Coaching App
An evidence-based mobile coaching platform helping people grow in career, relationships, and personal development—with structured 5-10 minute daily sessions built on proven coaching frameworks.
Overview
The Problem
People seeking personal growth face a gap: free self-help content is generic and lacks accountability, while professional coaching costs $150+ per session. No consumer app addresses career, relationships, and personal growth together in an affordable, evidence-based way.
The Solution
A mobile-first coaching platform delivering structured daily lessons (5-10 min) across 3 life domains, built on 7 evidence-based frameworks (GROW, CBT, ACT, Positive Psychology, etc.), with progress tracking, journaling, and streak-based motivation.
My Role
Sole UX/UI Designer and Developer — responsible for market research, persona development, competitive analysis, content strategy, visual design, and full-stack development.
Key Deliverables
5 user personas, competitive analysis of 7 apps, 7 evidence-based coaching frameworks mapped to exercises, 24 structured lessons across 3 categories, and a deployed production app.
Research & Discovery
Through market analysis, competitive audits, and user research, I identified critical gaps in how coaching apps serve people seeking affordable, multi-domain personal growth support.
Key Research Insights
Market Gap
$3.5-4.1B coaching market growing at 15.3% CAGR, but no consumer app covers career + relationships + growth together.
Session Length Sweet Spot
Research shows 5-10 min daily mobile sessions (Noom’s gold standard) drive highest engagement and habit formation.
Accountability Crisis
Universal complaint across competitors: users lose motivation without structured accountability systems and progress visibility.
Price Sensitivity
Target users willing to pay $15-40/month, positioned between free self-help and $150+/session professional coaching.
Multi-Domain Need
Life challenges are interconnected; career stress affects relationships, which affects personal growth. Users need holistic support.
Core Design Principles
Evidence-Based
Every exercise backed by proven coaching frameworks (GROW, CBT, ACT)
Bite-Sized
Complete any interaction in under 10 minutes
Progress-Visible
Streaks, badges, and radar charts make growth tangible
Mobile-First
Designed for on-the-go coaching during commutes and breaks
User Personas
Five primary personas emerged from research, representing distinct life stages and overlapping needs that guided all design decisions.
Carlos
24, Junior Marketing Coordinator
“I want to grow but can’t afford a coach and don’t know where to start.”
Goals
- •Get promoted within 2 years
- •Build confidence and leadership skills
- •Develop a professional network
Pain Points
- •No mentor or guidance at work
- •Overwhelmed by generic self-help advice
- •Compares himself to peers on social media
Design Implications
Career-focused content, streak motivation for daily habit building, 5-10 min sessions that fit a commute.
Maya
29, UX Designer (Remote)
“I want to improve my relationship but therapy feels too heavy for what I need.”
Goals
- •Improve communication with partner
- •Rebuild social circle after going remote
- •Reduce loneliness and isolation
Pain Points
- •Feels awkward bringing up relationship issues
- •Values privacy highly, dislikes group settings
- •Therapy feels like overkill for her needs
Design Implications
Relationship coaching with journaling prompts, privacy-first design, evening session optimization.
Brandon
32, Software Engineer
“I make good money but I’m burned out and my relationship is suffering.”
Goals
- •Set healthy work-life boundaries
- •Reduce stress and prevent burnout
- •Reconnect with partner
Pain Points
- •Too exhausted to research self-improvement solutions
- •Sporadic app user, needs re-engagement hooks
- •Previous self-help books and apps failed him
Design Implications
Multi-domain content (career + relationships), smart reminders, data visualizations for tracking progress.
Daniela
22, Recent Graduate, Part-time Barista
“I feel behind everyone my age and don’t know what direction to go.”
Goals
- •Figure out a career direction
- •Build financial literacy and confidence
- •Gain independence and move out
Pain Points
- •Anxious about the future, imposter syndrome
- •Can’t afford therapy or professional coaching
- •Overwhelmed by too many choices and paths
Design Implications
Low-cost/free tier essential, short interactive exercises, community features, TikTok-generation UX patterns.
Sam
38, Operations Manager
“I’m stable but unfulfilled — I want to reinvent myself but I have responsibilities.”
