Focusflow.ai

AI-powered, ADHD-friendly task manager using energy data and dopamine cues to create bite-sized steps with predictive scheduling.

UX Research

Accessible Design

AI Integration

Task-Management

Work With Your Brain, Not Against It

The Focus Readiness Gauge helps you spot when your mind is ready to shine—and when it’s time to take a breather. No pressure, no guilt. Just clear, simple cues so you can plan your day around your natural rhythm.

Keep Your Flow, Lose the Friction.

Forget copying tasks by hand. Snap a photo, send a message—Focusflow parses it, slots it in, and keeps you focused on what matters now.

Contents

Contents

Team

Rio Ysabelle Mabbayad

Research, UX Design, Prototyping

Joanna Jurczenko

Research, Usability Testing, Brand Identity

Course

User Experience @ HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd

Semesters 4 & 6

Instructor

Dominik Witzke

User Experience

FocusFlow.ai is a research-driven mobile app designed to help neurodivergent users—particularly those with ADHD/ADD—tackle their to-do lists with less anxiety and more focus. Responsible for the research, UX design, and prototyping over a semester-long course, I led the creation of an AI-powered productivity system that automatically structures projects, estimates realistic timelines, and adapts workflows to each user’s energy patterns, calendars, and health data.

FocusFlow.ai helps ADHD users manage tasks with less stress. I designed an AI system that structures projects, sets timelines, and adapts to energy patterns.

Problem Discovery

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder affects roughly 4.4 percent of U.S. adults—and over 11 percent of children—yet only about 10–25 percent of adults receive an accurate diagnosis and adequate treatment  .  This gap comes at immense cost: workplace productivity losses alone top $28.8 billion, with unemployment costs adding another $66.8 billion, contributing to a total annual economic burden estimated between $105 billion and $194 billion in the United States  .  These figures underscore the urgent need for tools that help neurodivergent individuals manage tasks, reduce overwhelm, and improve daily functioning.

Students and workers with ADHD often struggle to manage tasks, leading to overwhelm and reduced productivity.

Barrier Analysis (Cause & Effect Mapping)

To surface the true drivers of ADHD-related friction, we grouped user pain points—racing thoughts, overwhelm, distractibility—onto digital sticky notes and then traced each back to its root cause, such as noise sensitivity, sleep disruption, and time-management gaps. This structured mapping clarified which barriers to tackle first and guided our feature prioritization.

We traced pain points to causes like noise, sleep issues, and time gaps—driving our feature priorities.

User Interviews

We spoke with ADHD users to understand where task management breaks down. Through conversations, we uncovered pain points like racing thoughts, overwhelm, and distractibility, then traced them back to root causes—noise, sleep issues, and time gaps—that pointed us toward early design opportunities.

We spotted recurring themes across interviews: quick-capture tools, music for focus, lyric distraction, forgetting reminders, procrastination, overthinking, and a need for external accountability.

Affinity Mapping — Uncovering Core Barriers

We organized user quotes into known and newly identified thematic clusters—Diagnosis, Intrapersonal Factors, Tools, Usage Patterns, Symptoms, Distractions, Reinforcements, Remedies, and Motivation—then drew connections between pain points (like racing thoughts or tool fatigue) and root causes (noise sensitivity, time-management gaps, sleep issues). This visual map helped us pinpoint the highest-impact barriers to focus and directly informed which features to prioritize.

We clustered quotes into themes and linked each pain point to its root cause. Seeing these connections made the highest-impact barriers obvious, giving us a clear path for which features to prioritize.

POV Synthesis — Constructing the User Profile

To surface the true drivers of ADHD-related friction, we grouped user pain points—racing thoughts, overwhelm, distractibility—onto digital sticky notes and then traced each back to its root cause, such as noise sensitivity, sleep disruption, and time-management gaps. This structured mapping clarified which barriers to tackle first and guided our feature prioritization.

→ between 18-35 years old
→ Neurodivergent individuals

→ Students & Professionals
→ Anyone who struggles with productivity

User Story Mapping

By illustrating in detail an example story of the users daily life and struggles, we were able to more accurately ideate how our product fits into their lives and addresses their pains, needs, and goals.

Ideation — Brainstorming solutions to reduce overwhelm

Our “How Might We” workshops distilled four core solutions: automate project breakdowns into bite-sized steps, introduce a distraction-free focus mode with timed breaks, deliver gentle, dopamine-boosting celebrations for every small win, and pre-populate tomorrow’s tasks with AI-driven scheduling. These insights directly informed our priority feature set.

HMW Workshops → 4 Key Solutions: break projects into small steps, add focus mode with breaks, celebrate wins, and AI-schedule tomorrow’s tasks.

6 Hat Method

This exercise encouraged structured yet broad thinking by guiding us through one perspective at a time.

The result? We aligned ourselves on key facts yet desired outcomes about how we'd like to serve the users.

