Year
2024
Client
Assignment
Category
Alarm App
Product Duration
4 days
The Spark
After repeatedly observing friends (and myself) hit “snooze” three or four times before dragging out of bed, I recognized a gap: mornings felt like a chore rather than a habit to build upon. I saw an opportunity to turn that dreaded alarm into a moment of engagement and momentum .
The Problem
Users lacked motivation to leave their beds, defaulting to snooze loops that led to rushed routines.
Existing alarm apps relied on bland motivational messages or complex settings, failing to create a true reward cycle.
There was no simple way to merge cues, routines, and rewards into a seamless morning experience .
Our Users
Rallyrise hinges on the 3Rs of Habit Formation—Cue → Routine → Reward—and the Octalysis Gamification Framework’s eight core drives:
Epic Meaning & Calling (CD1): Users grow a virtual plant tied to their morning streak, giving each day a purposeful start.
Development & Accomplishment (CD2): Points and badges mark progress, celebrating every alarm-challenge completion.
Empowerment of Creativity & Feedback (CD3): Multiple mini-games (math puzzles, pattern matches) let users choose how they wake up.
Ownership & Possession (CD4): The plant’s growth visually embodies users’ daily achievements.
Social Influence & Relatedness (CD5): A friend feed and leaderboards foster friendly competition and accountability.
Scarcity & Impatience (CD6): Time-limited “Sunrise Challenges” encourage prompt participation.
Unpredictability & Curiosity (CD7): Randomized games keep each morning fresh and surprising.
Loss & Avoidance (CD8): Missing a streak causes the plant to wither slightly, motivating continuation
Core Features:
Personalized Daily Goals — Users choose or add their own morning tasks during onboarding.
Interactive Alarm Games — Small, easy puzzles or challenges to dismiss alarms and kick off energy.
Social Sharing & Challenges — Friends’ status and leaderboards foster friendly competition and accountability.
Reward System — Points, badges, and a virtual plant growth mechanic visualize progress and reinforce consistency.
Push Notifications & Tips — Timely nudges for breathing exercises, task reminders, and motivational messages
Key Challenges
Balancing Simplicity vs. Engagement: Too many game options overwhelmed groggy users; we had to ruthlessly curate only the most impactful challenges .
Designing Meaningful Rewards: Crafting a reward loop (points ➔ badges ➔ virtual plant growth) that felt both achievable and significant
What I shipped
End-to-end hi-fi prototypes for the 3-step onboarding flow
Progress Feed and Social Leaderboard screens to foster accountability
Reward system design: points, badges, and a growing plant as a visual metaphor
Next Steps
Expand the library of morning challenges with adaptive difficulty.
Integrate wearable data (sleep tracking) for personalized recommendations.
Launch timed community events (group wake-up challenges).
Develop cross-platform web widget for habitual check-ins.
Balance Over Complexity: While gamification boosts motivation, too many options can overwhelm groggy users. Iterative testing helped streamline features to only the most impactful.
Meaningful Rewards Matter: Users stayed more engaged when rewards felt both attainable and significant, virtual plant care proved more motivating than generic badges.
Social Accountability Drives Habit: Integrating friends’ activity feeds and friendly challenges significantly improved wake-up consistency in early user tests.
Continuous Feedback Loop: Regular push notifications offering tips or mini-exercises kept users on track without feeling nagged, reinforcing the cue-routine-reward cycle.
