Overview
Root is a wellness MVP that helps people eat healthier and more sustainably — without guilt or spreadsheets. A living mascot grows as you complete weekly missions: reducing food waste, choosing local ingredients, reading labels.
I designed the product from zero: concept, flows, visual world and the gamification system itself.
Challenge
Habit apps fail quietly: streaks punish, dashboards overwhelm, and users leave the moment the app makes them feel bad about themselves.
- Sustainable eating had to feel like care, not homework.
- Progress needed to be visible without numbers dominating.
- The MVP scope demanded ruthless prioritisation of features.
Approach
A companion, not a scoreboard
The mascot — a small root creature on its own patch of land — reflects your week. Complete missions and its world blooms. Miss a few and nothing dies; it simply waits. Kindness is a design decision.
Missions over metrics
Instead of calorie charts, Root offers weekly missions: Clean Plate Champion, Label Detective, Local Love. Each is small, finishable and tied to a real-world action.
MVP discipline
Every feature had to defend its place on three screens: home, missions, profile. Everything else was documented for later releases.
Outcome
A complete MVP
Concept to high-fidelity prototype, ready for development handoff.
Gamification with grace
A reward system that motivates without punishing lapses.
A world users liked
Test participants described the mascot as the reason they’d return.