FitPhone
Smart Mobile
Client company:FitPhone
Project description
Fitphone is an innovative project by Fontys designed to help people develop healthier smartphone habits by fostering awareness and encouraging mindful usage. While smartphones bring many benefits, they also contribute to issues like poor concentration, sleep deprivation, and procrastination. Fitphone empowers users to make intentional choices about their smartphone behavior to address this.
Context
The increasing prevalence of smartphone addiction poses significant challenges for young adults aged 18-30. Studies reveal that excessive screen time adversely impacts mental health, productivity, and overall well-being. While several apps address digital wellness, most are limited to screen time tracking, lacking the holistic tools necessary to drive meaningful behavioral change. FitPhone fills this gap by incorporating educational content, peer accountability, and gamification into its framework.
Results
The most important outcomes of the project include the creation of a mobile app, deployed on both the App Store and Play Store, that helps users improve their digital well-being. The app allows users to learn more about digital wellness through articles, videos, and story-like nudges, track their screen time and pickups on a weekly basis, visualize their progress over time in a graph, and journal their experiences through weekly check-ins. It also provides recommendations for offline activities and events in their city to encourage real-world engagement. These features deliver value by combining educational content and behavioral insights to promote healthier habits, going beyond standard screen time tracking apps.
Additionally, the project included basic research into psychological methods for fostering behavior change, ensuring the app design is grounded in evidence-based principles. A matchmaking algorithm was also developed to group users with similar issues for potential offline meetups, though this feature is currently on hold. This algorithm is an essential foundation for future social features. Finally, comprehensive handover documentation was prepared to support the next group continuing the project, ensuring a smooth transition and long-term development. The project is positioned at TRL 7, with a validated prototype actively available on mobile platforms.