Visual Timer
A side project turned 500K-download Android app — built around intuitive circular time visualization, shaped by real user feedback over 28 iterative releases.
Context
Visual Timer started as a passion project inspired by Jake Knapp’s “Sprint” — a timer app built around circular visual time representation. The idea: displaying time as a shrinking circle segment makes duration feel tangible, even for users who struggle with abstract time concepts.
What started as a personal tool grew into a product with 500,000+ downloads and a 4.6-star rating on Google Play — almost entirely through organic growth.
What I did
I designed, built, and maintained the app end-to-end: product decisions, UX design, Android development, and growth experimentation.
Core design decisions:
- Circular time display with direct manipulation — set duration by tapping or swiping on the circle, no separate input dialogs
- MVP scoped to timer setup (seconds/minutes up to 60), screen-on during countdown, quick-access notifications, customizable alarms, and preset timers
Iterative development (28 updates in 16 months):
- Added pause/resume, dark theme, app-level volume control, Android app shortcuts, tablet optimization, and landscape support
- Integrated a feedback tool to track feature requests and pain points systematically
- Smart preset ordering by usage frequency — the app learns what you use most
- Crowdsourced translations in 8 languages to increase discoverability
Responding to users, not just reacting: Early reviews revealed a wrong assumption — users expected clockwise timer progression. Rather than blindly following every request, I added a direction setting while keeping the original default. The distinction between systemic problems worth fixing and individual feature requests requiring deeper validation became a core principle.
Growth experimentation:
- A/B tested icons and promo videos — simplified icon designs outperformed conceptual ones by 17-35%
- App Bundle adoption reduced install size by up to 64%
Outcome
- 500,000+ installs, 4.6-star rating
- Nearly 100% organic growth — no paid acquisition
- 28% of sessions use custom presets, indicating strong engagement with power features