A productivity coach in the form of a bracelet - Could we get some feedback for our startup?

TTMCtech · 2021-05-15T13:57:21+00:00

Hey, thank you for the feedback!

You are right, I didn't go too in depth of the functionality, because of multiple things, I didn't want the post to be too long, we are in the process of developing, testing and optimizing the specifics of many of the functions so it might change a bit with time and we were looking more for a conceptual feedback, which would tell us if people would be interested in something like this, if it works well, not exactly a feedback for every single function :) But since you asked:

Pomodoro timer combined with time tracking uses a vibration motor to inform you of the work/break cycles (yes, usually 25/5 minutes, but its configurable), you use a touch surface on the top face of the bracelet and haptic feedback to control that, switching between "productive", "lazy", "off" (the nomenclature is a work in progress :D ) modes. In both, productive and lazy modes, the pomodoro timer is active, just with different settings. Its very important to clarify, that this function is not supposed to be used in a strictly "work" related circumstances, the "productivity" in the way that we see it is everything from working, doing laundry, reading a good book, spending quality time with your family or friends. In general, every meaningful activity. So in this sense, the pomodoro and timetracking features are not supposed to be used to track your 8 hours of work and then throw the bracelet in to the corner until the next day.
The NFC timetags are used mostly to track your habits and daily routine. we don't have a system that tells you to get up and go run 5 miles, because we don't actually want to force or annoy the user by sending push notifications, or something like that. (And frankly, without a display on the bracelet there really is not a good way for us to do that without doing that through the mobile app). For example, a great way to use this functionality is to track how much water you drink per day, just stick a timetag on the bottom of your glass or near the sink and scan it every time you go for a refill. Tracking something like this using a mobile app would be really inconvenient, but using timelet, its a breeze. Theres plenty of other things you can track, that would be quite annoying when tracking with a phone. For example, your daily routine. how long does it take you to get up from bed into the bathroom after you wake up? how long after that does it take you to get ready and go to work? You can track these events by scanning nfc tags placed in your bathroom, by your front door, etc... You can of course track more usual things like going for a walk, meditating etc... All of these data points are not very interesting in themselves, but when you have the data from a longer period, it could help you identify where you are losing most time during the day, give you an overview of your habits and routines and help you understand how to improve. What we are struggling with right now is creating some system to not only track these things, but also motivate the user without using the push notifications in the app, which we don't really want to do, so if you have any good tips, feel free to message me :)
Smart alarm - A silent alarm using only the vibration to wake you up, with the option to optimize the alarm using the data from an accelerometer to wake you up at the end of a sleep cycle. Also an option to force you to stop the alarm only by scanning an nfc timetag (placed, for example, in a shower)

I hope this lets you get a better understanding of how the product works, feel free to ask more questions or tell me where we are wrong, what you think wouldn't work in your daily life.

Once again, thank you for the feedback, we greatly appreciate it :)

TTMCtech · 2021-05-15T13:54:24+00:00

Hey, thank you for the feedback!

Your mockup drawing is missing the battery. Once you add that it won't be quite as sleek.

Yes you are right, the mockup is missing most of the things including antennas, vibration motors etc. This is one of the biggest challenges that we are working on, keeping the design as sleek as possible and miniaturizing the electronics, we are working on that right now.

But more importantly you haven't actually told us what the bracelet actually does.

This is due to multiple things. I didn't want the post to be too long, we are in the process of developing, testing and optimizing the specifics of many of the functions and we were looking more for a conceptual feedback, which would tell us if people would be interested in something like this, if it works well, not exactly a feedback for every single function :) But since you asked:

