Back to work
2025
Mobile App
9 Months
Checkpoint
A lightweight system for moderating gaming time without losing the fun.
Checkpoint is an app designed to help gamers manage their playtime and build healthier gaming habits. It empowers users with tools like customizable game-time limits and a centralized game library to balance gaming with their lifestyle.
Role
UX/UI Designer
Team
Solo Project, Education
Tools
Figma
Discover
Secondary Research
Interviews
Affinity Mapping
The Problem
Secondary research was conducted to assess the problem space of problematic gaming as it exists today, it’s prevalence and it’s adverse effects.
Gaming Addiction
1 million people in the UK suffer from gaming addiction. This does not account for those who engage with problematic gaming which is gaming beyond what your lifestyle would permit.
Problematic Gaming
Problematic gaming and gaming addiction have been found to have numerous detrimental effects on the physical and mental wellbeing of gamers with adverse effects on sleep, neglect of basic self-care needs and compromised relationships and education.
Limited Tools
Very few tools exist that can provide value and impact to those looking to get their gaming habits under control, and fewer still that provide value to gamers’ specific needs.
User research
4 Interviews were conducted to investigate and understand the behaviors, pain points and motivations of those who engage in problematic gaming.
Key Findings
01
A struggle to stop
Games are designed to be highly interactive and engaging. This means that a common problem for gamers is sticking to a schedule around gaming. It’s simply much more enticing to continue gaming than it is to go to sleep, spend an hour cooking yourself a healthy dinner, or even stick to social plans. This can lead to excessive gaming and gaming addiction, both having many negative effects on general and mental health.
02
Procrastination or boredom as a trigger
Many gamers report playing games often as a means to procrastinate chores or boring tasks such as cleaning or studying. Furthermore, when they are bored and have nothing else to do, gaming is an easy and quick way to spend many hours of free time. However, both of these lead to gamers feeling low in self-esteem because they feel they lack discipline and they are missing out on other experiences.
03
Desire to balance gaming and other hobbies
Modern games generally provides up to 50-100 hours or more of gameplay on average. Gamers, therefore, find it difficult to balance this around their lifestyle. Although avid gamers are very passionate about gaming they still desire a balance in their lives of other hobbies and social events feeling that this would provide a more full life.
How might we...
How might we support gamers in understanding and managing their gaming habits so they can maintain a healthier and more balanced lifestyle?
Define
Persona
Experience Map
User Stories
Persona
These findings along with the interviews themselves were synthesized into a persona. A fictional embodiment of the conducted research to keep the human at the center of the project’s goals.
Experience Map
A typical experience was crafted using our persona to show opportunities for intervention. Such opportunities help to generate functionality for our solution that keeps focus on the user.
Develop
Sketching
UI Board
Wireframing
User Testing
Brand Development
Sketching
Following a UI board I drew sketches of the main flow of the app and some supporting screens for a more realistic prototype.
Wireframes & User Testing
2 rounds of user testing were preformed with 5 participants per round on a midfidelity prototype. Here are the key results:
Key User Testing Results
01
Lack of, or unclear iconography
Main navigation bar lacked wording to support it’s purpose for the user leaving some users to struggle to understand where the buttons would take them. Furthermore the calendar icons were too large leaving users confused about what date they were attached to. Other icons were added to support other content.
02
Main flow too long and confusing
The main flow of setting up a gaming limit had multiple steps with confusing terminology. The steps were streamlined into one page and supporting text was included.
03
Poor copy hierarchy leaving text difficult to read
Copy hierarchy throughout the flow and supporting content lacked effective hierarchy leading to most users not interacting with supporting text.
First Iteration
Final Iteration
First Iteration
Final Iteration
First Iteration
Final Iteration
Brand development
To bring this project into high-fidelity it was necessary to develop some aspects of the brand to use as the base for the UI design for the app.
Colour Palette
Grey
HEX:
#898B95
RGB:
137, 139, 149
Dark
HEX:
#1C1E23
RGB:
28, 30, 35
Transparent
HEX:
#FFFFFF | 10%
Checkpoint Gradient
HEX:
#535DB8
HEX:
#252C76
HEX:
#050610
Checkpoint Blue
HEX:
#0056FF
RGB:
0, 86, 255
White
HEX:
#F9F9F9
RGB:
249, 249, 249
Secondary
HEX:
#4D89FF
RGB:
77, 137, 255
Logo Usage
Checkpoint
C
Deliver
High-Fidelity
Prototyping
High-Fidelity
Prototype
Final Thoughts
What did I learn from this project?
01
The Importance of Discovery and Curiosity
I came to appreciate just how essential the discovery phase of user research is, because the depth and quality of the user research became the foundation for every decision that followed. As I moved into the define and develop stages, I realised where gaps in my understanding limited my ability to frame the problem clearly or design with confidence. This experience reinforced the value of gathering rich, varied insights early on so I can better understand users’ challenges, motivations, and the real context behind their needs.
02
Harnessing Sketching
This part of the project was during the earlier days of my bootcamp. Going back I would really harness th potential of sketching to create any different concepts for different screens to ensure the best options were being chosen to move on to wireframing.
03
Embracing the Iterative Process
I was working on this project while I was learning UX/UI for the first time. As such, my instinct was to create a concept and polish it to try and make it the best it could be. I was hesitant to take the time to create multiple concepts and as a result I feel the solution is somewhat simplistic for solving what is a more complex problem for the user.
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© 2026 John Cusack