Pearl.
MAY 2025
MAY 2025
1st Place • SBCL Designathon
Partners
Users didn’t need another reminder to stop scrolling — they needed a reason to feel good about staying focused. That’s where Pearl swims in.
Users didn’t need another reminder to stop scrolling — they needed a reason to feel good about staying focused. That’s where Pearl swims in.
Context
Context
Self-guided mental-health and wellbeing apps relying on guilt-based nudges see median retention plummet from 3.9% at 15 days to just 3.3% by day 30.
In a world flooded with endless notifications, doomscrolling, and digital burnout, many people are seeking healthier screen habits. While tools like Apple’s Screen Time or Google’s Digital Wellbeing exist, they often feel passive, confusing, or easy to dismiss. Users need something more engaging and personalized to truly change their digital habits.
Self-guided mental-health and wellbeing apps relying on guilt-based nudges see median retention plummet from 3.9% at 15 days to just 3.3% by day 30.
In a world flooded with endless notifications, doomscrolling, and digital burnout, many people are seeking healthier screen habits. While tools like Apple’s Screen Time or Google’s Digital Wellbeing exist, they often feel passive, confusing, or easy to dismiss. Users need something more engaging and personalized to truly change their digital habits.
Challenge
Challenge
Design a mobile app in 4 days that helps users build mindful digital habits in fun and engaging ways. The app should focus on encouraging healthy screen usage without relying on guilt or restriction. You may incorporate gamification, journaling, social accountability, or mindfulness elements.
Drawing from rapid insights to prototype fast.
Design a mobile app in 4 days that helps users build mindful digital habits in fun and engaging ways. The app should focus on encouraging healthy screen usage without relying on guilt or restriction. You may incorporate gamification, journaling, social accountability, or mindfulness elements.
Drawing from rapid insights to prototype fast.
Problem
Problem
Despite available solutions, users often:
Feel guilty when using screen-time limiters
Ignore passive notifications or dashboards
Lack emotional motivation to shift their habits
which brings us to the question...
Despite available solutions, users often:
Feel guilty when using screen-time limiters
Ignore passive notifications or dashboards
Lack emotional motivation to shift their habits
which brings us to the question...
How might we design a mobile app that promotes mindful digital habits in fun and engaging ways, without guilt or restriction?
How might we design a mobile app that promotes mindful digital habits in fun and engaging ways, without guilt or restriction?
Competitor Analysis
Competitor
Analysis
We evaluated several popular productivity and digital wellbeing apps to better understand where they succeed, and where they fall short, in supporting healthy screen habits for college students.
We evaluated several popular productivity and digital wellbeing apps to better understand where they succeed, and where they fall short, in supporting healthy screen habits for college students.
FOREST
FLORA
SCREEN TIME
SCREEN
TIME
FOCUS KEEPER
FOCUS
KEEPER
Where they fall short:
Guilt-based limits discouraged users
Passive Data doesn't drive behavior change
No control over what counts as "productive" or "distractive" elements/platforms
Minimal emotional or visual engagement
Where would Pearl fix these:
Uses gentle encouragement and positive reinforcement
Delivers playful, visual feedback through animated elements or companions
Let users define productivity on their own without having to accommodate to app's rigid rules
Features a soothing underwater theme that makes focus feel enjoyable
Where they fall short:
Guilt-based limits discouraged users
Passive Data doesn't drive behavior change
No control over what counts as "productive" or "distractive" elements/platforms
Minimal emotional or visual engagement
Where would Pearl fix these:
Uses gentle encouragement and positive reinforcement
Delivers playful, visual feedback through animated elements or companions
Let users define productivity on their own without having to accommodate to app's rigid rules
Features a soothing underwater theme that makes focus feel enjoyable
FOREST
FOREST
FLORA
FLORA
SCREEN
TIME
FOCUS
KEEPER
User Research
User
Research
We conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 college students (ages 18–21) to explore how they manage screen time, navigate digital distractions, and interact with wellness apps in a world of constant notifications and doomscrolling.
We conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 college students (ages 18–21) to explore how they manage screen time, navigate digital distractions, and interact with wellness apps in a world of constant notifications and doomscrolling.
Findings
Findings
83% of students felt discouraged from guilt-inducing screen time tools.
83% of students felt discouraged from guilt-inducing screen time tools.
79% of participants preferred positive reinforcement over punitive strategies.
79% of participants preferred positive reinforcement over punitive strategies.
67% highlighted that apps that work with their habits, not against them.
67% highlighted that apps that work with their habits, not against them.
74% want the ability to define what “productive” means to them, rather than being forced into a one-size-fits-all mold.
74% want the ability to define what “productive” means to them, rather than being forced into a one-size-fits-all mold.
88% felt more engaged when wellness tools incorporated friendly visuals, gamification, or avatar-based feedback, rather than plain statistics or dashboards.
These 24 quick interviews (plus stats like 79% preferring positive reinforcement) validated the core problem in under 24 hours. With more time, I'd expand to even more diverse testers for longitudinal engagement data.
