Steady
A low pressure habit tracker for busy students and young professionals. Three habits a week, no streaks, no stress.
My Role
UX Research · UI Design · Prototyping · Behavior Design.
Project Status
Solo project.
Project Duration
4 Weeks
Time to Read
5 Minutes
Case Study Video — Coming Soon
A walkthrough of the Steady design process.
Process
Research · Define · Design · Test & Iterate
The Problem
Busy students and young professionals aged 19 to 28 often abandon habit apps due to the anxiety caused by rigid daily streaks and relentless notifications. These demanding routines create unnecessary pressure that disrupts long term commitment. By pivoting to flexible weekly goals and purposeful prompts, Steady enables sustainable consistency without the stress.
Decision Deferral
Too many choices leads to decision deferral and decreased satisfaction.
NIH 2024.
17+ Daily Interruptions
Estimated by users notifications caused measurable strain.
NIH 2023
Competitive Streaks
Demotivate underperforming users, some falsify data to maintain standing.
Society for Consumer Psychology
Notification Frequency
Uninstall rates rose with notification frequency.
Research Gate
Research
With access to limited user interviews I first researched behavioral patterns around habit formation, time management challenges in the 19–28 demographic, and the psychological impact of streak based systems. The findings pointed consistently in one direction, the pressure to perform daily was the primary reason users abandoned habit apps, not a lack of motivation.
User Interview
I interviewed a user that has never used a habit app before. This user told me there expectations on how they want to feel while using a habit app. Interviewing a brand new user helped me get an unbiased look on how i can include users unfamiliar with habit apps while solving the existing pain points wthat experienced habit users are facing.
Surface weekly progress in a way that motivates users to keep going without overwhelming them with statistics.
Make progress feel rewarding
Design a habit tracking experience that encourages consistency without punishing users for missing a day.
Remove the pressure from habit building
Allow users to set goals that work within their actual schedule rather than demanding a fixed daily commitment.
Fit around real life
Objectives & Goals
Missing one day has little impact on long-term success. Weekly counters prove more motivating than daily streaks for busy users.
Weekly Consistency
Limiting users to 3 habits per week removes the overwhelm of choice and keeps focus on what actually matters.
Reduced Decision Pressure
Surface weekly progress in a way that motivates users to keep going without overwhelming them with statistics.
Make progress feel rewarding
Time Management
Breaking habits into smaller weekly tasks reduces cognitive pressure and makes goals feel attainable.
Key Insights
User Persona
Maya Hayes
Maya is a 24 year old microbiologist in New York City who works 40+ hours a week in the lab, leaving little time or energy for herself. Most habit apps set goals that are too big and pressure her with daily streaks and stats. She wants a habit app that fits her busy life and lets her make progress on her own terms.
PAIN POINTS
- Daily streaks create anxiety & pressure
- Rigid habit schedules feel suffocating
- Cluttered dashboards cause friction
- Too many statistical metrics
GOALS
- Flexible habit durations for busy weeks
- Focus on weekly momentum
- Clean, minimal dashboard experience
- Simple visual indicators of progress
Design Solutions
Clean Dashboard
The dashboard focuses on goals at a glance with a prominent weekly counter, fostering clarity over clutter.
Time Budgeting
Empowering users to set a maximum time per goal, encouraging sustainable behavior without the burnout.
Focus Menu
Reducing decision fatigue by allowing users to pick exactly 3 habits per week, prioritizing deep work and quality over quantity.
Progress Stats
Long term weekly and yearly summaries help users build momentum and celebrate consistency without the stress of streaks.
Journey Map
Task Mapping
Early Wireframes
Focus Menu
Habit Builder
Dash Board
Weekly/Yearly Stats
Screens
Onboarding
Habit Builder
Focus Menu
DashBoard
Progress Page
User Profile
Design System
Color Pallete
Background
#FEFAE0
Primary Brown
#92623E
Primary Green
#588157
Ui Components
Habit Card
Nav Bar
Text Input Field
Week/Year States
Typography
PoetsenOne Regular Section Header
PoetsenOne Regular Page Header
Londrina Solid Regular Habit Name
Londrina Solid Black Habit Subtitle
Inter Semi Bold Progress Pill
Key Challenges
Resting Goals
An early feature concept allowed users to pause a habit and return to it later. The intention was to reduce pressure but it created a different problem users could easily forget about a paused habit entirely. The feature was removed to keep users focused on their active habits.
Progress Measurement
The original dashboard used a numeric counter to display goal completion. During user testing the tester noted that seeing a specific number felt like a performance rating. Switching to a percentage made progress feel encouraging rather than evaluative.
Progress Summary Placement
An early version surfaced weekly progress directly on the dashboard, but it made the screen feel cluttered and text heavy. Moving the summary to a dedicated page kept the dashboard focused on the current week's habits, while giving users a clear destination to review their progress over time expanding to create a weekly/year progress page.
Key Takeaways
UX Research
Secondary research paired with a one on one user interview revealed consistent behavioral patterns giving a clear picture of why users quit habit apps before a single screen was designed.
Behavior Design
Replacing daily streaks with weekly progress removed the single biggest source of user anxiety, reframing consistency as a go at your own pace process rather than a requirement.
Iteration/Testing
Testing revealed that small changes made a big difference. Switching from a numeric counter to a percentage, scrapping the dashboard progress summary to a dedicated page, and limiting habits to three per week all came from listening to how users actually felt while conducting user tests and testing on my own.