App Design
Iman Companion: Pray & Grow Together
An app for Muslim youth the track their prayers & grow in faith but together with friends.
Year :
2026
Industry :
Mobile App Design
Client :
Stichting Kümbet
Project Duration :
5 Months
Problem :
Many Muslim teenagers (14–18) genuinely want to pray consistently, but struggle to maintain rhythm due to school pressure, fatigue, digital distraction, and fluctuating motivation. The issue is not intention — it is sustainable consistency within daily context.
Through qualitative interviews (n=8), observations within a Turkish-Dutch youth community, and co-creation sessions with imams and teachers via Stichting Kümbet, a deeper insight emerged:
The goal is not to make youth pray more, but to strengthen their Iman (faith state) through prayer.
Existing prayer apps primarily focus on:
Functional prayer times
Logging behavior
Static reminders
They rarely support:
Motivation over time
Recovery after relapse
Social encouragement without pressure
Awareness of spiritual growth
This creates a gap between religious intention and everyday behavior.
Core problem
Muslim youth want to pray consistently, but lose rhythm due to contextual factors — while existing apps do not sufficiently support long-term motivation, awareness, and relapse recovery.
Solution :
Iman Companion is a religiously sensitive, growth-oriented mobile app that supports consistent prayer by combining:
Behavioral design principles
Light, forgiving progress tracking
Subtle social encouragement
Reflective awareness of spiritual growth
Instead of focusing purely on performance metrics, the app reframes prayer as part of a personal growth journey.
Key design principles
1. Forgiving Design
Missed prayers are not punished or visually highlighted. Non-logged moments remain neutral. This reduces shame and prevents disengagement.
2. Low Cognitive Load
After Hi-Fi 1 testing revealed high complexity and mental accounting behavior, I fundamentally simplified the architecture:
Reduced navigation to three core pages
Removed complex goal-management systems
Replaced flexible goal creation with a simple commitment card
Prioritized clarity over feature density
3. Awareness Over Judgment
The “State of Iman” visualizes growth using a rolling average model — not as a verdict, but as a reflective indicator. Users interpreted it as supportive rather than evaluative during validation.
4. Subtle Social Support
Optional features like:
Prayer commitment groups
Encouragement between friends
Shared challenges
These are framed as collective growth — not competition. Public feeds and status-based visibility were deliberately excluded.
5. Light Gamification
Achievements and streaks exist, but without religious trivialization. Motivation is reinforced through gentle progress feedback rather than extrinsic reward loops.
Final Positioning
Iman Companion acts as a background companion — supportive, calm, and non-judgmental — rather than a tracking system or moral authority.
Challenge :
Designing within a religious context introduced unique ethical and interaction challenges.
1. Designing for Spiritual Growth Without Reducing It to Metrics
Prayer is not a productivity task. Reducing faith to quantitative dashboards risks trivialization. The challenge was to:
Use data without turning religion into gamified performance
Encourage behavior without moral pressure
Support growth without theological overreach
AI-based religious advice, public rankings, and discussion forums were intentionally excluded to avoid misinterpretation or doctrinal risk.
2. Iterative Turning Point (Hi-Fi 1 → Hi-Fi 2)
Initial high-fidelity validation showed strong conceptual acceptance — but usability issues:
Too many features
High data density
Cognitive overload
Goal-management overshadowed prayer
Two weeks before deadline, I executed a strategic pivot:
Benchmark analysis of Atoms (used purely for UX principles, not content)
Full simplification sprint
Refocus on clarity, rhythm, and calm interaction
This resulted in:
Simplified flows
Clearer progress visualizations
Reduced feature noise
Improved first-value experience
The final validation confirmed higher usability and emotional acceptance.
3. Balancing Privacy & Social Motivation
Religious data is sensitive. Visibility of missed prayers caused social pressure in early tests.
Design response:
Optional social visibility
No highlighting of missed entries
Neutral calendar states
Emphasis on intention (niyyah) and shared growth
This reframed social features as encouragement — not surveillance.
Summary :
Iman Companion evolved from a feature-rich habit tracker into a growth-centered, ethically designed religious companion app.
Through qualitative research, iterative prototyping, and validation rounds, I:
Translated behavioral psychology into religiously sensitive interaction design
Reduced cognitive load through structural simplification
Designed relapse-resilient systems
Balanced persuasion with ethical restraint
Shifted from performance tracking to awareness support
The final validation showed:
Strong conceptual acceptance
Clear understanding of positioning
Motivation without perceived pressure
Positive engagement with reflective growth visualizations
This project strengthened my ability to:
Design within complex cultural contexts
Operationalize research insights into product decisions
Execute strategic pivots under time pressure
Let go of personal design preferences in favor of validated simplicity
Iman Companion demonstrates my approach as a UX/UI designer:
research-driven, ethically grounded, and strategically iterative.