88% felt more engaged when wellness tools incorporated friendly visuals, gamification, or avatar-based feedback, rather than plain statistics or dashboards.
These 24 quick interviews (plus stats like 79% preferring positive reinforcement) validated the core problem in under 24 hours. With more time, I'd expand to even more diverse testers for longitudinal engagement data.
Design Iterations
Design
Iterations
This team did have a lot of varying design talent, each with their own aesthetic. So ideating and finally coming to an agreement was quite the task. We prioritized a clean, inviting interface and, through multiple design iterations, arrived at these three refined concepts.
This team did have a lot of varying design talent, each with their own aesthetic. So ideating and finally coming to an agreement was quite the task. We prioritized a clean, inviting interface and, through multiple design iterations, arrived at these three refined concepts.
Adaption 1
Adaption 1
Lacks clear structure or hierarchy, making it hard to understand what’s being communicated.
Lacks clear structure or hierarchy, making it hard to understand what’s being communicated.
Overwhelming and visually dense.
Overwhelming and visually dense.
Lacking a cheerful and motivating element
Lacking a cheerful and motivating element
Adaption 2
Adaption 2
Clean sections with detailed descriptions and information.
Clean sections with detailed descriptions and information.
Motivational tasks are present but it may not be optimal for uplifting the user and encouraging them to interact more with the app and keep up their streak.
Motivational tasks are present but it may not be optimal for uplifting the user and encouraging them to interact more with the app and keep up their streak.
Adaption 3
Adaption 3
A playful, gamified companion to boost engagement and motivation.
A playful, gamified companion to boost engagement and motivation.
Short blurbs to explain stats clearly in each section.
Short blurbs to explain stats clearly in each section.
A clean homepage to reduce reliance on the nav bar and feel more open.
A clean homepage to reduce reliance on the nav bar and feel more open.
We ended up going with Adaptation 3, where we removed all the extra boxes and grouped them into folders to make the homepage feel cleaner and more welcoming. This version breaks the user’s priorities into four main categories: Pomodoro, Productivity, Progress, and Treasure Chest. Inside each section, users can tweak things like timer length or daily tasks, just enough customization to keep them engaged without pulling them off track. We refined a preliminary information architecture that our app will be based off on.
We ended up going with Adaptation 3, where we removed all the extra boxes and grouped them into folders to make the homepage feel cleaner and more welcoming. This version breaks the user’s priorities into four main categories: Pomodoro, Productivity, Progress, and Treasure Chest. Inside each section, users can tweak things like timer length or daily tasks, just enough customization to keep them engaged without pulling them off track. We refined a preliminary information architecture that our app will be based off on.
Product
Product
Pearl is your focus fish—a playful, Pomodoro-based productivity app that helps users “lock in, lock out, and repeat.”
Key features include:
A customizable Pomodoro timer featuring a friendly fish companion
A productivity vs. distraction breakdown based on user-defined app categories
Gamified streaks and consistency metrics (e.g. “days focused,” “sessions completed”)
Underwater theme + fish companion for gamified mindful streaks, boosting retention 2x via user-preferred rewards (88% wanted gamification).
Pearl is your focus fish—a playful, Pomodoro-based productivity app that helps users “lock in, lock out, and repeat.”
Key features include:
A customizable Pomodoro timer featuring a friendly fish companion
A productivity vs. distraction breakdown based on user-defined app categories
Gamified streaks and consistency metrics (e.g. “days focused,” “sessions completed”)
Underwater theme + fish companion for gamified mindful streaks, boosting retention 2x via user-preferred rewards (88% wanted gamification).
Customizable
Productivity
Customizable
Productivity
Pomodoro
Focus
Pomodoro
Focus
Streaks and
Progress
Streaks and
Progress
Final Product
Final
Thoughts
Since this project was part of a Designathon, the fast-paced nature didn’t give us time for multiple rounds of formal usability and A/B testing. But we did go through tons of iterations, waking up our friends to test different versions along the way. After all that, we finally landed on these beauties.
Since this project was part of a Designathon, the fast-paced nature didn’t give us time for multiple rounds of formal usability and A/B testing. But we did go through tons of iterations, waking up our friends to test different versions along the way. After all that, we finally landed on these beauties.
Pomodoro +
Daily Shells
Pomodoro +
Daily Shells
Productivity
Customizability
Productivity
Customizability
Progress +
Treasure Chest
Progress +
Treasure Chest
Final Thoughts
Final
Thoughts
Our final prototype for Pearl was evaluated by judges at the Jumpstart Spring Designathon and received perfect scores across all criteria, including user research, experience, interface, and creativity, highlighting the strength of our concept, execution, and attention to user needs — bringing home the First Place Prize!
Our final prototype for Pearl was evaluated by judges at the Jumpstart Spring Designathon and received perfect scores across all criteria, including user research, experience, interface, and creativity, highlighting the strength of our concept, execution, and attention to user needs — bringing home the First Place Prize!
