inSync, a social focus app for students.

Around 30 apps already gamify focus or lock the phone.

The marketHover or focus an appTap an appTimerSessionFloraPomofocusBlockFreedomOne SecOpalSessionTimerA Pomodoro focus timer that blocks distractions and tracks progress.MissesNo friends list or shared sessions; nothing shows who’s studying nearby.FloraTimerGrow a virtual tree while you focus; leaving kills it.MissesFriends focus together in rooms; it doesn’t show who’s studying nearby.PomofocusTimerA customizable Pomodoro timer with tasks and focus reports.MissesShows a global weekly ranking, not which friends are studying nearby.FreedomBlockBlocks distracting apps and sites across all your devices.MissesPlays café and library sounds, but shows no one studying nearby.One SecBlockAdds a deep-breath pause before distracting apps and sites.MissesA private, solo pause; it doesn’t show who’s studying near you.OpalBlockBlocks distracting apps and websites on schedules, timers and limits.MissesDoesn’t show who else is focusing near you, or where.Either way, you focus alone.

• A solo act

  Timer or blocker: either way, you focus alone.

• Place is ignored

  Students pick a place for each kind of work. Most focus apps ignore where you are.

• Scores that grade

  Scores and leaderboards judge the person instead of describing the work.

• 01

  Product direction

  I tested my first concept, dropped its central feature, and reframed the problem around people and places.

• 02

  Research

  Interviews with eight students, two rounds of usability testing, and a review of the focus literature.

• 03

  Design

  Every screen and state in Figma, with the design system under them. The file stayed the source of truth.

• 04

  Build

  I wrote the PRD, directed Claude Code, and debugged the app until it matched the design.

1. 01 · Prototype testingThread turned your day into a Focus Score.

   Three graduate students tried Thread.

   Clear math didn’t stop the score feeling like a grade. “I feel like I’m being graded.” All three Thread testers said some version of it.

2. 02 · Desk researchWhat focus apps do, and what students do instead.

   Thread would have been app 31.

   Around 30 apps already gamify focus or lock the phone. Students play hours of video of strangers studying, just to feel less alone. One had 9.9 million views.

3. 03 · InterviewsEight students, 15 to 20 minutes each.

   Where you study depends on who you want around.

   After the pivot I talked with eight students, four undergraduates and four graduate students, for 15 to 20 minutes each. I asked how they study, and left apps out of it.

   Interview notesinSyncStrict deadline alone, everything else with people.→ Location matters. A lot.Graduate student, CITYou could hang out with them even though they’re doing their own stuff.→ Study patterns are flexible.Third-year student, CGTI wouldn’t go join, but I’d still like to see everyone.→ Presence motivates, if it’s optional.Graduate student, CGT→Affinity map · inSyncInterviews01Location matters. A lot.Strict deadline alone, everything else with people.Graduate student, CIT02Study patterns are flexible.You could hang out with them even though they’re doing their own stuff.Third-year student, CGT03Presence motivates, if it’s optional.I wouldn’t go join, but I’d still like to see everyone.Graduate student, CGT

   • Location matters. A lot.

     Students match places to kinds of work: deadlines alone at home, projects in common spaces, deep work in the library.

   • Study patterns are flexible.

     The same student works alone on Tuesday and next to friends on Wednesday.

   • Presence motivates, if it’s optional.

     Seeing others work pulls people into their own work. Being pushed to join breaks the effect.

4. 04 · Literature reviewThree theories of why company helps.

   Other people change how you focus.

   Social facilitation: the presence of others narrows attention to the task (Zajonc, 1965). Self-determination: lasting motivation needs relatedness, which focus apps forget (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Goal-setting: naming a task and starting a timer is a commitment (Locke & Latham, 2002).

• 01

  Finding the problem took longest

  I could build screens quickly. Finding the right problem took the testing, the pivot and the interviews.

• 02

  Building shows the real constraints

  Building it myself showed how the design behaves as a product, and where the real constraints are.

• 03

  The next test runs for weeks

  Social products don’t show their behavior in a 20‑minute session. The next step is a cohort over several weeks, beyond Purdue.

• 04

  What a launch needs

  Privacy controls first, then presence and push at scale, then one campus at a time.