Overview
LongrPulse is a biohacking application that feeds users tailored news and self-healing content, features a marketplace, and allows users to compare biometric data to increase health throughout the world. Longrpulse believes in promoting healthy habits and positive behaviors and not glorifying self-destructive choices like drinking alcohol, eating processed foods, or using illicit drugs like on other forms of social media. With our app, you’ll have access to tools and resources to support your physical and mental well-being so you can feel your best every day.
Thrive, Not Just Survive: LongrPulse for Positive Habits
LongrPulse is a health app I designed with the goal of providing customized wellness optimization based on people's needs and goals. The COVID-19 pandemic caused many people to reflect on their mortality and consider how proactive health management could have saved lives tragically lost. This inspired me to create an app focused on taking control of one’s health through personalized guidance and community support.
Many health apps take a one-size-fits-all approach, offering generic content that fails to keep users engaged. The biohacking community is also fragmented, scattered across Reddit, Discord, and other channels without a trusted, consolidated resource.
I set out to design an adaptive app that learns from each user to provide targeted guidance. The goal was an experience optimizing engagement through personalization while bringing together biohacking knowledge into one platform.
Additionally, today’s social platforms often promote harmful behaviors. LongrPulse aims to inspire positive habits that boost longevity and well-being.
Many health apps take a one-size-fits-all approach, offering generic content that fails to keep users engaged. The biohacking community is also fragmented, scattered across Reddit, Discord, and other channels without a trusted, consolidated resource.
I set out to design an adaptive app that learns from each user to provide targeted guidance. The goal was an experience optimizing engagement through personalization while bringing together biohacking knowledge into one platform.
Additionally, today’s social platforms often promote harmful behaviors. LongrPulse aims to inspire positive habits that boost longevity and well-being.
Problems
Core Audience
Secondary tier personas
Lisa
A busy 35-year-old mom seeking holistic wellness solutions. She wants to take care of her health and appearance for her family and herself. She also wants to preserve her health for future pregnancies.
Michael
A fitness enthusiast training for a marathon. He wants to maximize his performance through analytics and biohacking techniques.
Amy
A retiree dealing with a chronic health condition. She needs motivation and accountability to stay on track with treatment.These users wanted science-backed resources tailored to their concerns, community support, and access to healthcare experts.
While hardcore biohackers and athletes will be the early adopters, recent feedback has shown that non athletes and beginner biohackers are the next users to target.
While hardcore biohackers and athletes will be the early adopters, recent feedback has shown that non athletes and beginner biohackers are the next users to target.
Research Desk
During my desk research on the biohacking landscape, I discovered that Discord and Reddit are key platforms that LongrPulse could potentially collaborate with or integrate into its community features. Discord enables private health conversations, while Reddit is public for sharing updates and questions. Analyzing competitors showed Gyroscope as the closest in capabilities. However, there was an opportunity to differentiate through personalization. I also explored Apple’s HealthKit API as a way to incorporate robust health data tracking. Conducting this desk research provided insights to guide LongrPulse’s product direction and third-party integration strategy. The goal is to bring together scattered biohacking resources into one tailored platform. At the very least, There are established patterns within these platforms that biohackers like for longrPulse to adopt.
Concepting and Prototyping
I began by rapidly wireframing features and flows in Figma, visualizing ideas like:
1
A news feed tailored to health interests
2
Social tools for motivation and accountability
3
to telehealth professionals
4
Curated biohacking protocols
I explained these flows in video chats to gather feedback before prototyping. These conversations ensured the UX made intuitive sense.
Conducting User Research
I interviewed eight target users in-depth to uncover pain points and gauge interest in the solution. The two main takeaways were the need for scientifically relevant and trustworthy content and personalized content based on goals. People don't know what content they can and cannot trust online.
Ongoing usability testing is shaping refinements, like adding more customizable tracking based on feedback. This hands-on approach proved invaluable.
As part of recruiting users for research interviews, I sent out screening surveys through cold outreach DMs as well as by posting in relevant Reddit and Discord biohacking communities. This strategy helped attract targeted candidates who matched the target audience criteria efficiently. By leveraging existing groups focused on health optimization and biohacking, I could reach potential users already passionate about the space. The screener then filtered respondents to select qualified participants for 1-on-1 interviews. Taking this targeted yet broad approach to distributing the survey aided in securing research participants that could provide valuable insights to the product development process.