This exercise encouraged structured yet broad thinking by guiding us through one perspective at a time. The result? We aligned ourselves on key facts yet desired outcomes about how we'd like to serve the users.

MoSCOW

MoSCoW prioritization, also known as the MoSCoW method or MoSCoW analysis, is a popular prioritization technique for managing requirements. The acronym MoSCoW represents four categories of initiatives: must-have, should-have, could-have, and won't-have, or will not have right now.


MoSCoW prioritization helped us sort must-haves from nice-to-haves. Reviewing pains, gains, and tasks revealed a shared goal: use AI to meaningfully reduce user friction.

Minimal Viable Product Mapping

Here we reviewed user pains, gains, and tasks and mapped out how we could create a product that addresses each, retrospectively.

A notable outcome was that we all desired to use AI technology to alleviate their pains.

Design

Since the logomark couldn’t be changed, I built around it—drawing from its diamond shape to create a modular grid system that added structure, symbolism, and scalability to the brand. This grid became more than background logic; it turned the logo into a visual asset that echoes throughout layouts, textures, and design details across the system.

This was our starting point for weaving a Gantt chart-inspired timeline into the design—visualizing tasks, energy patterns, and progress in a way that feels intuitive for neurodivergent users.

User Testing - Paper Prototype

Tested low-fidelity sketches with ADHD users to validate flows, uncover friction points, and refine the core features before moving to high-fidelity design.

Information Architecture

After research and paper prototype testing, we defined the app’s structure to support smooth task flow. The IA connects onboarding, AI-assisted project setup, daily task management, and customizable settings—ensuring clarity, efficiency, and a user-centered experience.

Design Decisions

Guided by our research and user feedback, we made intentional design choices to reduce cognitive load for ADHD users.

Millers Law: ≤ 7 items per page

→ Keeps content digestible and avoids cognitive overload.

Calm Colors

→ Reduces visual overstimulation and supports focus.

Open, breathable heirarchy

→ Guides attention and lowers decision fatigue.

Clean & Minimal Typography

→ Improves readability and reduces cognitive load.

High Fidelity — Round 1

We split functionality across two screens for focus and flexibility. The Home view shows one top-priority task with a progress bar and energy-based time estimate to minimize distractions. The Chat view holds the AI assistant for full project breakdowns, edits, and rescheduling. This separation keeps “what’s next” front and center, while giving users control in a dedicated space. Rounded cards, ample white space, and subtle animations reinforce progress and small wins.

We split functionality across two screens for focus and flexibility. Home shows one top-priority task with progress tracking; Chat handles AI-driven project edits and rescheduling. Clear layouts and subtle animations keep focus and celebrate wins.

High Fidelity — Round 2

We learned from heavy-ADHD users that they wanted more native tools to complete AI-scheduled tasks and less friction between the AI chat and task viewer. In response, we merged chat into the Home view so the Gantt-style roadmap updates in real time, reducing context-switching. We also added a Dopamine Gauge to predict optimal focus windows using user patterns and optional health data, plus an integrated task timer to provide structure and maintain flow.

Merged chat into Home so the Gantt roadmap updates live, cut context-switching, and added a Dopamine Gauge plus task timer for optimal focus and structure. The more stimulating color palette supports sustained engagement, helping users stay in the zone longer.

Gauging the user's Optimal Work Time

The Focus Readiness Gauge visualizes your personal energy patterns over the day—combining historical usage data, optional health-sensor inputs (like sleep and heart-rate), and big-data heuristics to predict when your attention will peak or dip. At a glance, you can see upcoming “high-focus” windows and low-energy stretches. Tapping any point on the timeline surfaces an AI-generated suggestion—such as “skim lecture slides at 4 PM” or “review notes at 2 PM”—so you can plan tasks when you’re most primed to succeed.

Shows your daily energy patterns using usage data, optional health inputs, and predictive models—highlighting peak focus windows with AI-suggested tasks to match your best times.

Contextual Capture — From Slack Messages & Photos to Your Plan

In the AI chat, users can snap a photo of notes, whiteboards, or printed materials—and the app’s computer‐vision model automatically parses key tasks and deadlines.  As soon as the image is processed, your Home view’s three-day Gantt chart refreshes in real time, inserting newly extracted steps into the timeline.  This seamless photo-to-plan workflow reduces manual entry, preserves your momentum, and keeps the focus on what’s next—no context switches required.

Snap notes or whiteboards in AI chat, and key tasks auto-populate the Home view’s Gantt chart in real time—eliminating manual entry and keeping you in flow.

Focusflow.ai

Focusflow.ai

Bite-Sized Tasks. Big-Time Focus.

Bite-Sized Tasks. Big-Time Focus.

2025 Rio Mabbayad ©

Made with love ☺︎

2025 Rio Mabbayad ©

Made with love ☺︎