Do good social network

Alms

11 Apr, 2022

As the first designer at Palta-backed Alms, I took the product from zero to first release in five months, led the redesign through two pivots, and owned everything from onboarding and core flows to the design system, brand, and landing pages

Timeline

2020–2022

Role

Founding Designer

Scope

UX/UI, Design System, Brand

Product

0

1

, B2C, Wellness

Surfaces

iOS, Landing

Intro

The challenge

Approach

Exploration

First version

Pivot to social

Platform vision

Conclusion

Alms was a social-impact wellness app funded by Palta (Flo Health, Simple, Lensa). It helped people feel better through small real-life actions, like helping others or building healthier habits.

Over two years it moved through three models: personal challenges, social network, and creator led platform. The audience was people in their 30s and 40s who were already paying for apps like Headspace and Calm. The final direction used creators to reach them at scale.

The challenge

Pandemic isolation made people want to feel better and more connected. Most of the behaviour we wanted to encourage happened offline, where it was harder to start and easy to lose track of progress. Our goal was to connect people online in a meaningful way and make that progress visible.

The challenge

Pandemic isolation made people want to feel better and more connected. The hard part? That kind of behaviour happens offline, where friction is high and progress is invisible. Our goal was to connect people online in a meaningful way and make their self-improvement progress visible.

The challenge

Pandemic isolation made people want to feel better and more connected. Most of the behaviour we wanted to encourage happened offline, where it was harder to start and easy to lose track of progress. Our goal was to connect people online in a meaningful way and make that progress visible.

Approach

Alms started from an informed founder bet, with a short runway and a tiny core team. I worked with the founder, PM, iOS engineers, content, contractors, and Palta stakeholders to ship and learn at the same time.

Approach

Alms wasn't built through a textbook discovery track. It was built like an early-stage product: an informed founder bet, short runway, and tiny core team. I worked with the founder, PM, iOS engineers, content, contractors, and Palta stakeholders to ship and learn at the same time.

Approach

Alms started from an informed founder bet, with a short runway and a tiny core team. I worked with the founder, PM, iOS engineers, content, contractors, and Palta stakeholders to ship and learn at the same time.

I owned design across the loop. Our researcher ran surveys, remote user tests, and diary studies on prototypes I built, while I turned user and Palta feedback into product decisions. Across versions we tracked the same metrics: store conversion, onboarding activation, first action completion, week one retention, posting rate, and qualitative feedback from tests and creator partners.

Exploration

From market research we saw that the pandemic had doubled wellness app downloads, but every player was inward-facing. Our bet was that the same proven product loop could point outward: do good, feel good, share it.

Alms sat between well-being, habit-building, and vertical social networks: emotional motivation from well-being apps, repeatable action from habit apps, and accountability from vertical social networks.

Before writing any code, we tested whether the idea held up:

  • SplitMetrics ads tested the positioning. The strongest variant hit 38% store conversion, with “impact and sharing” as the winning message.

  • 200+ Typeform responses showed people wanted to do good but felt they weren’t doing enough.

  • UserTesting showed the concept resonated, but people wanted visible progress and tracking in their lives, not just inspirational content.

  • 300 pre-launch email signups gave us enough confidence to build.

That gave us a clear direction: a guided product built around action and visible progress

First version

I defined the brand around one idea: good is the new cool. Same emotional space as Headspace and Calm, pointed outward. Yellow as a happiness signal, realistic photography over illustration, and an informal voice. Nothing that looked like a medical volunteering app.

Our first take on challenges and actions

Our first take on challenges and actions

Our first take on challenges and actions

Our first take on challenges and actions

Our first take on challenges

Our first take on challenges and actions

Each challenge contains actions

Each challenge contains actions

We scoped the first build around challenge packs: real world actions over multiple days. Payments and donations were also planned, but financial complexity and trust concerns from user testing pushed both out of scope.

Prototype testing surfaced a bigger issue: people couldn't tell single actions from challenge packs. I moved the UI from horizontal carousels to a vertical scroll and used a “box” layout to separate actions from packs.

We scoped the first build around challenge packs: real-world actions spread over multiple days, shareable externally. Payments and donations we initially planned got cut. Five months of runway made the scope constraints obvious, and early user tests had raised trust concerns for donations in an unknown app.

Prototype testing also showed that horizontal carousels underperformed, but the biggest issue was clarity: people couldn't tell single actions from challenge packs. To address this I moved UI to vertical scroll, and used a "box" layout to distinguish actions from packs.

