Habit-breaking App Role: Product Designer Timeline: 2025 (4 weeks) Primary Tools: Figma, Swift

Skip is a quit-vaping app that reframes abstinence as earning rather than sacrifice. Instead of focusing on what users are giving up, Skip calculates real-time money saved with every craving resisted, transforming the process of quitting into a game of accumulating wins. The core interaction is simple when cravings hit, users press a button instead of taking a puff. The app immediately displays money "earned" by skipping, creating instant positive reinforcement. Over time, Skip builds a money-driven narrative around quitting, showing projections, milestones, and tangible savings that make the abstract goal of "being healthier" feel concrete. This project explores how interaction design and immediate feedback can transform difficult behavior change into something that feels rewarding rather than restrictive.

Problem

Most quit-smoking apps focus on what you're losing, whether it’s the buzz or your money. They often track how long you’ve given something up instead of emphasizing what you have gained. This negative framing works against user motivation, especially in moments of real, physical craving when people are at their weakest.

How do we make quitting feel like winning instead of a struggle?

Pain Points

• Quit apps emphasize restriction and loss rather than gains
• Progress (days vape free) feels abstract rather than tangible
• Cravings require immediate intervention, but many apps provide only passive tracking
• Long term goals feel distant compared to cravings when they strike

Research Insight

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"i think part of the problem is that its so easy to take a puff u dont think about health and money until ur looking back"

• Friend trying to quit vaping, 2nd attempt

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People understand the long-term consequences, but it feels too abstract in the decision making moment. We need something that works before and during cravings, not after.

Research & Discovery

User Interviews