Sleepy

Sleepy

Designing a mobile app to help manage sleep procrastination

Designing a mobile app to help manage sleep procrastination

Challenge

Young adults often scroll on their phones before bedtime to relax from daily stress, but this can lead to delayed sleep, poor sleep quality, and increase risk of insomnia.

Outcome

We designed a solution that builds healthy bedtime habits, minimises screen time, and creates a more calm transition to bed through a gamified experience.

Role

Product designer

Timeline

Nov '25 - Jan '26

Team

Solo

The problem

Late-night scrolling can be an addictive and disruptive experience for young adults trying to sleep. How can we help them relax and sleep better?

Late-night scrolling can be an addictive and disruptive experience for young adults trying to sleep. How can we help them relax and sleep better?

Process

  1. Analysing the user research

Drawing insights from comment analysis and competitive audits to identify gaps in the market.

  1. Brainstorming possible solutions

Balancing user needs, design trade-offs, and project constraints to develop product requirements.

  1. Brand strategy & direction

Designing a mascot to create a unique brand identity to stand out from competitors in the market.

The solution: a sleep companion app

Our research identified that young adults need help with establishing a bedtime routine to gently guide them to sleep. They also need a better way to relax on their phone without feeling overstimulated, and be able to resist scrolling past their bedtime.

Feature 1: personalised routine

To help users establish a bedtime routine, we introduced a starter plan they can personalise with their own activities. They can also keep track of goals and celebrate their progress to make the routine feel more motivating and manageable over time.

Feature 2: sleep companion

To help users resist scrolling late at night, we designed a companion that can temporarily block distracting apps at bedtime. During bedtime they can only gain access by waking up their companion to encourage them to stay offline and fall asleep.

Feature 3: story feed

To help users relax without feeling too stimulated, we designed a story feed that redirects their habit of scrolling in bed to calm and relaxing bedtime stories. This replaces stimulating content from social media platforms that can typically delay their sleep.

The outcome: clear product vision

To conclude we conducted usability testing with 4 participants who initially found it difficult to understand the product vision. To address this issue we designed an onboarding flow to better communicate the value proposition and complete the user journey.

© 2026 · Jeremy Guillermo