We scoped the first build around challenge packs: real world actions over multiple days. Payments and donations were also planned, but financial complexity and trust concerns from user testing pushed both out of scope.

Prototype testing surfaced a bigger issue: people couldn't tell single actions from challenge packs. I moved the UI from horizontal carousels to a vertical scroll and used a “box” layout to separate actions from packs.

We scoped the first build around challenge packs: real-world actions over multiple days, shareable externally. Payments and donations we initially planned got cut. Five months of runway made the scope constraints obvious, and early user tests had raised trust concerns for donations in a new app.

Prototype testing also showed that horizontal carousels underperformed, but the biggest issue was clarity: people couldn't tell single actions from challenge packs. To address this I moved UI to vertical scroll, and used a "box" layout to distinguish actions from packs.

Challenge and action UI after a few learnings

Challenge and action UI after a few learnings

Challenge and action UI after a few learnings

Challenge and action UI after a few learnings

Active challenge view after few learnings

Challenge and action UI after a few learnings

We launched in October 2020. About 12k people tried the app, with a 4.7/5 rating from 367 ratings. Users who completed more actions early stayed longer: 61% week one retention versus 23% overall. People started strong, then drifted.

Over the next two months, we pulled the first action into onboarding, added points and levels, and tightened the challenge experience. Engagement nudged up, but retention didn't really move.

We shipped in October 2020 with 250 rich content actions. About 12k people tried it and rated it 4.7/5 from 367 ratings. Users who completed more actions early stayed longer: 61% week-one retention for highly engaged users versus 23% overall. People started strong, then drifted.

Over the next two months, we tried to fix activation and progress visibility: pulled the first action into onboarding, added points and levels, and tightened the challenge experience. Engagement nudged up, but retention didn't really move.

Building a sense of progress with reflection and gamification

Building a sense of progress with reflection and gamification

Building a sense of progress with reflection and gamification

Building a sense of progress with reflection and gamification

Building a sense of progress with gamification

Building a sense of progress with reflection and gamification

The tiny everyday action idea had promise. But wasn't giving people enough reason to return. For V2, we bet on social proof and accountability.

Pivot to social

I rebuilt Alms as a vertical social network where people could post what they’d done and invite others to try. The goal was a faster “see it, understand it, try it” loop.

After testing layouts with users and stakeholders, I chose familiar feed patterns because our audience already had that muscle memory.

Completed actions feed in Alms 2.0

Completed actions feed in Alms 2.0

Completed actions feed in Alms 2.0

Completed actions feed in Alms 2.0

Completed actions feed in Alms 2.0

Completed actions feed in Alms 2.0

Now people could post freely, creating repeatable actions, or complete challenges that prompted sharing. As creators brought their audiences in, I worked with a graphic designer on a reusable collage system that made challenge topics easy to scan.

Freeform posts could now become repeatable actions, while challenges gave people specific tasks to complete and share. As we brought in creators and their audiences, I worked with a graphic designer on a scalable collage cover system so each challenge topic was easy to understand at a glance.

Now people could post freely, creating repeatable actions, or complete challenges that prompted sharing. As creators brought their audiences in, I worked with a graphic designer on a reusable collage system that made challenge topics easy to scan.

Creator-focused actions and challenges

Creator-focused actions and challenges

Creator-focused actions and challenges

Creator-focused actions and challenges

Creator-focused challenges

Creator-focused actions and challenges

As the product grew, legacy states and one off components started slowing us down. I rebuilt the system around shared primitives, patterns, and tokens, which meant fewer visual bugs and less back and forth with engineers.

As the product grew, keeping the UI quality high started slowing down feature and experiment delivery.

I sat down with engineers to check were actually used, cut the noise, organized the rest into primitives and patterns, replaced one-off values with tokens, and locked spacing to 8pt. Result: fewer visual bugs in production and less back-and-forth with engineers.

As the product grew, legacy states and one off components started slowing us down. I rebuilt the system around shared primitives, patterns, and tokens, which meant fewer visual bugs and less back and forth with engineers.

Alms 2.0 design system

Alms 2.0 design system

Alms 2.0 design system

Alms 2.0 design system

Alms 2.0 design system

With a brand designer, I refreshed the identity and created rules for type, motion, photography, and collage covers so contractors could work without constant handoffs.

