Case study 01Mobile app2025
Halcyon
A bedtime ritual that dims the phone, not just the lights.
- Role
- Lead product designer
- Timeline
- 14 weeks
- Team
- 1 PM, 3 engineers, 1 researcher
- Tools
- Figma, ProtoPie, Maze
Halcyon is a wind-down companion for people who reach for their phone at midnight and regret it. I redesigned it so the app grows quieter as the night gets later, until the screen can be turned face down entirely.
01
The challenge
The original app asked for eleven taps before a routine could begin, and it lit up the room while doing it. Our diary study showed people opening it with good intentions and closing it forty minutes later, wide awake, somewhere in their inbox. The product was fighting the very habit it promised to fix.
02
The approach
I mapped the last hour of the day with eighteen participants and designed around three moments: arriving, settling and letting go. Routines now start with a single long press. The interface warms and softens its contrast as bedtime nears, type grows larger and calmer, and a haptic breathing guide means the final step happens with the screen facing the mattress.
03
The outcome
The redesign shipped to every user in spring. Routines begin in one gesture, get finished far more often, and people told us the app finally felt like it was on their side.
3.2x
more routines completed each week
−41%
screen time after 11pm
4.8
average App Store rating