Ongoing usability testing is shaping refinements, like adding more customizable tracking based on feedback. This hands-on approach proved invaluable.
As part of recruiting users for research interviews, I sent out screening surveys through cold outreach DMs as well as by posting in relevant Reddit and Discord biohacking communities. This strategy helped attract targeted candidates who matched the target audience criteria efficiently. By leveraging existing groups focused on health optimization and biohacking, I could reach potential users already passionate about the space. The screener then filtered respondents to select qualified participants for 1-on-1 interviews. Taking this targeted yet broad approach to distributing the survey aided in securing research participants that could provide valuable insights to the product development process.
Screener Survey
All Survey respondents were hand-selected by me, as I tried to make it an even distribution of location, age, and gender to attempt to debit any of the findings.
Ongoing usability testing is shaping refinements, like adding more customizable tracking based on feedback. This hands-on approach proved invaluable.
Ongoing usability testing is shaping refinements, like adding more customizable tracking based on feedback. This hands-on approach proved invaluable.
Synthesizing Findings
and prioritization
After all of the interviews, patterns emerged in what people cared about.
People wanted reliable info, ease of access, and a healthy competitive environment. With a lot of potential features to integrate into the application, I elected to go with all of the ones plotted in the top left quadrant, which are the highest impact but utilize the least amount of engineering resources. You can see all of these showcased in the final demo down below.
Crafting
the Interface
I explored various styles and fonts that projected a sense of health and well-being. The final minimalist design system used bold colors and clean interfaces to convey trust and simplicity. I landed on using the Syne font to cultivate a feeling of futurism and optimism.
The personalized news feed provides tailored recommendations curated by machine learning algorithms. The health tracking adapts to each user’s goals.
The personalized news feed provides tailored recommendations curated by machine learning algorithms. The health tracking adapts to each user’s goals.
Lessons from
the Process
The biggest lesson was the immense willingness of people to really take risks and try things that may improve their sense of health and well-being. Longevity and health are innate human desires. Trust is of utmost importance. When researching something as personal as this, it may take more time to reach potential participants who feel willing to share this info as it requires more planning than researching traditional consumer products and services.
While significant enhancements remain, LongrPulse has laid the groundwork to deliver a healthy experience that evolves with each user over the long term.
The ultimate goal is an intelligent companion that keeps people engaged and motivated on their wellness journeys. This case study provided key insights into designing personalized, user-centric digital health solutions.
While significant enhancements remain, LongrPulse has laid the groundwork to deliver a healthy experience that evolves with each user over the long term.
The ultimate goal is an intelligent companion that keeps people engaged and motivated on their wellness journeys. This case study provided key insights into designing personalized, user-centric digital health solutions.
Product Demo
LongrPulse
Goal
To develop LongrPulse, a biohacking app designed to promote healthy habits by offering tailored news, self-healing content, and a marketplace, along with a feature to compare biometric data, all aimed at enhancing global health without glorifying harmful behaviors.
Inspiration
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of proactive health management. LongrPulse seeks to empower individuals to take control of their health through personalized guidance and community support, contrasting the generic approach of many health apps and the harmful behaviors promoted on social media.
Target Audience
While initially focusing on hardcore biohackers and athletes, feedback has shown that non-athletes and beginner biohackers are also key users. Personas include a busy mom seeking holistic wellness, a fitness enthusiast aiming for peak performance, and a retiree needing motivation for chronic health management.
Research and Development
Desk Research: Identified Discord and Reddit as potential collaboration platforms and Gyroscope as a main competitor. Explored Apple’s HealthKit API for health data tracking integration.
Concepting and Prototyping: Used Figma for rapid wireframing and video chats for feedback on features like tailored news feeds, social tools, access to telehealth, and curated biohacking protocols.
User Research
Conducted interviews with eight target users, focusing on the need for trustworthy and personalized content. Ongoing usability testing is refining the app based on user feedback.
Findings
Users want reliable information, ease of access, and a competitive yet healthy environment. Features chosen for implementation were those with high impact but requiring minimal engineering resources.
Design
Lessons Learned: Trust is crucial in health-related apps. There's a strong desire among users to explore new health and wellness options. LongrPulse aims to be an intelligent companion that adapts and grows with its users, fostering a journey towards better health and longevity.
