01
Why private groups?
Because the strongest motivation was not competing with strangers. It was staying close to the people who matter. Private groups turn the habit into real companionship.
02
The problem
Most activity apps are built around performance, pressure, and progression. But many people drop off because walking stops feeling human and starts feeling like another obligation.
One Mile Together started from a much simpler idea: what if walking one mile a day could become a way to stay close to people who are far away?
The core idea
- Motivate through relationships, not performance
- Lower the entry barrier with one clear, achievable goal
- Turn daily progress into a social signal, not just a personal metric
- Design consistency so the habit feels shared rather than demanding
My contribution
From fitness to relationships
Most fitness products motivate through performance. One Mile Together wanted to motivate through people. That single shift defined the concept, the onboarding, the group mechanics, and the tone of the entire product.
ORIGIN
Walking as a possible habit
Loneliness as real friction
Remote connection as opportunity
Wellbeing without sports pressure
SHIFT
One mile as minimal goal
Private groups before rankings
Shared progress before performance
Kind motivation before pressure
FLOW
Receive invitation
Join group
Walk one mile
Share activity
IMPACT
More connection
More consistency
More belonging
Less obligation
From research to rollout
01
Research
The starting point was not technology. It was understanding why so many wellbeing habits break even when the initial intention is positive.
- Review of walking, fitness, and habit products
- Drop-off patterns linked to pressure and motivational fatigue
- Exploration of social value over performance value
02
Concept
The key move was stepping away from sports logic and reframing walking as a small but shared daily ritual.
- Definition of the “one mile a day” concept
- Private groups as the emotional core of the product
- Positioning around connection rather than fitness
03
Branding and tone
The visual identity had to feel warm, light, and human, moving away from the aggressive language typical of fitness brands.
- Visual direction and brand system
- Approachable palette, emotional narrative, and accessible tone
- Bilingual foundation for launch and communication
04
UX and app flow
The product was designed to be understood quickly: join, walk, share, and return to the group without friction or overload.
- Low-friction onboarding
- Clear hierarchy across progress, group, and community
- Screens built for continuity and social reinforcement
05
Website, stores, and launch
The project did not end with the app. It also needed to be packaged, explained, and brought to market with clarity.
- Promotional website built for conversion
- Store screens for App Store and Google Play
- Bilingual rollout with a consistent product story
UX decisions
It was not enough to explain what the app did. The case study needed to explain why the experience was designed that way in order to sustain the habit through relationships instead of pressure.
02
Why one mile?
Because consistency needed a goal that anyone could start today. One mile is not powerful because it is hard. It works because it makes tomorrow possible.
03
Why community?
Because after the close circle comes a second layer of belonging. Community opens discovery, routes, and like-minded people without losing the human tone of the product.
What was delivered
Product
concept
A clear product thesis: transform a daily walk into a social, emotional, and repeatable shared ritual.
App UX/UI
system
Flows, hierarchy, and screens designed for easy entry, understandable progress, and ongoing social reinforcement.
Branding and
visual direction
A warm, clean, adaptable identity that moves the product away from aggressive sports language and closer to human connection.
Launch
website
A promotional site built to explain the concept in seconds, communicate tone, and direct users to the stores.
Store
assets
Visuals, screenshots, and listing narrative for App Store and Google Play aligned with the real value of the product.
Bilingual
rollout
Release in ES and EN with a consistent story, public presence, and distribution through App Store and Google Play.
Closing
1
Clear core idea: one mile as a shared daily ritual
3
Value layers: connection, habit, and community
2
Live stores supported by consistent story and assets
1
Unified system across app, website, branding, and launch
Rather than building another walking tracker, the project explored how design could transform a solitary habit into a shared daily ritual.
Every decision, from the one-mile goal to the private groups, was intended to make consistency feel social rather than demanding.
What had to be sustained technically
The idea was emotional, but the experience still depended on concrete technical decisions: usable tracking, reasonable battery behavior, solid performance, and resilience on the move.
Business Challenge
Retention through Social Bonding
The problem: Traditional fitness applications suffer from high churn rates due to entry barriers based on performance and intensity (e.g. running 10 km).
The solution: The metric goal was reduced to a minimum (1 mile), shifting the product's weight to the shared experience. By creating a system of closed groups and real-time social notifications, the user does not walk strictly for sport, but rather walks to interact and send a progress ping to their circle of trust.
Technical Challenge
GPS Accuracy vs Battery Performance
The problem: Tracking walks in the background severely drains battery life, causing users to uninstall the app. Background tracking is also strictly blocked by aggressive OS policies on iOS and Android.
The solution: Advanced integration of device sensors using Flutter (`geolocator` and Activity Recognition API). The polling rate was adjusted conditionally to the user's velocity, massively optimizing GPS reads without losing the path trace mapped over Google Maps.
Resource Optimization
UX Performance & Cloud Savings
The problem: High-resolution photos drain users' mobile data, cause slow loading times on outdoor networks, and exponentially increase cloud storage costs for the business.
The solution: Native on-device compression reduces file sizes by up to 80% before uploading, ensuring near-instant uploads while drastically cutting server costs. This is paired with a local cache system: photos load straight from the phone's memory, bypassing unnecessary network requests and significantly improving UX.
Offline Resilience
GPS Tracking without Internet
The problem: Walking through remote zones or mountain trails often results in cellular network loss, traditionally corrupting tracking progress and frustrating users.
The solution: Offline-first architecture for tracking sessions. The app relies on pure GPS hardware when coverage drops, caching all route data locally. Furthermore, the entire activity card (along with its photo, information, and metrics) is safely stored on the device. Once the network returns, the system silently synchronizes in the background, publishing the activity without data loss and flawlessly recalculating the map route.
Let's Talk
End-to-end product design and development for apps, platforms, and digital rollouts.
appdevoka@gmail.com