CASE STUDY
Daily Habits to Pathways
Transforming habit tracking into a guided, gamified learning experience
We reimagined Daily Habits into a new framework called Pathways — designed to reduce overwhelm, improve completion, and make health behavior change feel more personal and rewarding.
Top Problems:
Through usability testing, user interviews, and analytics, we discovered several barriers that prevented users from engaging meaningfully with Daily Habits:
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Overwhelming experience: Too many links and activities created confusion and fatigue.
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Tedious tracking: Manual daily check-ins were easy to forget and felt like chores.
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Low follow-through: Only 43% of plans started were completed through all weeks.
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Superficial engagement: Users often checked boxes without reading the content.
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Confusing success logic: Plan “failure” seemed arbitrary to users.
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Extrinsic motivation: Many participated only to earn monetary rewards.
The Approach:
Our goal: make healthy behavior change simpler, more personal, and more fun — while preserving the scientific structure that drives real results.
1 - Research
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Conducted usability testing, user interviews, and analytics review
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Identified confusion around tracking, motivation, and success indicators
2 - Define
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Simplified plan structure
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Introduced personalization and pacing flexibility
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Shifted focus from completion to understanding
3 - Prototype & Validate
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Designed and tested “Pathways” — a modular, visual journey with built-in motivation loops
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Developed clinically valid step-by-step lesson plan with a trained nutritionist
The Solution:
Pathways transforms static daily tracking into a guided, gamified progression of lessons, reflections, and milestones.
Personalized subtopics
Users choose Nutrition for Athletes vs Nutrition for Weight Loss
Self-paced learning
Progress at your own speed; no more rigid daily check-ins
Simplified layout
Clear sequential steps replace scattered links​
Reflective learning
Each lesson ends with a short, personal activity
Gamified visuals
Colorful path visual, trophies, and leaderboards celebrate progress
The Outcome:
The new Pathways model turns routine health tasks into an approachable, personalized experience.
EXPECTED IMPACT
Higher plan completion and return rates
More meaningful engagement with educational content​
Greater intrinsic motivation through visible progress
Improved user satisfaction, especially on mobile
Key Takeaways
Simplify to amplify
Less clutter = higher engagement​
Progress over perfection
Flexible pacing sustains motivation
Make learning rewarding:
Visual wins and personal reflection foster lasting​ change
Role & Contributions
My Role
UX LEAD
Research
Synthesis
Concept design
Gamification strategy
Prototyping
Partners
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Product Management
Health Coaching
Engineering
Analytics