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Designing for Rest

The deep-sleep feature for Oura Ring that turns nightly data into guidance people can act on.

Project type

Product Design, Mobile UX, Health & Wellness

Project role

Product Designer, UX Researcher, UI Designer

Date

2024

01

Overview

Turning a score into a next step.

Turning a score into a next step.

Users check their deep-sleep score every morning and then do nothing with it, the number reads as a verdict rather than a guide. I designed a sleep improvement layer for the existing Oura app: a goal-setting flow and a daily micro-action cadence that give the data somewhere to go. Research, IA, UI and testing, end to end.

Users check their deep-sleep score every morning and then do nothing with it, the number reads as a verdict rather than a guide. I designed a sleep improvement layer for the existing Oura app: a goal-setting flow and a daily micro-action cadence that give the data somewhere to go. Research, IA, UI and testing, end to end.

02

The problem

Rich data, no path forward.

Rich data, no path forward.

Five in-depth interviews with active sleep trackers, a survey of 17 wearable users, and competitive analysis of WHOOP, Fitbit and Apple Watch. Affinity mapping reduced the findings to three barriers that all point the same direction.

Five in-depth interviews with active sleep trackers, a survey of 17 wearable users, and competitive analysis of WHOOP, Fitbit and Apple Watch. Affinity mapping reduced the findings to three barriers that all point the same direction.

BARRIER 01 / DIRECTION

Data without direction

Users saw the score every morning but had no framework for improving it. The number became a verdict, not a guide.

BARRIER 02 / RELEVANCE

Advice that didn’t stick

Generic tips felt disconnected from personal data. Lifestyle tips ranked last in the survey, at 5.9%.

BARRIER 03 / MOMENTUM

No sense of progress

Nothing tracked improvement over time, so users couldn’t tell whether a habit was working before motivation ran out.

03

The solution

A goal to aim at, and one small thing to do tonight.

A goal to aim at, and one small thing to do tonight.

Two connected flows form the feedback loop the research asked for: understand the problem, set a goal, receive daily/weekly guidance, see progress toward it. Not breadth, depth. 47.1% of survey respondents chose personalised recommendations as the thing that would make sleep data actionable, the top answer, and the same figure again when asked what builds trust.

Two connected flows form the feedback loop the research asked for: understand the problem, set a goal, receive daily/weekly guidance, see progress toward it. Not breadth, depth. 47.1% of survey respondents chose personalised recommendations as the thing that would make sleep data actionable, the top answer, and the same figure again when asked what builds trust.

01 / Goal

01 / Goal

A north star, personalised

A north star, personalised

A guided set-up that asks what to improve and how the user actually lives, then produces a target, a plan and a check-in rhythm.

A guided set-up that asks what to improve and how the user actually lives, then produces a target, a plan and a check-in rhythm.

02 / Habits

02 / Habits

Micro-actions, not more charts

Micro-actions, not more charts

Plateau detection surfaces two or three small, snooze-able habits tied to the user’s own data, plain, specific and time-bound.

Plateau detection surfaces two or three small, snooze-able habits tied to the user’s own data, plain, specific and time-bound.

03 / Check-in

03 / Check-in

Progress you can feel

Progress you can feel

A light evening check-in and weekly progress view carry mood reflection and coaching tips, so effort stays visible between scores.

A light evening check-in and weekly progress view carry mood reflection and coaching tips, so effort stays visible between scores.

04

Impact

Testing confirmed the bet.

Testing confirmed the bet.

22 participants across interviews and survey, four priority tiers narrowed to two connected flows, and five usability pain points resolved across the iteration cycle.

22 participants across interviews and survey, four priority tiers narrowed to two connected flows, and five usability pain points resolved across the iteration cycle.

Problem identified

Design decision

Validation

Data without direction

Goal flow with a daily cadence

A personalised sleep plan built from the user’s own data, delivered one habit at a time instead of one more chart.

78%

Of interviewees said they wanted personalised guidance, not just numbers.

Advice that didn’t stick

Micro-action language throughout

Plain, specific, time-bound steps that read like a coach rather than a dashboard reporting at you.

5.9%

Ranked lifestyle tips, the most generic option, as what would make data actionable. Last of four.

No sense of progress

Weekly view and evening check-in

Progress markers and mood reflection surface at the moment of day when reflection is natural, light enough to sustain.

Progress

Over perfection: users accepted lower scores when they felt in control of the change.

Usability friction

Hierarchy, tooltips, progressive disclosure

Testing showed users didn’t know where to go next. Simplified screens, clearer terminology and editable choices closed the gap.

5 / 5

Pain points from the first round resolved in the iteration that followed.

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