The concept of Peaks was birthed from a single question: Could we tailor our day to sync with our energy flow? In essence, could we construct our daily activities around our body's natural rhythm?

Our bodies operate on an intricate schedule known as the circadian rhythm. This cycle governs fundamental bodily functions and can predict when we feel alert or sleepy.

Our initial vision for Peaks was as a calendar app that could show your body's rhythm along events. But as we began testing, we encountered challenges. Trying to incorporate a full calendar function in the app meant that Peaks had to compete with peoples' existing calendar apps. We found ourselves having to integrate all features a typical calendar app would have, thus detracting from the app's core purpose of visualizing your circadian rhythm.

Our idea was unsustainable

The lesson? Our idea was unsustainable. However, as we interacted with peoples testing Peaks, their curiosity about their bodily rhythms sparked another opportunity, how can we build an App that detects that rhythm and provides valuable insights along it? But even more important, can we even detect that rhythm?

Unraveling the Mystery of the Circadian Rhythm

In our quest to answer this question, we dove into numerous studies on circadian rhythm, sleep, and recovery. We found that simple information like sleep patterns can give a rough estimate of a people's rhythm. Furthermore, the accuracy of these estimates could be improved by including additional biomarkers like hear rate or HRV.

Armed with this knowledge, we constructed the first Peaks prototype, capable of detecting an individual's rhythm using data from an Apple Watch. Initial tests with family and friends gave us the confidence that our application was indeed providing value.

People wouldn't need the app after a few days anymore

However, we learned that since people's rhythms tend to remain constant, people wouldn't need the app after a few days anymore. A constant rhythm is great as this means your have a healthy sleep pattern, but this presented a significant problem: how to retain people if the app delivers the same information repeatedly?

Finding Value

Peaks creates value by focusing on three core areas:

• Enhancing sleep quality

• Boosting energy levels

• Aiding in finding focus

We found these to be universal needs that a better understanding of one's circadian rhythm could help meet. For instance, by suggesting an established bedtime routine, Peaks can help enhance sleep quality, which in turn could help stabilize your circadian rhythm and boost your energy levels. Peaks can help you be more focussed by synching your focus time with your body. There are endless daily Routines that Peaks can help people optimise.

For us it is important that Peaks does that effortlessly, all you need to do is wear your fitness tracker. The App should not be in the way and provide relevant, valuable and glanceable information every time you check on it.

Embracing Routines

We identified the potential of understanding your rhythm to improve your day-to-day life as immense. Thus, we introduced routines. These are personalized events designed to optimize your day. These are for example the best time to work out, nap or to be creative. As your circadian rhythm drives many basic body functions there are endless routines that can help you be more efficient.

Yet we were stuck with the same problem. These will be the same every day, once you have learned them the App does not provide any value.

To keep things engaging, we introduced interactive routines that not only suggest optimal times for activities but help track tasks, set timers, or track a habit.

At this point we felt confident enough to introduce more people to the App and we had the official beta launch.

That launch taught us hard lessons. The app was difficult to navigate, and users were skeptical about our rhythm calculations and did not trust the values. This feedback led us for a complete redesign.

Redefining the App Structure

While our initial design had a calendar-like sheet, we hadn't reassessed if it was the most suitable approach. Although we had categorized the app into three themes, we found users still craved a chronological view of their day. So, we introduced a 'Today' tab and consolidated insights into an 'Insights' tab. Routines were much more popular than anticipated and they are now taking center stage on the 'Today' Tab. To keep things visually appealing, we added a dynamic background—skybox—that changes with the time of day.

This structure was simpler and better received, but trust issues persisted.

Designing for Trust

To build trust into the information shown, we added knowledge sheets providing a straightforward explanation of each metric backed by scientific research and links to our sources to back these explanation.

To avoid overpromising, we revised aspects that couldn't be predicted with complete accuracy, such as the exact timing of your afternoon dip or routines. We decided to display rounded data to avoid the illusion of unwarranted precision.

Insights are crucial for building trust in Peaks. They explain why your rhythm appears a certain way and how it can be improved. However, raw numbers can be meaningless if you don't know what a 'good' value is. With everyone's body being different, we faced the challenge of explaining these metrics in a simple yet informative manner.

We designed a system that indicates if a value is good. You can find this 3 step grading all over the App, a value is either perfect, normal or low, never bad or terrible. This design is glanceable and helps identify areas of improvement without the need to deeply understand every raw value.

Looking Ahead

That's the journey of Peaks so far. We're brimming with ideas for future improvements, and we can't wait to roll them out.