Pendulum
A gamified kindness platform sustaining the Olympic spirit of global unity year-round.
👤 User Researcher, UI Designer
🕒 July - November 2024 (16 Weeks)
⭐ Top-ranking Portfolios in the Cohort
Project Overview 📘
Timeline ⏳
Over 16 weeks, we conducted research, conceptualized features, and iteratively designed prototypes to ensure the platform captured the essence of global unity while being practical and engaging for users.
Background 🌍
Working in a team of two, I took a user-focused approach to design, integrating insights from user research into every step of the process. From ideation to prototyping, I worked to create a seamless and engaging experience.
I collaborated closely with mentors and stakeholders, refined features based on iterative feedback, and designed a solution that combined gamification with meaningful community-driven action. This project challenged me to think critically about how digital platforms can sustain global connection and sparked my passion for designing for social impact.
Achievements 🏅
The result? A 92.75% grade—one of the highest marks in my cohort.
⭐ Click to View Accolade
The Problem 📌
The Olympics inspire a powerful sense of global unity and connection, but this spirit fades quickly once the Games conclude. Why is this the case?
81%
of respondents believe the Olympics are more than just sporting events
88%
of respondents strongly believe the positive impacts of the Olympics are not long lasting
🌍 Fleeting Inspiration: The Olympic Games create a momentary sense of unity, but their impact is often temporary and symbolic.
📱 Limited Platforms: Social media campaigns spark initial interest but fail to create lasting engagement or tangible results.
🛑 Lack of Tangible Impact: Acts of kindness, though well-intentioned, often lack tangible results, leaving them feeling symbolic rather than impactful.
"Without a sustainable model for action, the Olympic message of kindness risks being just that—a message, rather than a movement for change."
r/Olympics
So, it doesn’t pay to be kind—or does it? 💡
What if we could take the energy and unity of the Olympics and turn it into real-world acts of kindness?
What if every small gesture could ripple into measurable change, supported by Olympic partners, to create a lasting global impact that endures until the next Games?
The Solution ⭐
Kindness That Pays Forward 💰
Pendulum transforms acts of kindness into tangible change by partnering with Olympic sponsors and charities.
Here’s how it works:
1️⃣ Kindness in Action: Users complete acts of kindness through real-world challenges, like "Run for Change" or local clean-up drives.
2️⃣ Corporate Partnerships: Olympic partner programs match user participation by donating real money to the charity running the campaign.
3️⃣ Tangible Impact: These donations go toward measurable outcomes, like funding education programs, planting trees, or supporting underserved communities.
Connect
Act
Share
Sustain
Why It Works 🏅
🌟 Empowered Users: By connecting personal acts of kindness to visible outcomes, users feel their contributions matter on a global scale.
🤝 Collaborative Change: Olympic sponsors and charitable organizations work together to turn individual actions into collective achievements.
🌍 Sustainable Momentum: Kindness loops and community challenges ensure that the Olympic spirit doesn’t just fade but fuels lasting, measurable change.
With Pendulum, kindness isn’t just a fleeting moment—it’s the foundation for a movement that bridges digital action with real-world results.
Key Features 📱
Onboarding
A Journey of Kindness
Step into Pendulum and discover a world where your actions make a difference. Every act of kindness earns you Global Points (GP) and shifts the Global Balance, reflecting our collective progress as a community.
Apple Watch Integration
Sync your Apple Watch to track your contributions seamlessly. Whether it’s completing challenges or participating in sponsored events, your efforts translate into real-world donations from Olympic partners, holding them accountable to match your contributions.
Home Screen
Your Kindness Dashboard
The home screen is your hub for tracking progress. The Global Balance shows how the world is contributing together, helping you stay motivated and inspired. Your active tasks are displayed prominently, so you can stay on top of your goals.
Explore the World
Dive into what’s trending globally with the interactive globe, where you can explore kindness initiatives happening around the world. From uplifting stories to new opportunities for action, the home screen keeps you connected to the bigger picture.
Individual Tasks
Keep the Kindness Chain Alive
Take on acts of kindness forwarded by other users to keep the kindness chain growing.
These tasks are designed to inspire personal and collective action, fostering a sense of shared purpose. Once you’ve completed a task, you can upload a photo as proof and extend the chain for others to continue.
