Designed in 2021

Flames is a habit tracking app I concepted. I've spent a lot of time learning about how to motivate good habits via gamification, and this was my attempt at implementing those learnings.

The core mechanic in the concept is “streaks”. Back in 2021, Streaks weren't as ubiquitous as they are now, but apps like Duolingo and Snapchat had used them to great effect. I thought it could be impactful to have a dedicated streaks app for any habit you wanted.

To bolster the power of streaks, I added Medals and Sidekicks. Medals are awards you earn by hitting different milestones. Sidekicks are friends that get notified if you haven't hit your goal that day or if you've hit a new milestone. They provide social accountability (which is, in my opinion, the most powerful motivator).

I also tried to make the act of habit tracking as frictionless as possible. The app would use iOS Health data to automatically track steps, workout minutes, and mindfulness minutes recorded in other apps. To make interacting with the app more delightful, I used shiny 3D objects and bright colors (with themes the user could choose between).

Edit in 2026: Looking back at this now, it's interesting to see my early attempts at having the interface "shapeshift" from state to state, which has become a defining feature of my (and many others) designs.

Screens