Wearables2025Kickstarter

TRU

The app and site
for a step-tracking anklet.

$136kRaised on Kickstarter from 1,328 backers

Role: Senior UX Designer
Timeline: 3 months · 2025
Team: UX, UI, product, engineering, operations
Platforms: Mobile app, responsive web, e-commerce
Outcome: $136,570 from 1,328 backers

Chapter 01

The problem

Most step trackers count badly and stop at data. When motivation drops, they just record the miss.

TRU started with two sisters and a simple complaint. The brief: a landing page that drives reservations and Kickstarter funding, and an app that motivates daily movement, tracks accurately and works with or without the device. I was Senior UX Designer for 3 months, working with product, engineering and operations.

“She was walking on her treadmill desk … and realised her smartwatch wasn’t tracking anything.”

Chapter 02

What I found

01Steps App: effortless, but it stops at data

02Apple Health: seamless, but passive

03StepUp: competition isn’t for everyone

04Fitbit: powerful tracking, cold experience

05The gap: a coach, not a counter

4 competitors · 2 personas · founders’ validation data

Chapter 03

Who I designed for

TRU is an ankle-based luxury tracker built for women. I could relate, but I didn’t want to design from assumption, so I used the founders’ early validation data and community insights to define two personas.

30 · Brand consultant · Los Angeles

Camille Johnson

The lifestyle and luxury seeker: active, without giving up her style.

Wants

Stay active and feel good about her health
Products that fit her identity
Tech that goes with any outfit

Struggles with

Fitness devices feel bulky, sporty or medical
Wearables clash with her personal style
Health apps feel cluttered

45 · Emergency physician · New York

Dr. Angela Morris

The functional user: it has to fit her day and just work.

Wants

Accurate tracking without changing her routine
No daily setup or attention
Data she can trust, low maintenance

Struggles with

Devices that need frequent charging
Managing multiple devices is tiring
Wrist wearables are restricted at work

What both needed

Motivation that feels supportive, not guilt-driven.

So the app celebrates small wins, gives instant feedback, and lets each person choose how much competition they want.

Chapter 04

Key decisions

Two products, one goal: turn movement into a habit. I designed with behavioural psychology in mind, motivation, feedback loops, gamification and emotional design, and every feature had to earn its place against that.

Turn a constraint into a funnel

The Kickstarter page builder only allowed a CTA attached to a form. I placed an email reserve straight after the hero, so every click was both a reservation and a lead.

Device first, never a dead end

Backers had already bought the anklet, so the first thing they wanted was to see it work. Onboarding starts by pairing the device, not signing up: activate first, celebrate movement fast. Bluetooth issues, old pairings and low battery all have clear recovery steps, and anyone without a device can track with their phone or go to the store.

A coach that knows how you like to be pushed

A few playful personality questions and an avatar assign a TRU Type and a personal trainer. From then on the trainer shapes the tone of every nudge, celebration and piece of feedback, so the app feels like a coach, not a counter.

The step ring as the heartbeat

I built the home screen around a step ring made from the TRU logo, with three states: incomplete, complete and exceeded. Live counts update in real time across the app, so every walk gives instant, visible feedback.

Streaks worth protecting

Gamification had to motivate, not overwhelm. A streak unlocks every day you hit your goal, it lives on the home screen so you always know where you stand, and streak goals turn it into a commitment you choose to keep, with badges to collect along the way.

Competition you opt into

The TRU Board has three levels, personal, friends and global, so people compete at their own comfort level. Challenges let users set a step goal and a duration and invite friends, turning movement into shared accountability.

Motivation that lives outside the app

Habits are built in the moments you’re not looking at your phone. Toasts, prompts and notifications come from your trainer, and a home-screen widget keeps progress and gentle nudges in view all day. Present, but never intrusive.

Chapter 05

What shipped

Scroll sideways for 9 key screens →

Components

The pieces that make TRU feel like a coach.

TRU component: Your steps — 02Your stepsDay, week, month or year, with a manual edit for the days you forgot your TRU.

TRU component: Home-screen widget — 03Home-screen widgetThe nudge lives on your home screen, so motivation doesn’t wait for you to open the app.

TRU component: Finding your device — 04Finding your deviceA calm, clear pairing state. No dead ends if Bluetooth drops.

TRU component: TRU Board podium — 05TRU Board podiumCompetition is opt-in: friends, personal or global.

TRU component: Badges — 06BadgesStreaks and distance milestones you can actually collect.

TRU component: Achievements — 07AchievementsPersonal bests, with coins as a small extra reward.

Chapter 06

The impact

$136kRaised on Kickstarter

1,328Backers

14Minutes to fully fund

Source: TRU’s Kickstarter campaign page (last updated January 16, 2026).

What testing changed

“Activate first, celebrate movement fast.”

I ran 8 moderated think-aloud sessions with Kickstarter backers and validated key flows in Maze. Testing added a skippable walkthrough, swapped the TRU Board’s medal icon for a group icon, and made device connection feedback clearer.

testing with backers

1,328 backers

Chapter 07

What I’d do differently

Test with backers earlier.

Usability sessions surfaced the need for a walkthrough after the core flows were built. Testing onboarding in wireframes would have caught it sooner.

Design the site and app as one journey.

The reservation email was a user’s first touchpoint with the app. I’d connect the two experiences from day one.

Next project

TRU