North Star
2023
Productivity that doesn't make you feel worse
North Star is a mindful productivity app that helps people stay accountable in becoming the best version of themselves, without the hustle-bro guilt.
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Overview
The challenge: What does it mean to live well?
In collaboration with BrainStation, I designed an end-to-end product experience exploring the intersection of productivity and personal well-being.
Challenge: How can a digital tool help users stay connected to their core values, maintain daily wellness routines, and feel accountable to themselves, without adding more pressure or stress?
Problem
Understanding well-being and productivity.
Research & Insights
Conducted 6+ user interviews and an online survey with over 20 responses.
Created user journey maps, task flows, and scenario explorations to uncover pain points.
Performed competitive analysis of leading wellness and productivity apps (Headspace, Calm, LifeSum, BetterMe, & Hallow).
Key Learnings
Users struggled to maintain personal wellness routines outside work or responsibilities.
Reflective spaces to explore emotions and motivations were critical.
Inspiration from a vision of a better self fueled consistent action.
Social accountability and encouragement helped users stick to routines.
Overall, users were looking to have a "safe space" to log their thoughts, dreams, and healthy habits to feel better, not necessarily to measure them against a goal.
User Research
An all-in one habit tracker, safe space & reflection tool.
“I wish I had a way to manage my well-being. It would be nice to build more self awareness of what is and isn’t working, so that I can make better choices moving forward. Having a vision for the future that inspires me is also important.”
Example: Lianne, a creative professional seeking balance between work and personal life.
Needs: Simple, supportive tools for self-reflection, wellness, and accountability, without overwhelming long-term goal pressure.
Potential solution: North Star offers a daily self-reflection and accountability platform to help users:
Create personalised wellness routines.
Track and reflect on daily activities in a safe space.
Maintain a customisable inspiration board to stay aligned with their core values and visionary, long term goals.
Product Strategy
Research & user testing.
Design Process
Early prototypes focused on personalised routines, reflective note-taking, and vision-boarding.
Conducted user testing with 10+ participants, iterating based on feedback.
Built a design system including logo, typography, and reusable components for scalability.
Developed a marketing website to communicate product value and adoption potential.
Brand & Marketing
Developing a design system and visual language from scratch.
Outcome & Impact
Designed a product that encouraged daily reflection and alignment, reducing overwhelm and improving self-accountability.
Created a framework for holistic well-being, beyond traditional goal-setting.
Established scalable design and UX principles, applicable to future wellness-focused tools.
Created a 0 to 1 brand and user experience for something that does not currently exist in the market
Strategic Takeaways
While North Star is an early-stage concept, the project demonstrates:
End-to-end product design, including research, prototyping, testing, and design system creation.
Translation of complex human behaviour insights into actionable design solutions.
Ability to think beyond interface design to long-term product strategy and user empowerment.
Both brand strategy and marketing design embedded into product features and the overall user experience.
Learnings
Wellbeing is holistic, not one-dimensional.
Learnings
Well-being and productivity are deeply personal; digital tools must support people and feel safe, rather than dictate behaviour.
Mindful daily intentions and activities create sustainable personal growth, not just short-term performance gains.
Effective design balances user needs, motivation, and real-life constraints, creating tools that feel supportive and encouraging.
Needs an incentive system to keep users coming back and increase utilisation rate.
Having safe and inclusive spaces online or offline matter for overall well-being.
I look forwards to exploring this space and how emotional safety can be designed within apps in the future. I'd love to see more companies tackle issues like these in a more relational way (less "productivity bro", and more emotional safety instead).
If more time was allotted, I'd love to design a system to keep users coming back. Perhaps this looks like a streak or points system that gives them gifts for using the app daily.