The user chain loop motivates everyone to stay engaged and earn GP, strengthening the global community through consistent action.
Sponsored Tasks
Kindness Backed by Big Names
Pendulum collaborates with Olympic partners and global brands to amplify impact. Sponsored challenges, let you track your steps or other activities using your Apple Watch.
The GP you earn during these challenges is converted into real monetary donations, ensuring your efforts directly contribute to global causes.
These tasks not only encourage personal contribution but also hold sponsors accountable, making every act of kindness truly impactful.
Community
Share Acts of Kindness
Connect with changemakers worldwide by exploring uplifting stories and shared moments of kindness in the community section. This space allows users to upload and celebrate their completed tasks, showcasing the collective power of kindness.
Celebrate Milestones Together
Celebrate the achievements of the global community by viewing shared milestones and progress. Participate in community polls to voice your opinion on what causes or challenges the app should support next.
Profile
Your Legacy of Kindness
Your profile showcases the journey of your contributions. From completed tasks to milestones achieved, it’s a reflection of the impact you’ve made and a reminder of how far we’ve come together.
Your Impact History
Take a stroll down memory lane with your Impact History, where you can reflect on all your accomplishments and contributions. Whether it’s an individual task you completed, or a milestone reached with the community, this section celebrates your efforts and inspires you to keep going.
The Design Process ⏳
I used the Double Diamond approach to design thinking, guiding the project from discovery and research through to ideation, refinement, and the final high-fidelity prototype.
Discover 💭
How are the Olympic Games perceived beyond their role as sporting events?
What factors contribute to authentic and genuine enjoyment for spectators?
How do personal, national, and international narratives influence spectators' emotional responses?
How do different modalities of engagement foster or hinder that sense of shared humanity? (e.g., Watching on TV, in person, etc.)
To explore these objectives, we began by diving into their experiences, attitudes, and behaviours through a triangulated primary research approach, which included:
In total we conducted:
What were our findings? 💡
Affinity Mapping
Leveraging the data collected from our survey findings and co-design workshop, we conducted a thematic analysis and built an affinity diagram. This process allowed us to synthesize our research and uncover four key insights, drawn from five overarching themes.
Insight 1
Spectators perceive large platforms as an opportunity to hold others accountable, and to build positive change.
Insight 2
Spectators (who) want to vicariously live through experiences that are novel, that take them out of their current state of reality.
Insight 3
Spectators seek profound and lasting experiences that connect them to a greater purpose.
Insight 4
Spectators find fulfilment in the freedom to live life on their own terms - to shape their own narratives, uninfluenced by external pressures.
Define 📝
Problem Statement 🚨
How can the shared spirit of humanity, experienced during the Olympics, be sustained long after the Games are over, fostering a continuous sense of global connection and cooperation for spectators?
Competitor Analysis
We evaluated existing solutions on the market, which helped us uncover opportunities and gaps for innovation.
Data Synthesis 🖼️
Personas and Storyboards
We finally mapped our user's behaviours, challenges, and pain points to design a more impactful and user-centred experience.
User Journey Map
Develop 🛠️
Concept Development
Research revealed that “true cooperation transpires when people work towards common goals” (Johnson & Johnson, 2005) and that a “generalised shared reality with others plays an important role in achieving social connection” (Baek & Parkinson, 2022). Using these insights, we brainstormed features to simulate shared goals and a collective purpose, fostering an interactive platform where spectators contribute to global cooperation and lasting unity.
Next, we engaged in Brainstorming and Reverse Thinking sessions. Brainstorming helped us generate a broad range of ideas, while reverse thinking challenged common assumptions to inspire fresh perspectives. These insights were then translated into initial sketches, laying the foundation for our app’s concept.
Initial Brainstorming Sketches
How Did We Decide the Best Idea?
To decide on the final concept, we used a Decision Matrix, which helped us prioritise potential features.
While "Impossible Goal" scored higher in some categories, "Pay it Forward" had a more balanced score across all factors, particularly in the areas of Accountability and Community Benefit.
Decision Matrix
“Impossible Goal” scored higher in Collaboration and it being Playful & Inviting - hence, we integrated its gamification and group-building elements into 'Pay it Forward' to enhance the user experience.
