While I knew nail biting was a common habit, I wanted to understand how significant the problem really was and how people were trying to solve it. I turned to Reddit and found a large number of posts from people struggling with severe nail biting, often feeling frustrated, ashamed, and desperate to quit. Many had relapsed repeatedly and were actively seeking accountability and support. This helped validate the need for a solution like Benny.

Many users described nail biting as a lifelong habit that began in early childhood (ages 5–7) and continued into adulthood (20s–30s). Some had severely bitten nails and had tried to quit multiple times without success. Stress was the most common trigger, followed by boredom or the need to fidget.
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People had experimented with a variety of solutions bitter-tasting polish, press-on nails, gloves, lotions, and cuticle oils but most found them ineffective or unsustainable. Despite repeated setbacks, there was a strong and recurring desire to stop.
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Many expressed frustration and a deep wish to feel proud of their hands. They weren’t just looking for quick fixes they wanted emotional support, a sense of accountability, and routines that encouraged long-term care and progress.

Currently, there is only one dedicated app for nail biting. It offers basic functionality a timer, day streak tracking, and the ability to take photos to monitor nail growth over time. With a 4.5 star rating and 170 reviews, it’s clear that users are open to using an app to address this habit.

However, the experience is minimal and lacks emotional engagement. I see a strong opportunity to improve on this by creating a more dynamic and supportive solution one that combines habit loop science, behaviour change techniques, and higher levels of accountability to help users truly stick with their goals.

This quick whiteboarding exercise helped me capture all the early concepts and ideas around encouraging users to quit nail biting. I focused on how to disrupt the existing habit loop and introduce more positive, sustainable behaviours. Mapping these thoughts visually allowed me to identify key moments of intervention and emotional engagement, which I then stitched together into a coherent user flow.

The onboarding flow introduces the problem, shows the outcome users can expect, and includes a short quiz to personalise the experience. Just before revealing Benny, the paywall appears.This timing is intentional users have:
1. Seen how the app can help
2. Completed a tailored setup
3. Built anticipation with Benny's reveal
The goal is to increase conversion by combining clarity, personalisation, and emotional engagement.

I sketched the main app screen and introduced key gamification elements feeding and hydrating Benny through progress check-ins, gentle notifications to maintain engagement, and an "urge button" for tracking cravings in real time.

Benny was inspired by Duo Lingo owl. I know this character has gone through many interactions over the years and have been designed based on behavioural research and user testing. I did not want to copy the owl like many other apps have done so took inspiration from 3D charters created in Blender.

I then used AI to combine the 3D style, colour pallet and Beaver animal together to create Benny. I also was then able to generate serval emotional states for him. I used AI simply for speed, the goal of the project was to quickly illustrate the first version of the app to gauge interest. This can later be improved with an expert in 3D llustration and animation.

I used Google’s Material 3 Design System to design the app. It saved significant time by providing a comprehensive set of ready made components, allowing me to focus on behaviour and user experience rather than starting from scratch.

Once the waitlist is live, I plan to learn React Native to begin building the app. Material 3 components and themes can be integrated with React Native, which will help streamline development and maintain consistency between design and implementation.