Side project · Focus App · 2025
An accountability crow for people who get distracted easily.
Role
Product Design, Prototyping
Timeline
2025
Skills
Interaction Design, Behavior Design, Motion, User Testing
The Idea
What if staying focused felt like looking after someone?
Peo comes from Aesop's fable of the thirsty crow, who drops stones into a pitcher until the water rises high enough to drink. In Peo, every focus slot you finish is a stone. Every distraction-free session brings Peo closer to a drink.
The Problem
Focus apps work. People quit them anyway.
Before the crow, I looked into why people drop focus apps even when the apps do their job.
Streaks feel like punishment
Break a streak and it feels like a disaster. People told me they quit the app completely after missing one day.
Numbers don't mean much
A timer tells you how long you focused, and that's it. People stopped caring about the number.
Watching something fill up helps
Water rising feels like you're getting somewhere. And taking a break doesn't undo it.
How It Works
Like a Pomodoro timer, but someone's counting on you.
Three steps, then Peo takes it from there.
1. Tell Peo the one thing you're doing
Be specific. “Set up local environment” works. “Just, like, lock in?” doesn't.
2. Pick only the apps you need
Peo blocks everything else. No, Instagram is not essential for your task.
3. Focus until it's done
Hit start, and everything else stays blocked until time's up.
Core Mechanic
One slot at a time.
Each session is split into equal slots, and each slot is one stone. You never think about the whole hour. You just get through the next slot, then the next one, and the water takes care of the rest.
The Reward
Peo finally drinks.
Finish the whole session without breaking focus and Peo tips the glass and drinks. It's a three-second animation, and testers kept calling it the best moment of their day.
Validation
People didn't want to let Peo down.
When I asked testers why they stuck with it, they talked about the crow, not the features.
I felt guilty leaving.
8 of 10 preferred Peo
over their current focus app. They said it was because of Peo, not the features.
78% of sessions completed
in prototype testing, against a self-reported 45% with Pomodoro timers. Watching the water rise made quitting halfway harder.
Guilt, but the good kind
Not the punishing kind. More like not wanting to let a friend down.