recall them, leaving them feeling unsettled and curious about their meanings.
How might we help university students in regularly logging their dreams to provide them with insights into their dreams?
Project Overview
Business Goals
Design a habit-forming product, focusing on core features and MVPs to accelerate development.
Evaluate the product's desirability, feasibility, and viability in cost-effective manner.
Test the usability of the product features and gather user data for informed decision-making.
Impact
Achieved a 97% success rate in helping users to easily meet their goals, significantly enhancing user productivity.
Attained a system usability score of 85.5, reflecting the high usability and user-centered design of the product.
Increased user recommendations by 20%, showcasing the exceptional user experience and driving higher customer loyalty.
PRODUCT FEATURES
Scan & experience the dream logging journey yourself!
Problem Statement
How might we help university students in regularly logging their dreams to provide them with insights into their dreams?
DESIGN PROCESS
Making sure I was whipping up a cupcake, not a whole wedding cake
In order to build a habit froming product, I employed Nir Eyal’s hook model. To understand user’s potential experience, I visualized how the user might use the product’s features at different phases of the hook model.
Using the Kano model, I listed down potential product features. To ensure that I'm building an MVP and prioritizing core features, I performed a MoSCoW analysis.
Once it became clear what features the product would have, I created a user flow aligning with the Hook Model's trigger-action-reward-investment cycle.
DESIGN DECISIONS
Journey from sketches to screens
I developed a functional prototype. Before finalizing the design, I sought feedback from my fellow UX designers. After considering their valuable input, I quickly iterated my design in a week by following Jon Yablonski's Laws of UX and Nielsen Norman Group's Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design before progressing to the next phase.
Insight
Users struggle to recollect dreams daily, leading to irregular logging.
Design Iteration
Made the progress bar simple and aesthetically pleasing.
Added information banners to help users understand how the app’s reward system works.
Got rid of the calendar.
Added clear title to each section.
Insight
Simplify the dream logging process to improve user experience and encourage more frequent usage.
Design Iteration
Reduced the number of steps for logging a dream and provided a progress indicator.
Streamlined the input fields by adding the ‘choose a date’ field to help users log their dreams effectively.
Got rid of main navigation and instead provided clear labels to help users efficiently log dreams.
MARKET Validation
Validating product features
I wanted to validate my idea early in the process to ensure I don’t waste time and resources creating a product that isn’t a good fit. I mapped risky assumptions about the product's desirability, feasibility, and viability onto a 2x2 matrix, measuring my knowledge of these assumptions and their business impact. Using pretotyping tools, I de-risked these assumptions by conducting experiments, transforming them into XYZ statements, and validating them.
My MVP's sweet spot: If all my assumptions are right, I can implement the product idea successfully.
Market Validation Results
DESIRABILITY
15%
students requested for their stats, when the stats were not sent for a week.
FEASIBILITY
50%
students were able to log their dreams regularly for a week and received a dream interpretation. No students could recollect their dreams everyday for 3 weeks.
VIABILITY
20%
landing page visitors showed skin in the game by providing their email address.
USABILITY Validation
I designed the usability test in three phases
EXPOSURE TEST
I asked users to explore the home screen for a minute. They should tell me what tasks they think they can do there.
TASK TESTING
I gave users tasks to test the app's intuitiveness, navigation, and user interaction.
FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW
This helps me understand user opinions on my product. Users can provide feedback or critique.
Usability Test Results
USERS
9
Tasks
115 min
Testing Hours
Task Level Metrics
SUCCESS RATE
CONFIDENCE SCORE
EASE SCORE
Test Level Metrics
NPS
=
% OF
PROMOTERS
–
% OF
DETRACTORS
85.5
SUS
Finding
The information banners were meant to explain the app but caused confusion. Users tapped the banner to access Dream history, Statistics, and Dream Interpretations.
"At anytime I can just open the app and click on this tab to see my emotional health…"
Insight
Communicate the purpose of information banners to users. Ensure they understand their function to reduce confusion.
Finding
Users thought tapping on each section on the statistics screen would show more information.
"…what are the possible ways to better my mood …tell me how I can improve…"
Insight
Allow users to tap on sections of the statistics screen for detailed information, enhancing interactivity.
Finding
Users want to sort dreams by preference.
"…a filter would've been useful …to sort the list in the ascending or descending order of date"
Insight
Users must be able to organize dream history by date using a sorting filter. This makes finding specific dreams easier.
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