More Projects
App Design
Iman Companion: Pray & Grow Together
An app for Muslim youth the track their prayers & grow in faith but together with friends.
Year :
2026
Industry :
Mobile App Design
Client :
Stichting Kümbet
Project Duration :
5 Months
Problem :
Many Muslim teenagers (14–18) genuinely want to pray consistently, but struggle to maintain rhythm due to school pressure, fatigue, digital distraction, and fluctuating motivation. The issue is not intention — it is sustainable consistency within daily context.
Through qualitative interviews (n=8), observations within a Turkish-Dutch youth community, and co-creation sessions with imams and teachers via Stichting Kümbet, a deeper insight emerged:
The goal is not to make youth pray more, but to strengthen their Iman (faith state) through prayer.
Existing prayer apps primarily focus on:
Functional prayer times
Logging behavior
Static reminders
They rarely support:
Motivation over time
Recovery after relapse
Social encouragement without pressure
Awareness of spiritual growth
This creates a gap between religious intention and everyday behavior.
Core problem
Muslim youth want to pray consistently, but lose rhythm due to contextual factors — while existing apps do not sufficiently support long-term motivation, awareness, and relapse recovery.
Solution :
Iman Companion is a religiously sensitive, growth-oriented mobile app that supports consistent prayer by combining:
Behavioral design principles
Light, forgiving progress tracking
Subtle social encouragement
Reflective awareness of spiritual growth
Instead of focusing purely on performance metrics, the app reframes prayer as part of a personal growth journey.
Key design principles
1. Forgiving Design
Missed prayers are not punished or visually highlighted. Non-logged moments remain neutral. This reduces shame and prevents disengagement.
2. Low Cognitive Load
After Hi-Fi 1 testing revealed high complexity and mental accounting behavior, I fundamentally simplified the architecture:
Reduced navigation to three core pages
Removed complex goal-management systems
Replaced flexible goal creation with a simple commitment card
Prioritized clarity over feature density
3. Awareness Over Judgment
The “State of Iman” visualizes growth using a rolling average model — not as a verdict, but as a reflective indicator. Users interpreted it as supportive rather than evaluative during validation.
4. Subtle Social Support
Optional features like:
Prayer commitment groups
Encouragement between friends
Shared challenges
These are framed as collective growth — not competition. Public feeds and status-based visibility were deliberately excluded.
5. Light Gamification
Achievements and streaks exist, but without religious trivialization. Motivation is reinforced through gentle progress feedback rather than extrinsic reward loops.
Final Positioning
Iman Companion acts as a background companion — supportive, calm, and non-judgmental — rather than a tracking system or moral authority.
Challenge :
Designing within a religious context introduced unique ethical and interaction challenges.
1. Designing for Spiritual Growth Without Reducing It to Metrics
Prayer is not a productivity task. Reducing faith to quantitative dashboards risks trivialization. The challenge was to:
Use data without turning religion into gamified performance
Encourage behavior without moral pressure
Support growth without theological overreach
AI-based religious advice, public rankings, and discussion forums were intentionally excluded to avoid misinterpretation or doctrinal risk.
2. Iterative Turning Point (Hi-Fi 1 → Hi-Fi 2)
Initial high-fidelity validation showed strong conceptual acceptance — but usability issues:
Too many features
High data density
Cognitive overload
Goal-management overshadowed prayer
Two weeks before deadline, I executed a strategic pivot:
Benchmark analysis of Atoms (used purely for UX principles, not content)
Full simplification sprint
Refocus on clarity, rhythm, and calm interaction
This resulted in:
Simplified flows
Clearer progress visualizations
Reduced feature noise
Improved first-value experience
The final validation confirmed higher usability and emotional acceptance.
3. Balancing Privacy & Social Motivation
Religious data is sensitive. Visibility of missed prayers caused social pressure in early tests.
Design response:
Optional social visibility
No highlighting of missed entries
Neutral calendar states
Emphasis on intention (niyyah) and shared growth
This reframed social features as encouragement — not surveillance.
Summary :
Iman Companion evolved from a feature-rich habit tracker into a growth-centered, ethically designed religious companion app.
Through qualitative research, iterative prototyping, and validation rounds, I:
Translated behavioral psychology into religiously sensitive interaction design
Reduced cognitive load through structural simplification
Designed relapse-resilient systems
Balanced persuasion with ethical restraint
Shifted from performance tracking to awareness support
The final validation showed:
Strong conceptual acceptance
Clear understanding of positioning
Motivation without perceived pressure
Positive engagement with reflective growth visualizations
This project strengthened my ability to:
Design within complex cultural contexts
Operationalize research insights into product decisions
Execute strategic pivots under time pressure
Let go of personal design preferences in favor of validated simplicity
Iman Companion demonstrates my approach as a UX/UI designer:
research-driven, ethically grounded, and strategically iterative.
