Improving critical flows at scale while balancing fun + trust.
New design introduced multiple engagement hooks to support the teen experience and treatment compliance.
Defined the new experience end to end
Created and tested framework for engagement features
Championed project across brand, product management, and engineering teams
Positioned app to improve teen retention + compliance
Drove the project from early problem discovery with teens to design execution, while mentoring an intern to deliver a polished, engaging solution.
A gamified system with:
Daily streaks & gems for consistent app use.
Avatar customization as a fun personalization.
Reward unlocks tied to milestones for motivation.
Motion design to make actions feel dynamic and rewarding.
Original home screen
The new designs needed to fit in to the original home screen. No gamification elements were previously included.
Integrated home screen
Gems, streak, aligner progress, and achievements add visual interest and incentives to use the app.
Achievements
When certain milestones are reached, such as completing tasks for weeks in a row, achievements are unlocked.
Social sharing
Users can share their treatment progress on social media or via direct messages to keep friends and family involved in their care.
Motivational widgets
A custom avatar widget reminds users to complete their required treatment tasks, offering another way for users to enter the app.
Research
Reviewed competitor apps (Duolingo, Nike Run Club, Robinhood) to understand reward loops.
Identified patterns: streaks, customizable avatars, tiered rewards.
Concept development
Sketched XP system logic, streak resets, and avatar evolution.
Defined interaction triggers: completing daily check-ins, uploading progress photos, logging aligner wear time.
Leadership & direction
Delivered conceptual wireframes + prototypes.
Mentored intern on UI flows, polish, micro-interactions, and animations.
Provided critique and ensured designs were mapped to strategic goals (engagement metrics, retention).
Concept testing results
I worked with our intern to set up a concept test to early designs.
Talking with teens was essential for narrowing the scope to what features teens most resonate with.
Pushing through competing business priorities gave me experience reaching a compromise on project scope and combining efforts.
Creating more "fun" designs meant extra discussions with design system teams and advocating for pushing design boundaries for a more exciting consumer experience.