Summer 2025Emotion Design, Mobile, AI System Design

Dawdle

An anti-procrastination app that helps people start the tasks they have been avoiding.

Productivity apps organize and track tasks, but procrastination is an emotional regulation problem. In Dawdle, a mascot named Pebbles asks why you feel stuck and coaches you through the feeling that keeps you from starting.

Role: Sole product designer
Team: The founder, a PhD student studying procrastination psychology, and a mobile dev team
Scope: 30+ screens and a design system in one month
Outcome: 200+ users, five star App Store rating, featured on KCBS radio

01 The problem

Procrastination is an emotional issue, not a time management issue

Traditional productivity apps organize and track tasks. They ignore the emotional resistance that causes procrastination in the first place.

Users avoided opening the app because it reminded them of the tasks they were anxious about.
Fear of failure, task aversion and overwhelm each need a different intervention.

02 Mascot

We created Pebbles so opening the app feels safe

Users told us they avoided opening the app because the tasks they were putting off already intimidated them.

I worked with the founder to define Pebbles' personality and role, then built the character into the design system so it appears throughout the app.

Pebbles, a joyful and energetic mascot.

Timer screen before Pebbles — We traded text-heavy screens, which add mental load, for animation and interaction with Pebbles.

Timer screen with Pebbles — We traded text-heavy screens, which add mental load, for animation and interaction with Pebbles.

Onboarding, before

Onboarding, with Pebbles

The new screens read more clearly and feel less intimidating.

03 AI coach

Pebbles finds why you're stuck and coaches you to start

People procrastinate for different reasons, so each reason needs its own strategy.

Pebbles asks why you feel stuck, such as fear of failure or overwhelm. It walks you through a strategy for that reason, helps you calm the feeling, and encourages you over the first barrier: starting.

Pebbles makes the AI feel like a supportive coach that listens and responds to your situation.

I planned the coaching features with the founder and the engineering team, working from beta feedback.

04 Timer flow

A linear timer gets you past the hardest part: starting

How might we design a timer flow that removes mental and emotional friction and keeps momentum?

Suggested shortcuts remove decision fatigue.

Dawdle reward screen — A built-in reward system gives each session a positive emotional association.

Dawdle reward collection — A built-in reward system gives each session a positive emotional association.

Dawdle session completion screen — The completion screen draws on learned industriousness: when people are rewarded for effort, the next round of effort feels easier.

05 Impact

Dawdle launched with 200+ users and a five star rating

Dawdle shipped to the App Store, and KCBS radio featured it.

40+: Components in the Figma design system I built
25%: Reduction in design-to-dev iteration cycles

06 What I learned

Pebbles shaped how Dawdle felt more than the palette did

Designing for emotion goes beyond aesthetics, like a palette that is both soothing and energizing, or flowing shapes and gradients. I studied how Duolingo and Finch use their mascots to encourage people, and saw how much of Dawdle's emotional experience depended on Pebbles.

Designing Pebbles also introduced me to system design. The character started as an AI chatbot, and I soon saw it could also onboard users and cheer them on in the background across many screens.