CONCRETE SETS
Workout timer for iPhone + Apple Watch
Built.
Shipped.
Independently.
CONSTRAINTS
OFFLINE / NO ACCOUNT / NO CLOUD
If someone comes back to it after six months, it should still just work. No account and no cloud also meant fewer dependencies that could fail.
WATCH COMPANION
When someone is exercising, the phone is not always where their attention is. Sound, haptics and the Watch had to help keep the focus on the workout.
CUSTOM ROUTINES
I was not trying to build a fitness platform. The point was to let someone set up their own routine once and then stop managing the timer.
DECISIONS
0 → 1 INDEPENDENT BUILD
I took it from idea to release myself: product thinking, interaction, visual design, prototyping, testing and shipping. There was no handoff between design and build.
REACT NATIVE + EXPO
I chose a stack that let me move quickly between design and implementation. AI sped up the coding and debugging, but I still made the product decisions.
CUT DELIBERATELY
Accounts / Cloud sync / Workout history / HealthKit v1 / Voice prompts. Cut because they would have made v1 bigger without making the first workout better.
IMPACT
TIMER OUT OF THE WAY
The timer no longer needs to be managed during the workout. The routine is set once, then it can just run.
LESS SCREEN DEPENDENCE
The workout no longer depends on staring at the phone. Sound, haptics and Apple Watch keep it moving when the screen is somewhere else.
WORKING PRODUCT
This became a real product, not just a prototype. It worked on iPhone and Apple Watch, went through TestFlight and was submitted to the App Store.
Product direction / Product design / Interaction / Visual direction / Prototyping / AI-assisted build / Testing / Release