Goals
- •Explore a career pivot opportunity
- •Build dating confidence post-divorce
- •Become a better co-parent and start a side project
Pain Points
- •Stuck between responsibilities and personal dreams
- •Recently divorced, rebuilding self-identity
- •Needs step-by-step structured guidance
Design Implications
Structured milestone plans, multi-domain support (career + relationships), weekend and lunch session optimization.
Competitive Analysis
Analyzed 7 leading coaching and wellness apps to identify gaps and opportunities for differentiation.
Enterprise Lock-In
Major coaching platforms (BetterUp, CoachHub) only serve B2B at $150-300/session.
Opportunity: Consumer-first affordable coaching
Solution: Direct-to-consumer model at $15-40/month
Single-Domain Focus
Competitors focus on one area (Noom = health, Headspace = mindfulness, BetterHelp = therapy).
Opportunity: Multi-domain platform
Solution: Career + Relationships + Personal Growth in one app
Generic Content
Universal complaint: content becomes repetitive and impersonal after initial engagement.
Opportunity: Framework-based structured progression
Solution: 7 evidence-based frameworks mapped to 24 lessons
Accountability Gap
Users lose motivation without structure; most apps lack meaningful accountability systems.
Opportunity: Streak system + milestone badges
Solution: Daily streaks, 7/14/30-day badges driving 40-60% higher DAU
Subscription Fatigue
Users frustrated by dark billing patterns and unclear cancellation processes.
Opportunity: Transparent, fair pricing model
Solution: Clear pricing with no hidden fees or dark patterns
Design Process
Research
Market analysis of $3.5B coaching industry, competitive audit of 7 apps, identified 5 key market gaps and underserved user segments.
Define
Created 5 user personas, mapped 7 coaching frameworks to exercise types, designed content structure across 3 life domains.
Design
Built mobile-first UI with warm nature-inspired palette, created 24 structured lessons across 6 modules with 6 interactive exercise types.
Build
Full-stack development with Next.js 16, Drizzle ORM, and NextAuth. Deployed to Vercel with complete lesson engine and progress tracking.
5 MVP Features
Each feature directly addresses a gap identified in competitive research and user persona pain points.
Structured Daily Lessons
5-step coaching format (Hook → Learn → Do → Reflect → Commit) completable in 5-10 minutes, designed for daily habit building.
6 Interactive Exercise Types
Ranking, multiple-choice, checklist, scale, card-sort, and freeform exercises that keep sessions engaging and varied.
Life Satisfaction Assessment
8-dimension spider chart measuring Career, Health, Relationships, Financial, Growth, Fun, Family, and Community satisfaction.
Streak & Badge System
Daily streaks with milestone badges at 7, 14, and 30 days to drive consistent engagement and habit formation.
Reflective Journal
Auto-saved coaching reflections organized by date for tracking personal insights and growth over time.
Design System
A warm, nature-inspired visual language designed to feel calm and supportive—the opposite of anxious productivity apps.
Color Palette
Warm beige (#FAF8F5) background with nature-inspired category colors: Career (taupe), Relationships (dusty rose), Personal Growth (sage green).
Typography
- •Clean, readable type system
- •Optimized for lesson content
- •Mobile reading comfort
- •High contrast for accessibility
Components
- •Card-based UI with smooth transitions
- •Progress bars and step indicators
- •Radar charts for life assessment
- •Interactive exercise components
Target Device
Mobile-first responsive design that adapts to phone, tablet, and desktop. Bottom navigation on mobile, sidebar on desktop. Multi-column grids on wider screens with constrained reading widths for lesson content.
Learnings & Outcomes
What I Learned
- Evidence-based frameworks give coaching content structure and credibility that generic advice lacks
- Multi-domain coaching reveals how interconnected life challenges really are
- 5-10 minute session length is the sweet spot for daily mobile engagement
- Streak mechanics need careful calibration to motivate without creating guilt
- Building the full stack from research to deployment deepened my understanding of how UX decisions impact development
Skills Demonstrated
Experience the Coaching App
Try the live demo or return to see more of my work.