Quit IT
Your smoking cessation companion
Project Overview
Quit It is an accessible smoking cessation tool that can be accessed without a scheduled appointment with a doctor. This project was inspired by my previous industry work in Pulmonary Medicine as a Medical Assistant. In this patient-facing role, we coached current cigarette smokers in obtaining a non-smoking status. We frequently would call patients checking in on their quit journey, coaching them through cravings.
The Problem Statement
Current smokers actively trying to quit smoking need support when quitting. Quit IT disrupts usual smoking routines, tracks environmental patterns and behaviors, and provides access to professional support. Using Quit IT current smokers stay engaged, confident, and successful in obtaining a non-smoker status.
Role
End-to-end design process
• Personal Project
Tools
Adobe XD
Google Forms
Pencil & paper
Overflow
Miro
Figma
Research
Target Audience
Current cigarette smokers seeking support when quitting smoking
Design Objectives
1. Disrupt current smoking routines
2. Support current smokers
3. Redirect to keep quit goals on track
Who else is solving this problem?
Audience research insights share distinct behaviors, attitudes, and goals of current cigarette smokers. These insights validated valuable experiences in their quit journey.
Making the data human
70% of ex-smokers have made one or two attempts to quit
Socioeconomic factors, linking individuals with lower income and education tend to smoke the most.
Similarities the most vulnerable smoking population, routine and manual workers suggest they are less aware of the smoking risks, and are less likely to make a serious effort to quit.
Requirements & barriers
Quit It provides a basic starting point and plan when you don't know where to start
Persona modeling highlighted new opportunities to add Quit It, users, like building out 1:1 telemedicine support help and medication consultations.
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Physician support
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Community support of others trying to quit
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Motivational
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Goal setting
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Habit tracking documentation
The tools and structure of Quit It combats multiple failed attempts, lack of motivation, and the routine of smoking. Championing the user during their journey of quitting. Working off this user clock modal and design thinking canvas kept ideal goals of Edgar and other app users at the top of mind while aligning functionality, environmental usage, technical constraints, and design direction.
A modal to map out stress and potential triggers to smoke
Framework to better identify, understand, and address problems
A modal to map out stress and potential triggers to smoke
How might we?
How might we support current smokers to quit?
How might we motivate smokers to become non-smokers?
The solutions
Cigarette smoking was identified through research and validated through survey results of current and former smokers to have a habitual nature.
Inspired by Atomic habits I mirrored The Four Laws of Behavior Change, which are a simple set of rules we can use to build better habits. They are:
1) Make it obvious
2) Make it attractive
3) Make it easy
4) Make it satisfying
The Process
Quit It supports the smoker's cued response to the craving, by offering alternative ways which defer the act of smoking, identifying environmental, and emotional behaviors
Insights gained from the book Atomic Habits, by James Clear suggest
3 levels of change
• outcomes
• process
• Identity
The Outcome
Your quit plan serves as the roadmap during your process of change in your smoking status.
James Clear identifies the habit loop which consists of cue, craving, response, and reward.
By the disruption, identification, and redirection of smoking cigarette smokers are engaged, aware, and motivated to redirect usual smoking habits.
Through continued redirection, health statistics and physical health improvements will continue to motivate and incentivize a non-smoking lifestyle. These insights were validated by current smokers as an important motivating factor for quitting.
Framework
This organizational structure sped up the design process, by breaking down and conceptualizing what screens and flows needed to be teased out based on users' goals and how they would achieve them.
User flows
Each user task for usability testing is broken down into steps via user flow documentation
Constructing user flows of tasks that Quit It users would perform while using the app allowed me to focus on what screens were needed to produce a usable product. Below is V1 of Quit It taskflow.
creating a quit plan flowchart
locating contact information flowchart
Create routine timer flowchart
creating a quit plan flowchart
Component library
Start with a plan
Support
• access to medical professionals
• community
• motivational
Features
• quit plan
• goal setting
• habit identification
• habit tracking
Disrupt & redirect
Track & identify
support
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track daily smoking cessation progress
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track smoking behaviors, and environments
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identify cravings
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identify smoking triggers
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receive alternative smoking support while actively craving
features
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smoking routine habit disruption
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encouragement of healthy stress-relieving alternatives
Stay motivated
Quit IT supports smokers through visible health statistic cues, which make quitting attractive.
Quitting becomes obvious through improved health,
the longer smokers abstain from smoking.
The timeline is strategically placed on the home dashboard of the app, as aspirational goals, motivation, and is easily accessible
Quit It Health Statistics Timeline, stats active
The Reward
The Quit It dashboard visibly shows money saved, smoke-free days, and health statistics. An even bigger incentive to continue a smoke-free behavior are the physical, and personal health improvement results from not smoking.
Outcome metrics
Created to save lives
For this app to be successful it's to save lives, a KPI is adoption of the app.
Engagement analytics - how often timer and craving features are interacted with.
Retention - how often triggers were recorded, monitoring consecutive days used.
Future user acquisition - scheduling a physician consultation
Customer satisfaction measured by product recommendations and NPS scores.
Next Steps
The next step includes user validation in the form of usability testing. Learning from how people use the app, then iterating on learnings and leveraging that knowledge for requirements in developing a better version.
Depending on what users found useful next steps could include building out tracking cravings and triggers to help users understand their cravings and environments. Implementing a diary or mood tracker, building out community support, or creating a clear pathway people could get needed support from healthcare professionals and treatment options.
I would also be interested in the gamification of this app to counterbalance engagement discrepancies, and lack of motivation, creating a long-standing routine using Quit IT. I would look at Duolingo for inspiration, I think they do a great job of keeping users engaged.
Project Learnings
Designing for Android is a challenge for me since I am an iOS user, it's a great reminder that I am not the user. During the design of the FAB button specifically, there was a little confusion when creating states of the button that was presented on Material Design had no change in color, which questioned the basic functionality of mobile and desktop behaviors.
I appreciate projects like this where I get to expand my design expertise and stay on the beat of who the app user is. This app is specifically designed for the Android platform, aligning with research data that people who smoke are more likely to be of lower socioeconomic status.
My main priority is to keep this app accessible.