More Projects
App Design
Iman Companion: Pray & Grow Together
An app for Muslim youth the track their prayers & grow in faith but together with friends.
Year :
2026
Industry :
Mobile App Design
Client :
Stichting Kümbet
Project Duration :
5 Months
Problem :
Many Muslim teenagers (14–18) genuinely want to pray consistently, but struggle to maintain rhythm due to school pressure, fatigue, digital distraction, and fluctuating motivation. The issue is not intention — it is sustainable consistency within daily context.
Through qualitative interviews (n=8), observations within a Turkish-Dutch youth community, and co-creation sessions with imams and teachers via Stichting Kümbet, a deeper insight emerged:
The goal is not to make youth pray more, but to strengthen their Iman (faith state) through prayer.
Existing prayer apps primarily focus on:
Functional prayer times
Logging behavior
Static reminders
They rarely support:
Motivation over time
Recovery after relapse
Social encouragement without pressure
Awareness of spiritual growth
This creates a gap between religious intention and everyday behavior.
Core problem
Muslim youth want to pray consistently, but lose rhythm due to contextual factors — while existing apps do not sufficiently support long-term motivation, awareness, and relapse recovery.
Solution :
Iman Companion is a religiously sensitive, growth-oriented mobile app that supports consistent prayer by combining:
Behavioral design principles
Light, forgiving progress tracking
Subtle social encouragement
Reflective awareness of spiritual growth
Instead of focusing purely on performance metrics, the app reframes prayer as part of a personal growth journey.
Key design principles
1. Forgiving Design
Missed prayers are not punished or visually highlighted. Non-logged moments remain neutral. This reduces shame and prevents disengagement.
2. Low Cognitive Load
After Hi-Fi 1 testing revealed high complexity and mental accounting behavior, I fundamentally simplified the architecture:
Reduced navigation to three core pages
Removed complex goal-management systems
Replaced flexible goal creation with a simple commitment card
Prioritized clarity over feature density
3. Awareness Over Judgment
The “State of Iman” visualizes growth using a rolling average model — not as a verdict, but as a reflective indicator. Users interpreted it as supportive rather than evaluative during validation.
4. Subtle Social Support
Optional features like:
Prayer commitment groups
Encouragement between friends
Shared challenges
These are framed as collective growth — not competition. Public feeds and status-based visibility were deliberately excluded.
5. Light Gamification
Achievements and streaks exist, but without religious trivialization. Motivation is reinforced through gentle progress feedback rather than extrinsic reward loops.
Final Positioning
Iman Companion acts as a background companion — supportive, calm, and non-judgmental — rather than a tracking system or moral authority.
Challenge :
Designing within a religious context introduced unique ethical and interaction challenges.
1. Designing for Spiritual Growth Without Reducing It to Metrics
Prayer is not a productivity task. Reducing faith to quantitative dashboards risks trivialization. The challenge was to:
Use data without turning religion into gamified performance
Encourage behavior without moral pressure
Support growth without theological overreach
AI-based religious advice, public rankings, and discussion forums were intentionally excluded to avoid misinterpretation or doctrinal risk.
2. Iterative Turning Point (Hi-Fi 1 → Hi-Fi 2)
Initial high-fidelity validation showed strong conceptual acceptance — but usability issues:
Too many features
High data density
Cognitive overload
Goal-management overshadowed prayer
Two weeks before deadline, I executed a strategic pivot:
Benchmark analysis of Atoms (used purely for UX principles, not content)
Full simplification sprint
Refocus on clarity, rhythm, and calm interaction
This resulted in:
Simplified flows
Clearer progress visualizations
Reduced feature noise
Improved first-value experience
The final validation confirmed higher usability and emotional acceptance.
3. Balancing Privacy & Social Motivation
Religious data is sensitive. Visibility of missed prayers caused social pressure in early tests.
Design response:
Optional social visibility
No highlighting of missed entries
Neutral calendar states
Emphasis on intention (niyyah) and shared growth
This reframed social features as encouragement — not surveillance.
Summary :
Iman Companion evolved from a feature-rich habit tracker into a growth-centered, ethically designed religious companion app.
Through qualitative research, iterative prototyping, and validation rounds, I:
Translated behavioral psychology into religiously sensitive interaction design
Reduced cognitive load through structural simplification
Designed relapse-resilient systems
Balanced persuasion with ethical restraint
Shifted from performance tracking to awareness support
The final validation showed:
Strong conceptual acceptance
Clear understanding of positioning
Motivation without perceived pressure
Positive engagement with reflective growth visualizations
This project strengthened my ability to:
Design within complex cultural contexts
Operationalize research insights into product decisions
Execute strategic pivots under time pressure
Let go of personal design preferences in favor of validated simplicity
Iman Companion demonstrates my approach as a UX/UI designer:
research-driven, ethically grounded, and strategically iterative.