Hobby Helper
A gentle, research-driven hobby discovery app that helps young adults escape doomscrolling and reconnect with meaningful, low-pressure hobbies.
From leisure fatigue to gentle suggestions
Hobby Helper was born from my own experience of coming home tired after work or classes, but still wanting to do something meaningful instead of defaulting to scrolling and comfort shows. My research among young adults (20–35) confirmed this pattern: people aren't short on free time, they're short on mental energy, ideas and that tiny nudge to start.
Through surveys, academic research and interviews I found barriers like decision overload, fear of "wasting time", financial concerns and the pressure to make every hour productive. Users didn't need a new productivity tracker, they needed a soft, supportive tool that says: “hey! here are three hobbies you could do, go ahead and pick one and go play.”
Hobby Helper lets users indicate what mood they're in and what kind of activity they're open to. The app responds with a small, curated set of beginner-friendly hobbies with concrete first steps No streaks, points or gamification just calm guidance.
Designing for softness, not pressure
- Minimal choice: limiting suggestions to three reduces decision fatigue and keeps the experience light.
- Warm visual language: soft curves, right orange and minty tones, and rounded shapes to create a "hobby nook" feeling.
- Ethical copy: language that avoids hustle culture and instead validates rest, curiosity and trying things without needing to be “good” at them.
- Screen-break principle: the app’s goal is to get you offthe screen into a real activity as quickly as possible.
What this project taught me
- Translating theoretical research on wellbeing and leisure into concrete interaction patterns and content strategy.
- Designing a consistent mobile design system and implementing it in React Native with reusable components and theming.
- Running user tests, gathering feedback and iterating without compromising the core ethical principles of the concept.
- Strengthening my belief that digital products can protect users’ energy instead of exploiting it — and that this can be a strong design constraint, not a limitation.