creating a dashboard.
Transforming a static homepage into an engaging, dynamic daily wellness hub.
Fini is an evolving wellness platform designed to help people build healthy habits through participation in social challenges.
Tasked with increasing engagement, I spearheaded a new dashboard experience that surfaced daily actions and simplified progress tracking, resulting in a 3× lift in repeat weekly engagement.
Skills
Product Design
UX/UI Design
Stakeholder Collaboration
Dev Handoff
Timeline
2 weeks
Tools
The problem
Fini’s homepage consisted of a list of joined challenges, divided into active, upcoming, and completed - but it lacked clear guidance, daily touchpoints, and personalization. The experience didn’t support quick check-ins or progress tracking, making it difficult for users to build consistent habits or find reasons to return.
Unclear Progress
Challenge cards didn’t support quick progress logging or easy tracking.
Uninspired Content
The homepage lacked engaging content and daily reasons to check in.
Fragmented Layout
Seperating “Challenges” and “Events” made the home feel fragmented.
my approach
I prioritized solutions that could be built quickly without heavy backend work, focusing on fixing key pain points to improve engagement. My goals were:
Add lightweight, daily touchpoints to keep the app feeling fresh.
Make It Dynamic
Streamline Interactions
Make it easier to log progress and interact with challenges.
Support Growth
Add simple features that can later evolve into deeper wellness tools.
what i designed
Below is a breakdown of the key changes I made to improve structure, simplify interactions, and add meaningful touchpoints.
✅ New page layout
I restructured the dashboard to prioritize daily actions while leaving room for users to explore at their own pace. This involved splitting daily challenges from weekly and monthly and merging previously separated “Challenges” and “Events” pages into a single, streamlined feed for a cohesive experience.
✅ mood Check-Ins
To add a lightweight but meaningful daily touchpoint, I created a mood check-in: emoji picker + optional reflection text. It’s simple for now, but it sets the stage for future insights, mood trends, and AI coaching.
✅ Fini’s daily challenges
I added Fini’s Daily Challenge: a lightweight goal that gives users something meaningful to do each day. I provided a diverse set of prompts covering multiple wellness areas, aiming to build momentum and keep the app valuable even for those not yet joined to challenges.
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Take a 10-minute walk today. Pay attention to what you see, hear, and feel as you move.
Stretch your body for 5 minutes. Focus on any areas that feel tight or tense.
Do 20 squats today — quick or spaced out, just get them in.
Dance to one song, no matter where you are. Let yourself move freely.
Try holding a balance for 30 seconds on each leg. Notice how your body adjusts.
Take the stairs today instead of the elevator or escalator.
Do 10 pushups today — on the floor, the wall, or however works for you.
Drink a full glass of water first thing when you wake up.
Track your steps today — no pressure, just notice how much you move.
Stretch your arms up overhead and take three deep breaths.
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Write down one thing you’re grateful for today. Let yourself feel it for a moment.
Take three deep, slow breaths right now. Feel your chest rise and fall.
Spend 2 minutes reading something inspiring — a quote, a poem, or a page of a book.
Write down one intention or goal for your day. Keep it simple and doable.
Say no to one thing today that drains your energy.
Take a 1-minute pause today to simply close your eyes and breathe.
Unfollow or mute one account that doesn’t make you feel good.
Write down a compliment you’d give yourself. Try saying it out loud.
Spend 1 minute noticing your surroundings without picking up your phone.
List three small wins or moments you’re proud of from today.”
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Send a quick message to a friend or family member just to say hi.
Compliment someone today, even if it’s a stranger.
Text or call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while. See how they’re doing.
Tell someone thank you today — for anything, big or small.
Smile at a stranger or someone you pass today.
Share a favorite memory or inside joke with a friend.
Send a funny meme or video to someone to make them laugh.
Write a supportive message or comment to someone online.
Make plans with someone, even if it’s just a coffee or call next week.
Ask someone a thoughtful question today and really listen to their answer.
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Eat one fruit or vegetable you haven’t had in a while.
Go to bed 15 minutes earlier tonight. Your future self will thank you.
Declutter one small area today — a drawer, a shelf, or your desktop.
Swap one sugary drink for water today.
Prep tomorrow’s lunch or outfit tonight to make your day easier.
Turn off screens at least 30 minutes before bed tonight.
Write down everything you spent money on today, just to notice patterns.
Look up a healthy recipe you’d like to try soon.
Track how much time you spent on your phone today.
Skip hitting snooze tomorrow — try getting up with your first alarm.
✅ progress focused Cards
The old cards were cluttered with oversized photos, creator names, long date ranges, and too many tags. I cut all of that. The new cards focus on helping users stay on track with clear progress indicators, simple cadence tags, “Day X of Y” labels, and streaks to build momentum.
Before
Too much info, not enough clarity on what actually needs to be done.
After
Simplified view highlighting essential info: progress and next steps.
✅ Health Data widgets
Previously, users could sync health data, but it wasn’t visible on the dashboard. I brought key health metrics (steps, calories, sleep, and water) front and center as another lightweight daily touchpoint to support habit formation. This feature also sets the stage for future health insights and AI integration.
✅ quick-join challenges
I added a carousel of recommended challenges with quick join buttons, giving users an easy way to discover and join new wellness journeys, especially if they haven’t joined any challenges yet.
User Testing Insights
During testing, several issues surfaced that needed quick resolution to improve usability:
Syncing limitations
Sleep and water data doesn’t sync automatically for many users, complicating health data tracking. To quickly address this, we added manual input options.
Mood Log Completion
Before, when users completed mood check-ins, they disappeared. This caused confusion, as users wanted to revisit entries. We added a persistent success card.
Tradeoffs & Constraints
Originally, I explored the idea of adding buttons directly onto each challenge card, so users could log progress without leaving the screen, like a to-do list. I found this to be an industry standard for many habit tracking apps. However, due to backend limitations and tight timelines, we had to scope back this feature for the MVP.
result
3x
Increase in Repeat Weekly Engagement
The new dashboard feature contributed to a 3× lift in repeat weekly engagement, demonstrating its effectiveness in helping users track joined challenges and continue to actively participate in them.
What I Learned
Impact over effort. This project reinforced the value of focusing on high-impact, low-lift improvements. Designing within technical constraints allowed me to make meaningful interface changes without major backend work and excessive time implementing.
Context is everything. Carefully considering the user’s situation on each screen is crucial. By thinking about how users approach the dashboard and challenges, I saw how the way information is displayed can strongly influence engagement.
Consistency isn’t always king. Strict adherence to visual consistency can sometimes hold a product back. Taking a thoughtful visual leap to modernize the dashboard showed me that bold design changes can improve the experience and help the app evolve without sacrificing usability.
future directions
In the future, there are several areas I’d like to explore to make the dashboard even more valuable for users:
Let users view their mood history and trends over time.
Connect health and mood data to the AI assistant for personalized insights.
Allow users to customize widgets for personalized wellness data.
Reintroduce inline challenge logging when development capacity allows.
Add more social features to strengthen community engagement.
Thanks for reading!