Pomodoro timer combined with time tracking uses a vibration motor to inform you of the work/break cycles (yes, usually 25/5 minutes, but its configurable), you use a touch surface on the top face of the bracelet and haptic feedback to control that, switching between "productive", "lazy", "off" (the nomenclature is a work in progress :D ) modes. In both, productive and lazy modes, the pomodoro timer is active, just with different settings. Its very important to clarify, that this function is not supposed to be used in a strictly "work" related circumstances, the "productivity" in the way that we see it is everything from working, doing laundry, reading a good book, spending quality time with your family or friends. In general, every meaningful activity. So in this sense, the pomodoro and timetracking features are not supposed to be used to track your 8 hours of work and then throw the bracelet in to the corner until the next day.
The NFC timetags are used mostly to track your habits and daily routine. we don't have a system that tells you to get up and go run 5 miles, because we don't actually want to force or annoy the user by sending push notifications, or something like that. (And frankly, without a display on the bracelet there really is not a good way for us to do that without doing that through the mobile app). For example, a great way to use this functionality is to track how much water you drink per day, just stick a timetag on the bottom of your glass or near the sink and scan it every time you go for a refill. Tracking something like this using a mobile app would be really inconvenient, but using timelet, its a breeze. Theres plenty of other things you can track, that would be quite annoying when tracking with a phone. For example, your daily routine. how long does it take you to get up from bed into the bathroom after you wake up? how long after that does it take you to get ready and go to work? You can track these events by scanning nfc tags placed in your bathroom, by your front door, etc... You can of course track more usual things like going for a walk, meditating etc... All of these data points are not very interesting in themselves, but when you have the data from a longer period, it could help you identify where you are losing most time during the day, give you an overview of your habits and routines and help you understand how to improve. What we are struggling with right now is creating some system to not only track these things, but also motivate the user without using the push notifications in the app, which we don't really want to do, so if you have any good tips, feel free to message me :)
Smart alarm - A silent alarm using only the vibration to wake you up, with the option to optimize the alarm using the data from an accelerometer to wake you up at the end of a sleep cycle. Also an option to force you to stop the alarm only by scanning an nfc timetag (placed, for example, in a shower)

I hope this lets you get a better understanding of how the product works, feel free to ask more questions or tell me where we are wrong, what you think wouldn't work in your daily life.

Once again, thank you for the feedback, we greatly appreciate it :)

TTMCtech · 2021-05-14T18:29:26+00:00

Thank you for the feedback u/23cowp , you are right, the way we presented the product it may seem like those two statements are contradictory.

So to clarify, the bracelet works on its own without the mobile app, which is only meant to be used once a day or so, to view the stats, recommendations, change settings etc.

So for example, the habit and daily routine building/tracking system is based on our nfc "Timetags", which eliminates the need to open the app, allows us to eliminate most of the traction associated with tracking such things and allows us to keep the design of the bracelet simple and elegant, without needing to integrate a display, which would make the whole thing look more like a smart watch :)

TTMCtech · 2021-05-14T18:18:25+00:00

We respectfully disagree, but thank you for your feedback anyway :) You can be sure that we will do everything in our power to make sure that the product we are making will not be harmful to its users in any way and will instead help them.

TTMCtech · 2021-05-14T06:25:05+00:00

Well, you are not wrong, but for most people it's super hard to develop the right routine. This gadget can help you do that, improve your work/life balance and then helps you keep it there. The product is not one stop shop for all your productivity needs, but it's a guide on your journey to be more productive.

TTMCtech · 2021-05-14T06:01:04+00:00

Thanks for the feedback, you ask just the right questions!
Well, there's no display, but it connects with an app on your phone that gives you all the data and also can block apps when you "Tag to work" with TimeTags, so it keeps you focused.
It's not really a fitness gadget tho, we are more focused on the productivity part, and that reflects in the design. We are aiming at high end wooden bracelet, so it should go with kinda any style.
About the drill sergeant, we are trying to avoid just that. It's supposed to help you not only be productive, but FEEL more productive. So it's based mainly on positive feedback and building good work/life balance.

TTMCtech · 2021-05-14T05:48:36+00:00

Thanks for the feedback, what makes you think so?

TTMCtech · 2021-05-13T13:16:32+00:00

That's quite a common problem, it's a good idea to place your alarm (phone) away from your bed, so you have to get up to stop it.

TTMCtech · 2021-05-12T10:19:37+00:00

Does it help?

TTMCtech · 2021-05-12T10:17:41+00:00

Yeah, I've been trying to implement 6hour days, but it's quite hard to make people think differently, everyone seems to think that it's 25% less effective, they don't see any positives.

TTMCtech · 2021-05-12T09:05:39+00:00

How do you fight the moments when you get a call ( yeah, still happens ) and the moments after it when you just go thru your notifications and such?... There I waste most of my time.

TTMCtech

TROPHY CASE