DayU: Productivity App
End-to-End Design
TIMELINE
February 2024 - May 2024
December 2024 - January 2025
RESPONSIBILITIES
Visual Identity Design, UI / UX Design, Creative Direction, Front-End Dev
TEAM
Product Marketing Manager (Sofia Troshina)
Technical Product Manager (Fernanda Sesto)
TOOLS
Adobe Illustrator, Figma, FlutterFlow
Challenge
Create a distinctive brand identity and intuitive user interface for DayU that appeals to Gen-Z and Millennial women based on research with 194 users. The design must balance functionality with a calming, motivational aesthetic, while reflecting inclusivity, trust, and mindfulness.
Goal
Establish DayU as a trusted, visually engaging, and user-centric productivity tool through data-driven creative direction, branding, and user experience design validated through user testing.
Solution
Craft and deliver a cohesive brand strategy that prioritizes the health and wellness needs of Gen Z and Millennial women. Through iterative design and user testing, develop a compelling visual identity that achieved 95% user satisfaction and 4th place finish out of 100 competing teams.
What is DayU?
Here's the deal…
Unlike men, women often face productivity challenges due to their monthly hormonal cycle. Influenced by the menstrual and circadian rhythms, energy patterns become hard to anticipate and plan for, both daily and monthly. Traditional productivity tools ignore these variations, leading to ineffective scheduling, unmet goals, and frustration. Our competitive analysis across 15+ productivity tools confirmed zero cycle-aware solutions exist today.
We surveyed 194 people across two comprehensive studies…
92% confirmed energy changes significantly impact their productivity
59% of menstruating individuals notice energy fluctuations tied to their cycle
90% reported energy changes impact their task management ability
A literature review of 20+ peer-reviewed studies supported menstrual cycle-productivity connection.
How we chose to solve it...
Driven by our mission to help women take control of their productivity, we created a mobile productivity app that aligns tasks with women’s hormonal cycle. By aligning tasks with natural energy levels through an intuitive interface and thoughtful branding, the app empowers women to balance their productivity with self-care and overall well-being.
We confirmed that people DO want this product…
74% expressed high interest in our product (4/5 on a 5 point Likert scale)
4th place out of 100 teams in university startup competition
50+ beta ver. waitlist sign-ups
First-to-market advantage confirmed through competitive analysis
Crafting the Visual Identity
A strong visual identity starts with a strong brand identity...
My teammates and I built DayU for people like us: young women navigating the early stages of their careers. When shaping the brand identity, we focused on values that reflect our experiences, aspirations, and the support we wished we had.
Bringing it to life...
Before defining our visual approach, I conducted extensive research on color psychology and Gen Z design preferences to ensure our aesthetic would resonate with our target demographic.
Key Research Insights:
Gen Z and young Millenials value authenticity and nostalgia - preferring designs that feel genuine over corporate/sterile
Bold, vibrant colors outperform neutral palettes for this demographic
Simple color schemes (max 3 colors) improve user comprehension
Strategic Color Decisions:
Purple: Creative, luxurious feel that appeals to young women
Green: Balances energy with wellness, connects to natural cycles
Blue: Builds trust and reliability for health data
Design Philosophy: "Create something that combines current trends with familiar 90s/2000s nostalgia - giving users a sense of familiarity alongside modern sophistication"
Creating the App Itself
The first step in design is research...
To design DayU, I started by understanding the people it’s meant to serve. Through extensive research including literature reviews and our 194-person survey validation, my team and I created a psychographic profile to capture the values, lifestyles, and pain points of our target audience. This data-driven approach guided all design decisions.
Then came user flows and wireframes...
Nothing gets done in a vacuum, so this part was especially collaborative. My team and I sat in front a whiteboard mapping out a user flow that made sense for both front and back-end development, that I then simplified for front-end purposes. Wireframe sketches were discussed with my PMM and then digitally refined.
Testing and iteration was a circular process…
After creating initial wireframes, I conducted usability testing with 20 participants to validate core user flows and identify pain points.
Initial Testing Results:
Task completion rate: 65% - Users struggled with navigation and information hierarchy
Average task time: 3.2 minutes for basic schedule setup
Key feedback: "Too much information on each screen" and "Hard to find the add task button"
Design Changes Made:
Simplified information architecture - Moved to focused, single-purpose screens
Enhanced visual hierarchy - Clearer button placement and improved typography
Streamlined task creation - Reduced from 4 steps to 2 steps
Post-Iteration Results:
Task completion rate: 95% (+30% improvement)
Average task time: 1.4 minutes (56% faster)
User satisfaction: 4.7/5 (up from 3.2/5)
Zero navigation errors in final testing round
And finally, the cherry on top!
I present to you, the completed DayU! If you’d like to play around with the prototype, contact me using one of the links at the bottom:)
Overall Results
In case you missed it:
Research & Validation Success:
194 people surveyed across comprehensive user research studies
92% confirmed energy changes impact productivity - validating core problem
79% of menstruating individuals notice cycle-related energy fluctuations
Design & User Experience:
95% task completion rate achieved through iterative testing and design
56% reduction in task completion time (3.2 → 1.4 minutes)
4.7/5 user satisfaction with final interface design
Business & Market Results:
4th place out of 100 teams in university startup competition
50+ beta ver. waitlist sign-ups
First-to-market position confirmed in women's productivity space
Strategic Outcomes:
Comprehensive design system with 50+ branded assets
Functional prototype ready for continued development and user testing
Validated business model with clear target market and competitive advantage
