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Helping Users Build Long-Term Habits with a 50% Motivation Lift
Ganance
3 min read
At-A Glance
Alright, so what’s the problem?
Clunky, intrusive wearables fail everyday users
What I did
Led UX research and strategy
Mapped user flows and wireframes
Designed haptic feedback system
Built prototypes and ran user tests
Iterated based on usability insights
Habit Motivation
50%
Boost in user-reported motivation to build daily habits
Task Success
40%
Improvement from streamlined onboarding and layout
User Engagement
25%
Increase after introducing behavior-aligned haptic feedback
*All stats are averages. Data collected through 84 survey responses & 10 interviews, providing insights for improvement.
Challenge
We also saw a major gap in the market:
Users who care about wellness but don’t want to compromise on personal style.
Many find smartwatches bulky, intrusive, or visually unappealing, especially those who prefer analog watches or minimalist accessories.
Jordan
Amira
David
So, how can we design a screenless wearable experience that helps users build lasting habits without disruption?
Solution
With Ganance HEIR, a screenless wearable sensor that attaches discreetly behind any analog watch, we added modern health-tracking without compromising style or simplicity.
Instead of flooding users with data or notifications, HEIR supports long-term habit formation through gentle haptic nudges, adaptive step goals, and a minimalist companion app grounded in Calm Technology and behavioral design models.
Research
We surveyed 84 participants and conducted 10 interviews to understand their behaviors, frustrations, and preferences around wearable devices and habit tracking.
We wanted to:
Understand what users rely on wearables for
Identify reasons for device abandonment
Explore preferences around feedback styles (e.g. haptics vs notifications)
Gauge interest in screenless, minimalist wearables
Inside User Journeys
In-depth user interviews helped us understand how people actually use wearables - and where they fall short.
Top Themes:
Alerts felt like spam
Participants described overused notifications as disruptive, leading to burnout or disengagement.
I need it to blend in
Many emphasized that current devices felt out of place with everyday attire; especially in professional or formal settings.
I’d like guidance, not data dumps
Users expressed interest in short, supportive nudges rather than long dashboards of raw metrics.
Calm, not constant
Participants appreciated subtle haptics, but only a few times per day; more than that felt overwhelming.
Representative Quotes:
“After a week, it felt like spam, so I turned it off.”
— Emma, 29
“I wouldn’t wear an Apple Watch to my job interview - glare too much.”
— Marcus, 35
“I want a little tap to remind me to walk, not a detailed stats screen.”
— Isabel, 32
“3 to 4 nudges a day keep me on track; anything more just annoys me.”
— Leo, 27
Design Backed by Science
To ground our design in evidence, we reviewed key frameworks on habit formation and wearable interaction. What we studied is that :
Calm Technology
Informed our screenless, low-interruption interaction model.
Digital Behavior Change Interventions
We shifted toward personalized, implicit nudges that reduce cognitive load.
Fogg Behavior Model
We prioritized low-effort triggers delivered during high-ability moments.
Tactile Feedback Effectiveness
We designed distinct haptic cues to reinforce healthy routines without screens.
From Insights to Identities
To bridge our research with design, we built a spectrum of personas grounded in real-world behavior, not assumptions.
What We Did
Why It Mattered
Instead of static, generic archetypes, our personas revealed:
Who benefits from haptic nudges vs. visual data
When users are most likely to act on subtle behavior cues
How context, aesthetics, and emotional fatigue affect engagement
These personas informed micro-interactions, gesture design, and timing of feedback, helping ensure our system supported realistic, long-term behavior change - not just ideal scenarios.
Systems Thinking in Action
Prioritized haptic-first feedback over screens or alerts
Limited vibrations to 3–5 per day, not more
Focused on care and style, leading to the screenless sensor
Built a habit-first app over analytics
Design
Designing for Quiet Motivation
Our design goal wasn’t just to track behavior; it was to gently support it without demanding attention. We prioritized subtlety, style, and consistency across both the hardware and app.
Onboarding
Where Habits Meet Momentum
Read me
The concepts and behavioral systems described above are part of our Phase II roadmap, aimed at long-term habit formation and advanced personalization.
The designs showcased below represent the current Phase I implementation, which is being actively developed and will launch in August 2025 alongside Ganance’s first product release.
Home: Your Day, Mapped by Movement
This screen gives users a clear and motivating snapshot of their daily activity, step distribution, and distance; organized by time of day to support rhythmic movement habits.
Step by Step, Across the Day
This time-distributed line graph visualizes how a user’s steps accumulate through morning, afternoon, and evening - highlighting peak activity periods and encouraging rhythm-aware movement habits.
Conclusion
Not Just Worn; Used with Intention
Designing Ganance HEIR challenged me to rethink how wearables can support daily activity without demanding attention. Through user-driven insights, iterative design, and behavior-focused feedback systems, I built a solution that respects users’ time, style, and autonomy. While there's still room to improve flow and clarity, this project solidified my belief that meaningful design is calm, context-aware, and invisible when it needs to be.
Current Challenge
I'm currently tackling how to structure the app’s content in a way that communicates clearly with users. The navigation flow and feature grouping still feel fragmented, and I'm working on refining the hierarchy so users instantly understand where to go and what to do—without cognitive overload.
