BRICKS: build small, become better.

Overview

Most habit apps bury people in analytics, dashboards and settings, so tracking a habit starts to feel like work. BRICKS keeps the focus on taking action: small daily wins, visual progress and encouraging feedback, in a confident neubrutalist style.

The problem

People need a simple way to build and keep daily habits, existing apps feel overwhelming, so motivation fades.

1. Staying consistent is hard: People start habits but struggle to keep them going.

2. Tracking feels complicated: Too many features create friction for first-timers.

3. Missing a day kills motivation: A broken streak feels like failure.

4. People want to see progress: But complex statistics are hard to read.

Research

Secondary research, a competitor review (Habitica, Productive, Loop) and a user survey all pointed one way: people wanted encouragement more than analytics.

1. Few people track consistently. So: quick daily check-ins on a distraction-free home.

2. Most had never used a habit app. So: minimal onboarding and simple navigation.

3. Visual progress motivates. So: streaks, consistency rings and a monthly calendar.

4. Goals and rewards drive habits. So: badges, streak celebrations and positive feedback.

5. Simplicity drives engagement. So: only the essential features.

Design decisions

Problem 01

Focus on today

The decision: A focused dashboard shows today’s habits with one-tap completion, the current streak and instant feedback.

Why it matters: The goal is to help people act, not manage the app.

Problem 02

Simple habit management

The decision: Simplified onboarding, a short habit-creation flow, a floating Add button and minimal navigation.

Why it matters: Creating a habit shouldn’t feel like a task itself.

Problem 03

Keep building

The decision: Streaks, milestone badges and “+1 day” celebrations reward progress instead of punishing missed days.

Why it matters: Celebrating progress gives people a reason to keep going.

Problem 04

Consistency over perfection

The decision: Weekly completion, a monthly calendar, current and longest streak, and one simple percentage.

Why it matters: It shifts the story from “I missed a day” to “I’m making progress.”

Research finding

Reminders that fit you

The decision: Reminders set around each routine, with motivational messages and a choice of notification tones.

Why it matters: Reminders should support a routine, not interrupt it.

Design system

Lime #D7FF33 and violet #7B61FF on near-white, strong #242424 outlines and Clash Display for confident type. Habit cards, streak chips, inputs, tabs and the “Mark as done today” button are all reusable components.

Impact

• 1 tap: to log a habit

• 4: user challenges solved

• 339: Behance views

• 20: appreciations

Logging a habit is now a one-tap daily check-in, and a missed day leads to an encouraging restart instead of a broken streak. BRICKS became my most-viewed case study on Behance.

What I learned

1. Motivation doesn’t come from more statistics: It comes from reducing friction and removing what isn’t needed.