One Life
2025
Designing a leaderboard that turns invisible progress into shared accountability
I designed a leaderboard feature for a wellness app to solve a key problem: users were completing challenges but had no way to see their progress or feel accountable to their goals.
Overview
Designing a leaderboard that turns invisible progress into shared accountability
One Life is a wellness and habit-tracking app helping users build long-term growth routines. Our research revealed the real problem: users were completing daily challenges and weekly quests, but had no way to see their progress or feel truly accountable for it. Every effort felt like shouting into the void.
The Impact
I led the research and design of the Momentum Leaderboard, using AI-assisted ideation to explore visualization directions before moving into wireframes and a high-fidelity prototype. Early feedback showed the design was working.
01
Instantly clear scoring
Testers found the 50/25/10 point system easy to scan and understand.
02
Urgency without stress
The weekly countdown timer motivated testers without creating pressure.
03
Real people, not rankings
Detailed profile cards made other users feel worth being inspired by.
04
4 of 5 would use it
Four of five testers said they'd use the feature.
05
Impact over novelty
CEO feedback shifted me from a complex constellation map to a buildable leaderboard.
Problem
Progress felt invisible, so effort felt pointless
Users were consistently completing daily challenges and weekly quests, but the app gave them no way to see their growth over time or share it with anyone else. Existing tracking tools logged activity, but offered no sense that the work mattered or that someone was on the journey with them. Every completed challenge felt like shouting into the void, and users disengaged before their habits had a chance to stick.
Research
Finding the gap competitors left open
To understand why users were dropping off despite consistent activity, I analyzed three habit and self-improvement apps (Happify, GrowthDay, and Quabble), comparing their gamification, social, and personalization features. I paired this with peer interviews to understand how people actually experience tracking their growth.
App | Gamification features | Social features | Personalization |
|---|---|---|---|
Happify |
| Limited sharing via stories | Tracks based on user goals |
GrowthDay |
| Creator-based community | Daily insights & coaching |
Quabble |
| Team-based challenges | Challenge categories |
“Maybe we could add a leaderboard. Or could add a journal feature to reflect on your day or week.”
Interview participant
CEO/founder
What we learned
These apps were strong at behavior-change mechanics like streaks, guided tracks, and achievements, but weaker at what makes changes stick: social proof and playful competition. Users were transforming in isolation, with no stage to show their growth. None of the competitors made momentum visible to a community, and that gap shaped the direction of the Momentum Leaderboard.
Ideation
Exploring how to make momentum visible
Once I understood the problem, I explored different ways to visualize momentum instead of defaulting to a standard leaderboard. I used AI-assisted ideation to explore ways to make momentum visible, from heatmaps to a constellation map that turned a user's streaks into a night sky. The constellation idea got the most excitement from our CEO, who also raised a sharp question: would it add enough value to justify the build time compared to simpler options like badges, levels, and leaderboards? That feedback changed how I evaluated concepts. I started weighing impact against effort, and a leaderboard offered the same social competition and gamification with a much lighter build, so I took it forward.
Early concepts for visualizing momentum: heatmaps, a constellation map, and streak indicators. Weighing creativity against build effort led me to the leaderboard.
Sketching before committing to Figma
Before moving into high-fidelity design, I sketched and wireframed how the momentum tracker would look within users' existing habit flows, working inside the design system One Life's CEO had already established. This kept early exploration fast and low-risk, letting me test different layouts for streaks, rankings, and progress indicators before investing in polished UI. I sketched three versions of the main leaderboard screen, plus the supporting “How Points Work” and profile views, to test layout and hierarchy before moving into Figma.
Three early layout directions for the main leaderboard screen, comparing how rankings, streaks, and progress indicators could be prioritized. Version 3 balanced competition and personal growth best, so I carried it forward.
Early sketches of the supporting screens: how points are earned and what a profile shows about each person.
Designs
Making effort contagious
The final design flips the traditional leaderboard on its head: it doesn't rank who's "best," it surfaces who's showing up, building streaks, and staying consistent. The Momentum Leaderboard combines the validation of social platforms with the depth of self-improvement, adding the missing ingredient: accountability. When a streak is visible to your community, every day becomes a promise kept publicly, turning personal goals into shared commitments.
Real-time momentum indicators, personalized progress visualization, and celebration moments that reinforce consistency within the One Life ecosystem.
Lessons
Designing for the long game, not just the launch
The Momentum Leaderboard validated our core hypothesis: users crave visible progress and shared accountability. Testers praised the clarity of the point system, the weekly countdown timer struck the right balance between urgency and stress, and detailed profile cards made competitors feel like real people worth being inspired by. Most telling, 4 of 5 testers said they'd actually use the feature.
We also uncovered real blind spots. New users felt discouraged seeing veteran streaks stretching into the hundreds; we'd designed for motivation and accidentally created intimidation. Rankings lacked context, so a position like "12th" meant nothing without knowing the total pool size. And while the system recognized effort, it didn't reward it tangibly.
What I'd do differently
I'd introduce tiered leaderboards so newcomers compete with newcomers, add contextual ranking (like "8th of 247") to make positions meaningful, and build a rewards marketplace so points unlock something tangible. I'd also explore small live-feeling details, like activity indicators and trend arrows, to make the leaderboard feel dynamic rather than static.
What the process taught me
Our founder's feedback on my constellation map concept changed how I evaluate ideas. A creative concept still has to earn its build cost, so I now weigh impact against effort before committing to a direction. Designing for motivation also means designing for the long game. It's not enough to validate what works. The next step is understanding why it works, and for whom, through longitudinal research that tracks behavior over months, not just first impressions.
