Show HN: I built fitness app for my mum | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: I built fitness app for my mum

motion-app.com

A few years ago I bought my mum a Fitbit. She quit in ~four days, not because she's lazy, but because it told her she needed 10,000 steps a day when she was doing 1,500. That number isn't a goal, it's a wall. (The 10k figure originated from a 1960s Japanese pedometer marketing campaign, it has nothing to do with your actual baseline or life.)

I watched her play Farmville (and candy crush) for 45 minutes straight each day that same week and had a lightbulb moment. She wasn't unmotivated, she just needed the right feedback loop. So I built her a simple app: personalised goals based on her actual activity, gradual weekly progression, a social layer so she could do challenges with friends, and a virtual pet that grows healthier as she does.

She stuck with it. Her friends wanted it. Then their friends did too. That's Motion. 50,000+ users across 73 countries later, it's still a side project — I work full time and build this on the side. No streaks that punish you for missing a day, no arbitrary targets. Just a goal that makes sense for you, and people to do it with. Happy to answer anything.

Love the Farmville/Candy Crush insight. How do you handle the virtual pet mechanic without violating your 'no punishment' rule? For instance, if a user gets sick and can't walk for a week, what happens to the pet? How do you encourage them to return without inducing the guilt of a broken streak?

So, we don't do any of the typical "stick" options. Your pet won't get sick, it won't die, it won't regress in levels. Within a week, it gets a little sad if you're behind on your goal, but there are no longer term effects of this. If you miss a week, your pet just hangs around and when you come back, it'll start progressing again.

If you're sick / on holiday / life gets in the way for a while, our adaptive goals kick in, and lower the difficulty. So when you do come back, your goals and challenges are at a nice achievable level, so you get a nice pump of progress straight away. The idea is that returning should feel good, not guilty.

We're also heavily against streaks, daily or otherwise. We promote rest, and integration of fitness into everyday life, so we actively encourage days when you don't hit your target. And, we think the whole "streak" rhetoric has demonstrably failed, it causes more emotional stress than any gain it provides.

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