Case study — DailyBean retention redesign
a reason to log today. Mood tracker
DailyBean helps people track their mood and spot patterns, but only if they actually log. We designed streak goals, clover rewards and collectible bean themes to give people a reason to come back every day, then tested every piece with real users.
Play The PrototypeTeam
Mike & Bree
Type
Retention redesign of an existing app
Methods
A/B micro tests, prototype testing, SUS
Deliverables
Hi-fi Figma prototype, test findings
Tools used
What I used, start to finish.
Figma
Screens & clickable prototype
Base44
App prototyping
Gemini
Research & writing support
01 — The problem
no reason to log
Most people don’t log every day. If they aren’t motivated that day, they just skip it.
That matters because daily logging is what builds the habit, and the habit is what lets people see their patterns and do something about them. DailyBean had nothing pulling people back on the days they didn’t feel like it.
Pain point 01
Struggle to log daily
Logging only happens on the days people already feel motivated.
Pain point 02
No reason to log
Nothing in the app rewards consistency or makes skipping a day feel like it costs anything.
02 — Goals & audience
add an outside motivation
Make logging a stickier, more supportive and more rewarding habit, by giving people a reason outside themselves to open the app.
+10%
target increase in day-7 retention
+15%
target increase in 7-day streaks completed per user
3
rounds of small-group usability testing to find what motivates people
Who it’s for
03 — Requirements
what it had to do
Privacy came first: anything social had to be opt-in, and every log stays private unless the user decides otherwise.
- Send a friend request to another user
- Accept or decline friend requests
- View a friends list
- Remove a friend at any time
- A cheer system
- All log data (moods, notes, photos, activities) is 100% private by default
- The app calculates and shows the user’s current streak
04 — Concepts
social or rewards?
We explored two ways to add outside motivation, then interviewed users to see which one pulled harder.
Social & accountability
Add friends, share that you logged, and “poke” friends to remind them. An activity feed shows streaks and achievements: a reminder from a real person beats a system notification.
Fatima said she’d log on if she saw a friend was online. Trianne liked the accountability but warned against “feeling perceived” (the Snapchat effect).
Rewards & customization
Log daily to earn clovers, earning more the longer your streak runs. Set a streak goal for a bonus, and spend clovers on themes, skipping ads, or saving a broken streak. Inspired by Duolingo’s streak and streak save.
Highly motivating for both. Trianne said customization is the only reward she’d care to collect clovers for.
Clear goal
“Keep the streak alive one more day” is concrete and achievable, unlike a vague long-term goal.
Intrinsic reward
The streak number itself shows progress, building a sense of competence.
Extrinsic reward
Clovers add something tangible on top: themes, fewer ads, a saved streak.
05 — Micro testing
small tests, clear answers
Before building the full prototype, we ran quick A/B tests on printed screens and side-by-side comparisons with seven to ten people per test.
Test 01 · Mood log pop-up
7/7
chose the automatic pop-up
Every tester preferred being asked “How was your day?” when the app opens over finding the log button themselves.
Decision
Keep the auto pop-up on launch. It’s the trigger for the daily habit.
Test 02 · Nav bar labels
9/10
chose icons with labels
The preference was so immediate we stopped the test early.
Decision
Label every tab: Calendar, Streaks, Log, Store, Profile.
Test 03 · Icon understanding
7/10
understood the icons without labels
One more “kinda” got it, and two didn’t. Streaks/Metrics was the most confusing icon.
Decision
Another reason for labels, and for redrawing the Streaks icon.
Test 04 · Background behind the pop-up
6/10
chose a soft blur over nothing
Overlays were so disliked we dropped them, and the strong blur was softened. Between soft blur and none, the split wasn’t significant.
Decision
Use a light blur at most, and keep the cute bean art visible.
06 — The design
the rewards loop
The prototype follows a new user through one loop: log, commit to a streak, earn clovers, spend them on something you actually want.
It runs as three flows, Streak, Kitty Bean and Puppy Bean, so testers could try it with different bean themes. New users start with 50 clovers as a welcome reward.
Step 1 · Check in
The question comes to you
- 1
Asked the moment you open the app
“How was your day?” pops up over the calendar, so there’s no button to hunt for. 7 of 7 testers chose this.
- 2
Five beans, one tap
Pick a mood and you’re done, or keep going to add more detail.
- 3
A softer background
The calendar stays visible behind the pop-up, so the cute bean art still shows.
Step 2 · Log the day
Everything about today, on one screen
- 1
Mood and emotions
Pick from 20 emotions, from excited and calm to anxious and stressed.
- 2
Note, photos and sleep
Write a note, add up to 3 photos and record sleep, all optional.
- 3
Done in one place
One “Done” button saves the whole entry.
Step 3 · Set a goal
Commit to a streak goal
- 1
Pick a goal you can reach
7, 14, 30 or 50 days, each with its clover reward shown up front.
- 2
Bigger goal, bigger payoff
Longer streaks earn more clovers, so there’s always a next milestone.
- 3
A commitment, not a setting
“Commit to my goal” turns the streak into a promise to yourself.
Step 4 · Start the streak
A streak has been planted
- 1
Growth, not a counter
The streak is a sprout you help grow by logging every day.
- 2
See the week ahead
Day dots show how far you are into your first week.
- 3
Back to the calendar
Home shows your streak count next to the fire icon.
Step 5 · Spend clovers
Rewards you can see on every log
- 1
Collectible bean themes
Swap the Basic beans for Kitty Bean or Puppy Bean mood icons.
- 2
A store built on clovers
Browse themes and see your clover balance in the corner.
- 3
Confirm before you buy
A purchase sheet shows the price in clovers before anything is spent.
07 — Prototype testing
seven people, in person
We sat with 7 people and had each one work through the prototype on their own while we watched, asked questions and took notes.
Metric
Result
What it means
Task completion
92%
Most people finished the main flow. One tester struggled with the laptop setup and didn’t start a streak; another didn’t realize the emotions were tappable.
Time on task
Low to moderate
Logging felt “pretty simple” and “easy to navigate,” but people slowed down to read emotion labels.
Error rate
15%
Some tapped the fire icon expecting a streak menu, or missed the photo upload section.
Usability (SUS)
78/100
A B+. High overall, with points lost to unclear icons and confusion over where the store and stats live.
Positive“It’s just a nice page, simple… means consistency for him.”
— Naman
Constructive“I wish the emojis didn’t blend in as much. Want colors to change with the emotion.”
— Catherine
Motivational“The streak page motivates her… the price [of themes] would encourage her to actually log in.”
— Karen
08 — Findings & next steps
what testing told us
The streak works: people said it motivated them. The friction is in the details around it.
Icon ambiguity
Beans blend in
Almost every tester relied on the text, not the icons. Grayscale beans made moods hard to tell apart at a glance.
Next step
Give each mood its own color, as Catherine suggested.
Streak anxiety
Reset to zero hurts
Losing a streak left people feeling “disappointed,” “terrible” and “frustrated,” and less motivated.
Next step
Make streak save with clovers a core feature, not an extra.
Discoverability
Progress lives in three places
Testers looked for progress on the fire icon, the nav bar and the calendar.
Next step
Make the fire icon open the streak page, so progress has one home.
Reward gap
260 clovers feels like a grind
Some testers felt themes cost too much, so earning them felt like work instead of a reward.
Next step
Add cheaper starter themes so the first purchase comes sooner.
Bring in Concept A: friends, pokes and an activity feed, with a private mode so nobody feels watched.
Both interviewees expected social features to matter most for long-term retention in this age group.