Prototyping
Our team conducted four rounds of testing, progressing from low-fidelity to mid-fidelity and finally to high-fidelity prototypes.
Low Fidelity Wireframe
Building on the initial insights from user feedback on the sketches, the next phase focused on designing wireframes to test and validate the core philosophy of our app.
Think-Aloud Interviews
Pre-Test Questionnaire ✅
We began with a pre-test questionnaire to gauge participants’ familiarity with apps that track goals, promote kindness, or encourage growth. This helped ensure we selected relevant users who could provide meaningful feedback.
Tasks 📋
Participants were guided through realistic tasks inspired by Fiona’s persona and storyboards to simulate typical user interactions. Using the think-aloud method, we gathered insights into their thought processes, identifying areas of confusion or friction. Tasks focused on key functionalities, such as completing acts of kindness and navigating the app, to test usability and emotional engagement.
Unstructured Interviews 🗣️
Afterward, an unstructured interviews and post-test questionnaire provided deeper insights into user motivations and perceptions. Feedback on features like “starting with debt” or “paying off communal responsibility” helped refine design elements, combining quantitative and qualitative data to improve clarity and usability.
First Key Iteration
Firstly, we addressed the issue of ‘Starting with Social Debt’ by replacing it with ‘Global Points.’ Instead of beginning with a negative balance and working toward neutrality, we reframed the currency system to allow users to contribute to a global pool, making their interactions feel more positive and meaningful.
Retrospective 💡: This time, we skipped using Auto Layout, shapes, and frames in the initial stages, opting instead to create numerous shapes and vector art manually. This decision resulted in inefficiencies and significantly increased our workload later on. In hindsight, leveraging Auto Layout and proper frame organization from the start would have streamlined the process, making the design more structured, scalable, and easier to iterate on.
Wireframe - Low-Fidelity Prototypes
In this stage, we refined Pendulum's visual hierarchy and introduced key features to enhance engagement. Sponsored Global Tasks encourage users to collaborate, earning Global Points that convert into real monetary donations. The Apple Watch integration tracks steps and activities, providing verified data to ensure sponsor contributions drive meaningful change.
We also iterated on Individual Tasks, which initially focused on personal acts of kindness like picking up litter but later evolved for broader impact. To foster community, we added a Community tab, showcasing global highlights, user milestones, and collective voting for future tasks, promoting a stronger sense of collaboration and connection.
System Usability Scale Score
Our average System Usability Scale score was 83.75 which indicated that we are moving in the right direction, but there still needed to be more work done as shown in our cognitive walkthroughs
Second Key Iteration
While SUS surveys offer a broad measure of usability, they don’t reveal specific pain points. To gain deeper insights into user experiences and identify precise areas for improvement, we conducted cognitive walkthroughs.
Retrospective 💡: Overall, while the community tab and the idea of earning global points were positive, the interactive globe presented usability issues. Its lack of clarity and context hindered user understanding and interaction. In the next iteration, we seek to address these issues, such as improving the globe's title and context, and potentially adding visual cues, to enhance the overall user experience.
Mid Fidelity Prototype
In this iteration, we focused on building the visual identity of Pendulum by applying auto layout, incorporating colour schemes, and converting screens into high-fidelity designs without adding prototyping or flows. This streamlined approach allowed us to concentrate on perfecting the app's aesthetics, laying the groundwork for a polished and engaging final product.
What did our experts and participants think?
After finalizing the screens, we moved into an extensive user testing sprint, where we sought valuable insights from both participants and experts to assess the usability and effectiveness of the design.
Third Key Iteration
In this iteration, we addressed key challenges with the Individual Tasks by rethinking their implementation to foster collaboration, as the isolated nature and impractical validation methods, such as requiring photos, posed issues.
On the home screen, we introduced an interactive globe and refined navigation with a more prominent “Start” button and interactive elements like arrows and rounded buttons, making the interface more intuitive. A visible notch was added to improve interactivity and guide users seamlessly through the app.
Retrospective 💡: During the transition from mid-fidelity to high-fidelity prototypes, we faced limitations due to being unaware that Figma offers students free access to its full version. This oversight meant we had to compromise on several features and were unable to fully leverage Figma's advanced capabilities. For example, we couldn’t implement variable conditions or Boolean properties, which would have significantly enhanced our prototype’s functionality. These tools could have allowed us to create a more realistic flow, such as activating tasks and reflecting them dynamically on the home page. This experience highlighted the importance of fully exploring the tools at our disposal early in the design process.