We worked with a logotype designer to refresh the app icon and tighten the logo. I then added rules for type, motion, photography, and collage covers, and turned them into a simple guide so contractors could work without extensive handoffs.

With a brand designer, I refreshed the identity and created rules for type, motion, photography, and collage covers so contractors could work without constant handoffs.

Alms 2.0 style guide for contractors

Alms 2.0 style guide for contractors

Alms 2.0 style guide for contractors

Alms 2.0 style guide for contractors

Alms 2.0 style guide for contractors

I rebuilt the web presence too: one page for users and another for creators.

Creator and user landing pages

Creator and user landing pages

Creator and user landing pages

Creator and user landing pages

Creator and user landing pages

Working with 50+ creators, we doubled downloads from 12k to 25k and grew the Facebook community from ~500 to ~900. But participation stayed weak: 62% browsed, 30% engaged, and only 8% posted.

Creators could bring people in, but we were still asking users to do too much. Most user wanted to browse, while challenges were too static and rigid to carry the experience. For the next version, content had to become both more engaging and easier.

Platform vision

Creator traction pushed us toward a platform where anyone could build and run challenges. One general feed also left new users unsure what was relevant to them.

While preparing the V3 pitch, we tested challenge specific feeds. They moved first action completion from 29% to 35%, giving us confidence that better structure could help.

Challenge sub-feeds and new explore

Challenge sub-feeds and new explore

Challenge sub-feeds and new explore

Challenge sub-feeds and new explore

Challenge sub-feeds concept

Challenge sub-feeds and new explore

For the new version, we borrowed from course platforms: day by day structure, reviews, creator profiles, progress tracking, and richer formats. We broke challenges into small steps and prototyped them with creators.

For the new concept, we studied what course platforms did better than us: previews with reviews, clear day-by-day structure, creator profiles with tipping, progress tracking, and richer formats like vertical video and stories – all broken into quick steps around small wins. We prototyped those ideas with creators to see what resonated.

For the new version, we borrowed from course platforms: day by day structure, reviews, creator profiles, progress tracking, and richer formats. We broke challenges into small steps and prototyped them with creators.

Modular challenges based on creators' requests

Modular challenges based on creators' requests

Modular challenges based on creators' requests

Modular challenges based on creators' requests

Modular challenges based on creators' requests

Modular challenges based on creators' requests

Sadly, Palta didn't fund the next round, so the exploration ended there. The creator payment model also didn't fit their subscription strategy. Looking back, it was the right place to stop.

Sadly, Palta didn't fund the next round and our exploration was cut short. The creator-payment model we proposed didn't fit their subscription-focused strategy. Looking back, ending it there was the right call. We had given it two years and learned what mattered most.

Sadly, Palta didn't fund the next round, so the exploration ended there. The creator payment model also didn't fit their subscription strategy. Looking back, it was the right place to stop.

Conclusion

Downloads

25k

App Store

Retention

61%

Activated users, W1

People converted above category benchmarks, rated the app well, and power users came back. The idea was strong enough to get covered by TechCrunch. But we didn’t prove fast enough that offline daily habits could support a venture backed subscription business.

What stayed with me is product design essentialism. I always cared about craft, but this project taught me to spend it where it matters. I’m proud of how far we pushed the app idea and how much it changed the way I design.

Alms showed real demand and strong quality signals: people converted above category benchmarks, rated the app well, and power users came back. We found where the promise was real, but didn’t prove fast enough that offline daily habits could support a venture-backed subscription business.

What stayed with me is product-design essentialism. Craft and speed are only in conflict when you're working on the wrong things. Once you're clear on what matters, polish becomes the natural output, not a tax on it.

I'm proud of how far we pushed the app idea and how much it changed the way I design.

People converted above category benchmarks, rated the app well, and power users came back. The idea was strong enough to get covered by TechCrunch. But we didn’t prove fast enough that offline daily habits could support a venture backed subscription business.

What stayed with me is product design essentialism. I always cared about craft, but this project taught me to spend it where it matters. I’m proud of how far we pushed the app idea and how much it changed the way I design.

Acknowledgements

Built with love from Minsk with Alex Nevedovsky, Sasha Khadeka, Nick Shchetko, Sofia Chop, Joanna Buchmeyer, Roman Kutanov, Andrei Lunevich, Sergei Borovkov, and Dzianis Nikitsin. Thanks to everyone who cared, tested, and gave advice along the way. Alex – thank you for seeing my potential early.