Nudge

The problem was simple. I just kept forgetting it.

I spend a lot of time working on my laptop and phone, and over time I noticed myself developing a pretty bad sitting posture. I would notice that I was hunched over, sit up straight, and then somehow find myself in the exact same position twenty minutes later.

I needed a reminder that didn't depend on me remembering to check an app or respond to another notification. Since my phone is something I naturally look at dozens of times a day, I thought the simplest solution was to put the reminder somewhere I couldn't really miss it: my wallpaper.

From a wallpaper idea to an actual product.

My first thought was to simply design a wallpaper in Figma or CorelDRAW with a message like “Sit straight.”

But then I realised how inconvenient that would be. If I wanted to change the message, try another font, adjust the colours, or make a different version, I'd have to redesign it, export it, move it to my phone, and set it as my wallpaper all over again.

That felt like too much work for something that was supposed to make my life easier. So I decided to build a small tool that could do it for me.

Making the reminder personal.

The core idea behind Nudge is straightforward: type a reminder, make it look the way you want, and set it as your wallpaper.

Instead of forcing everyone into the same reminder, Nudge lets you decide what you need to be reminded about. It could be “Sit straight,” “Drink water,” “Stop scrolling,” “Focus,” or literally anything else.

The customisation is deliberately simple. You can change the text, font and colours without having to design anything yourself. The goal wasn't to create another productivity app. It was to make the reminder itself impossible to overlook.

Keeping the experience as small as the problem.

Because the problem was so specific, I didn't want Nudge to become bloated with features.

There are no complicated productivity systems, dashboards or things to configure before you can use it. The entire experience revolves around one simple action: create a reminder and put it where you'll see it.

That simplicity became an important part of the design. Every screen exists to get the user closer to that one outcome.

Designed first. Built with AI.

I designed the screens and interaction myself, then used AI and vibe coding to turn the concept into a working Android application.

I also built a small landing page where people can learn what Nudge does and download the app.

This project was interesting to me because it sits somewhere between product design and experimentation. I wasn't starting with a business requirement or a client brief. I had a small frustration in my own life, designed a solution for it, and then used the tools available to me to actually build it.

The result

Nudge started as a very small idea: I wanted my phone to remind me to stop slouching.

It became a lightweight tool for turning any reminder into something I naturally see throughout the day.

It's also a good example of how I like to approach personal projects: notice a problem, simplify it as much as possible, design a solution, and build it instead of leaving the idea sitting in Figma.