The Design Reheat #1a
Why did the warm-up set fail?
If you’ve been subbed to this newsletter, you probably saw the challenge I did where most of my mockups were built under serious time pressure.
We’re talking 45-ish minutes for wireframes, another 60 to 90 for visual design.
Here’s the post, if you missed it.
I wanted to put my time where my mouth is and actually show what I can do when I don’t have a stopwatch breathing down my neck.
Well… it kind of still is, which is why this reheat is now a two part thing. Wanted to get something out the door, so here it is, part one. Foundations, thoughts, and a little accountability.
So here we go. Same project, same idea. But this time, I’m giving it a little more love and time.
Not squeezed into a convenience store corner, sipping lukewarm tea and racing a daily 8 PM prompt, but in the scraps of time I steal after traffic, a mild crush spiral, and the daily soap I call the office.
The frozen dish
What I Thought
This was the idea.
A fitness app for someone like Harshita; a 26-year-old SDE, working weird hours, seated most of the day, slowly losing track of her body.
The problem was clear: too much screen-time, not enough structure, and a back that’s one Zoom call away from betrayal.
She didn’t need a 90-day shred challenge. She needed flexibility, tiny movement wins, and the option to pause mid-scroll without guilt.
What I Made
And this… was the rushed, convenience-store-coffee-fuelled version that came out of the challenge.
It had moments, sure. But also a lot of “I’ll fix this later” baked into the pixels.
Here’s the Figma link — don’t judge.
What feels off in the design:
The colour drama is out of control. Red, green, orange… it’s giving Angry Thermometer App, not wellness
“Log Activity” is a giant blank form. No cues. No delight. No reason to touch it
The nav bar? Let’s not. Three tabs that mean nothing to anyone. Not happening again
What’s missing in the design:
Nothing’s tying together. It doesn’t feel like an app. More like a high fidelity wireframe wearing borrowed clothes
I didn’t follow through on the features I had mapped out in ideation. There’s a gap between thought and execution
Also: I might’ve tried to cover up weak sections with too many words. Not proud, just honest
What I’m doing with this one:
Fixing the nav
Bringing actual structure to the flows
Rethinking the visual tone (it should feel calm and encouraging, not like your phone is yelling at you to do burpees)
I’ll be working on the actual redesign this Friday (because clearly, I thrive on doing things at the very last second)
The reworked design and full post will drop on Saturday.
Let’s see what this one looks like with a little more time in the oven.
As you said that you have the habit of doing the things at the very last moment, you are not alone in this class. Most of the persons fall in the same bracket as regards doing the things they ought to do. It's in human nature - doing things at the very last.