Focusflow.ai
AI-powered, ADHD-friendly task manager using energy data and dopamine cues to create bite-sized steps with predictive scheduling.
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.
Problem Discovery
Barrier Analysis (Cause & Effect Mapping)
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
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.
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
6 Hat Method
MoSCOW
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
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
High Fidelity — Round 2
Gauging the user's Optimal Work Time
Contextual Capture — From Slack Messages & Photos to Your Plan