Step Pets

The "Step Pets" mobile application was conceived to address a common challenge: motivating consistent physical activity through engaging, long-term incentives. Recognizing that traditional fitness trackers often struggle with user retention beyond initial enthusiasm, Step Pets transforms the mundane act of walking into a rewarding, habit-forming experience. The core concept leverages gamification by integrating a virtual pet collection system directly with a user's step count, aiming to provide a compelling, intrinsic motivator for healthier lifestyle choices.

Upon reaching key walking milestones—specifically, a new virtual pet is unlocked every 5,000 steps—users are rewarded with a diverse collection of digital companions. For extraordinary achievements, such as walking the equivalent of a marathon (approximately 52,400 steps), a special "Glimmer Pet" inspired by mythical creatures is awarded, providing a unique aspirational goal. This tiered reward system not only encourages daily activity but also fosters dedication towards significant fitness targets, creating a delightful and impactful user journey that cultivates sustained engagement and promotes wellness through a sense of accomplishment and digital companionship.

This mobile app is hand-designed by yours truly, all the way from setting sketches to the wireframes to the code itself that's used to power it. I'm teaching myself Kotlin programming language so that I can create it to my specifications, and it's become somewhat of a family affair, as my children are helping with character designs for the various Step Pets.

We plan to have around 400 individual Pets designed, from seven unique biomes (one new pet for every day's steps walked, and several Glimmer Pets for having walked marathon distances, plus one grand Glimmer Beast for completing an entire year's worth of steps). It's quite an undertaking.