Deliver 📦
High-Fidelity Prototyping
Building on earlier iterations, we focused on creating a unified and scalable experience by developing a comprehensive design system. This system outlined clear guidelines for typography, colour schemes, spacing, and component usage, ensuring visual consistency and a seamless user experience across all screens. Redundant screens were removed following pilot tests, simplifying the app's navigation, and enhancing clarity. The result was a polished prototype that showcased both the app's thoughtful design and its potential for real-world impact.
Expert feedback and relevant participants were involved at every step of the design process, resulting in a high-fidelity, interactive prototype of Resolve.
Figma Prototype Link
Explore the interactive prototype to see how Resolve comes to life. The prototype demonstrates the app's user flows, visual identity, and core features. Navigate by clicking through the screens and experiencing the journey as a user would.
Retrospective 💡: While the final design system proved invaluable for maintaining consistency and scalability, implementing it earlier in the process would have significantly streamlined our workflow. Initially, we worked with a basic system that lacked the depth and structure needed for efficient iteration. By delaying a fully fleshed-out system until the later stages, we inadvertently created extra work. However, the extensive design system we developed by the end laid a strong foundation for future iterations, providing clarity and reducing potential design redundancies.
The Final Product ⭐
Brand and Visual Identity 🖼️
Visual Approach
Blending playful gamification with bold, approachable design, Pendulum’s visual identity transforms acts of kindness into an engaging and empowering journey, inviting users to connect and make a difference worldwide.
Playful Gamification
Pendulum transforms kindness into an exciting, gamified experience. Complete real-world tasks to make real, tangible change. Pendulum tracks your contributions and partners with Olympic sponsors, to donate the equivalent value to global causes. Bold interactive features, like the progress pendulum, make every act of kindness fun and action driven.
Motivating Mascots
Pendulum’s charming 2D characters bring kindness and connection to life. Designed to feel relatable and inviting, they represent global challenges in a cute and personal way. The mascot adds a friendly, motivating presence, there to fostering unity and encouraging users to stay engaged in the movement.
Style Guide
Building Connection and Kindness Through Pendulum’s Visual Identity
Pendulum’s vibrant style guide balances playfulness and clarity, fostering a welcoming and uplifting experience. Featuring a bright, friendly colour palette and rounded typography, the design evokes warmth, positivity, and approachability. Key elements like high-contrast visuals, dynamic motion graphics, and intuitive navigation create a sense of salience and energy, ensuring tasks feel exciting yet simple.
Personal Reflection ✨
Working on Pendulum was both challenging and rewarding. Balancing a demanding workload while navigating personal challenges slowed the process at times, but prioritizing my mental well-being allowed me to approach the project with renewed focus and creativity. Taking time for myself ultimately strengthened the quality of my work, reminding me that progress doesn’t always need to be rushed to be meaningful!
Auto Layout Issues
One of the major hurdles was grappling with auto layout. Some components were created as simple frames or shapes instead of using auto layout, which caused significant time loss when making adjustments or iterations. Overcoming this required me to revisit and reformat multiple components, teaching me the importance of starting with scalable and adaptable design foundations.
Balancing Aesthetics vs. Functionality
Striking the right balance between aesthetics and functionality was another key challenge. With Pendulum pioneering a relatively unexplored space, I had to take creative liberties while ensuring the design remained user-friendly. Ultimately, it came down to listening to user feedback and understanding that functionality should always take precedence, even when aesthetics is tempting to prioritize.
Next Steps ⏩
If Pendulum were to be further developed, I’d love to see:
Expanding the Apple Watch integration to include real-time progress tracking for group challenges and personalized reminders to encourage participation.
Introducing unique cooperative challenges, allowing users to team up with friends or family to achieve shared goals and foster deeper connections.
Partnering with more Olympic sponsors to scale global campaigns, ensuring broader reach and impact while aligning with the Games' core values of unity and excellence.
Incorporating augmented reality (AR) elements to create immersive experiences that bring the spirit of the Olympics into users' daily lives.
