Timeline
Spring, 2023
Role
Product Manager
Team
Business Analyst, Product Engineer, UI/UX Designer
Tags
Accelerometer, Mobile, Gamification, Community
smofree
about
SmoFree is a mobile application designed to help users break free from nicotine addiction. It blends gamification—through leaderboards, challenges, and rewards—with a strong community where users can share progress and motivate each other.
Its standout feature is the Shake-to-Stop function, which uses the phone’s accelerometer: whenever a craving strikes, users can shake their phone as an instant call-to-action, replacing the impulse with an empowering physical gesture that reinforces self-control.
Achieved first place in the Health and Wellness stream at Biztech's Produhacks 2023.
problem
Market research revealed two clear insights: (a) nicotine addiction isn’t going away anytime soon, and (b) effective tools to quit nicotine simply don’t exist.
We analyzed historical data and spoke directly with smokers to understand why they wanted to quit. Here's a quick summary of the main ones.
Economical: nicotine is expensive. Cigarettes are more expensive than ever and e-cigarettes costs pile up.
For their loved ones: nicotine addiction comes at a cost. Addiction may oftentimes compromise your relationship with loved ones.
Health: this seems obvious.
Physical withdrawals: physical withdrawals are oftentimes painful, mentally draining, and incredibly overwhelming.
Yet most apps only highlight surface wins (e.g., “Good job! you saved $20!”), failing to address what truly matters: community support, purpose, actionable insights, and resisting physical withdrawals.
the why
The progression of medical research has made it clear: smoking is extremely harmful. According to the CDC, smokers are 15–30 times more likely to develop lung cancer than non-smokers. Even e-cigarettes, often seen as the “safer” option, contain harmful chemicals such as acetaldehyde, acrolein, and formaldehyde—substances linked to heart and lung disease.
Yet despite this knowledge, nicotine use—especially through vaping—continues to rise among young adults.
35% of youth aged 15–19 and 43% of those aged 20–24 have tried vaping within Canada.
At the same time, many want to quit.
In 2020, 37% of Canadians aged 15+ who vaped daily made at least one quit attempt, with the number even higher among youth (67% for ages 15–19 and 43% for ages 20–24).
The message is clear: nicotine use is not slowing down, but the desire to quit is growing. The challenge is building effective tools that address both.
solution design
After conducting user interviews, identifying market gaps, and really understanding our user pain points, we created a blueprint of 4 core features:
Shake-your-craving-away feature – Leveraging your phone's accelorometer and gyroscope, we've enabled a physical call to action feature that allows users to shake their phones whenever suffering from a craving.
Community feed feature – Like instagram, we wanted our users to be able to share their journey and support one another. You can post photos of your loved ones to remind yourself why you're quitting in the first place, or post motivational videos of your progress to help others along the way.
Gamified rewards and achievements – Similar to duolingo, we wanted to add another layer of intrinsic motivation. Users can start "days-smoke-free" streaks, compete with friends on active leaderboards, or get rewarded with achievements/in-app trophies.
AI integrated chat bot/assistant – Similar to a personal trainer, users will have access to an AI chat bot that'll add an extra layer of relapse protection. It can offer pro-active advice (i.e. take a deep breath and count to 3) or pull up photos of your loved ones if needed during tense moments.
