“You're back”: designing streaks that survive being broken

4 min read

Open most habit apps after a missed week and you'll find a graveyard: a zeroed counter, a grayed-out flame, a notification that knows exactly what you didn't do.

For someone with ADHD, that screen isn't motivation. It's the reason the app gets deleted.

Quitting and returning is okay

We designed the streak around one assumption: breaks will happen. When you come back, the app says "You're back. New streak starts now." Never silent about the break, never shaming about it either.

The number that only goes up

Next to the streak lives your cumulative minutes: total practice time since your first session. It cannot decrease. Forty-seven minutes becomes a hundred becomes a thousand, no matter how many gaps came between.

You were consistent tonight. You showed up. That's the whole vocabulary.