Weight Tracker

Flow Optimization App Creation

Left: App functionality in the notification; Right: Graph view in the app

After my final thesis I reached a point where I wanted to lose weight and noticed it was easier for me if I remembered the weight from the day before.

Challenge

After a few days I noticed I didn't keep tracking my weight as opening the spreadsheet every morning was annoying. I needed to find a better more comfortable solution to track my weight.

Process

I tried several apps but none of them kept me active in tracking my weight. Another easier solution was needed. Android updated the notification bar around the 4.0 update to include immediate interaction options.

Observing several apps I noticed apart from music players there were only few apps making use of the new feature.

Design of the latest running version (2021)

Most apps that used the feature had something along the line of two buttons like "dismiss" or "show later". Very few apps had real user interaction in the notification bar - for an obvious reason though: the app would rarely need to be opened and also no ads can be displayed in the notification bar. So there is no real incentive to make use of that feature as it won't lure the user into opening the app.

Solution

I made an app with Tasker that - for me - is a good proof of concept. The user gets every day a silent notification before he wakes up so once he is up and looks at his phone he sees the notification. The notification allows changing the weight right in the notification bar. That way the user is not forced to open the app.

As the weight usually does not in- or decrease by more than a few hundred grams a day simple buttons adding or subtracting the weight by 100 grams are enough. Starting from the weight the day before the task is simple and fast. If the user wants more information about his progress he can open the app and see additional information like graphs.

Left: History Tab; Middle: Stats overview; Right: Graph view

Result

Since I have the app I constantly save my daily weight. So far covering already over 400 days and I successfully managed to lose some weight. I rarely open the app and usually am done within a few seconds as I only need the notification.

As I am very happy with how the app turned out I made another app incorporating the same method but this time for learning new words.

Old screenshot of the flashcard notification