Rise Science
making invisible biology readable at a glance
Tuesday 1 October
6:42
06:00 → 22:00 · one day, forecast at dawn
Nobody wakes up at 100%. Your energy comes in waves on a clock you can’t see: groggy at seven, sharp by ten, flat at three, back by six. Stop fighting the curve. Start planning around it.
Lockup: 09:41, Tuesday. Peak in 42 minutes. Your morning peak lands at 10:23. Illustrative forecast for our concept UI, not real user data.
01 · The brief
An energy app that people read in two seconds.
Rise Science grew out of sleep coaching for pro teams like the Chicago Bulls, then launched the RISE app in 2021. It sells energy, not sleep scores: it models two levers, sleep debt and circadian rhythm, to show when you’ll peak and dip each day.
- 2015
- Founded in Chicago (Northwestern alumni)
- $15.5M
- Raised by the 2021 launch
- ADA ’23
- Apple Design Awards finalist
- 10M+
- Users, as reported by Rise
Design problems we chose
- 01
Make invisible biology legible
The energy curve is the product. It has to read in under two seconds, on the home screen, lock screen and wrist.
- 02
Debt without guilt
“Sleep debt” can feel like a scolding. Parents and shift-workers need it to motivate, not shame.
- 03
From insight to action
20+ timed habits is a lot. Turn them into one calm plan with a single “next best action”.
Our goal
One home screen that answers: how will I feel today, and what’s the one thing to do next?
02 · Research
Three people, three very different nights.
We built personas from Rise’s public audience (knowledge workers, parents and students), then stress-tested every screen against them.
Personas are NUUKE research assumptions built from the brand’s public audience, not real customers.
03 · Journey map
Where a day goes wrong, and where the app can help.
Hover or tap each moment to see what the user is doing, how they feel, and the design opportunity we found.
Stage 1 · Wake
Doing
Snoozes twice, checks phone in bed.
Feeling
😕 Groggy, unsure if it was a “good” night.
Opportunity
Name the grogginess window (≈90 min) so it reads as normal biology, not failure.
Stage 2 · Morning
Doing
Second coffee, starts on email.
Feeling
😐 Okay, but wasting peak focus on admin.
Opportunity
Surface “Peak in 42m” and offer to block focus time in the calendar.
Stage 3 · Afternoon
Doing
Hits the 3pm dip, reaches for coffee #3.
Feeling
😣 Drained, frustrated.
Opportunity
Pre-warn the dip and suggest a walk or 20-min nap instead of late caffeine.
Stage 4 · Evening
Doing
Scrolls in bed with bright screens.
Feeling
😕 Wired but tired.
Opportunity
A gentle “dim the lights” nudge timed to their Melatonin Window.
Stage 5 · Bedtime
Doing
Goes to sleep inside the window.
Feeling
🙂 In control, calm.
Opportunity
Smart alarm + one line of feedback tomorrow: debt went down.
Stage 6 · Next day
Doing
Sees debt drop from 3h 20m to 2h 40m.
Feeling
😄 Motivated, it’s working.
Opportunity
Celebrate progress, not perfection. Keep the streak forgiving.
04 · User flow
Eleven screens. One loop that repeats every day.
Onboarding happens once; the daily loop is Energy → action → bedtime → alarm. Tap any screen to jump to it in the live prototype.
Tap any screen to open it in the prototype ↓
05 · 3D wireframe
Take the home screen apart, layer by layer.
Every screen is built in five layers. Scroll and the exploded view assembles into the final UI. Drag to look around it.
Scroll to assemble · drag to orbit
- L1
Layout grid
4-column grid, 20pt margins, 8pt rhythm and safe areas for the island and home indicator.
- L2
Wireframe
Grey-box hierarchy: one hero number, the 24-hour curve, then the next three actions.
- L3
Content & data
Real copy and live data: energy now, peak countdown, sleep debt, the caffeine cut-off.
- L4
Colour & type
Night-sky indigo base, warm peach for energy peaks, violet for dips. Montserrat numbers.
- L5
Motion & states
The “now” marker breathes, peaks glow, and the curve redraws when last night’s sleep syncs.
06 · Prototype
Tap through it. Then switch to the wireframe.
This is the real prototype we’d put in front of users. Follow the journey on the left, and flip between Sketch, Wireframe and Hi-fi to see how each screen evolved.
Interactive prototype
RISE daily loop
Seven tasks, eleven screens. Everything glowing is tappable.
Final UI, fully tappable.
Your journey 0/7
RISE
Know your energy, not just your sleep.
Science-backed predictions of when you’ll peak and dip, every day.
Question 3 of 5
When do you usually wake up on workdays?
Your sleep need
8h 10m
Not everyone needs 8 hours. Yours is genetic, like height. We’ll plan your days around it.
Energy · Tuesday
Peak in 42m
Next up
2:30 – 4:00 pm
Afternoon dip
Your circadian rhythm naturally drops after lunch. It’s biology, not laziness.
Do
Easy tasks, a 10-min walk outside, or a 20-min nap before 3:30.
Avoid
Coffee after 2:15 pm will push tonight’s bedtime later.
Sleep debt · last 14 nights
Down 50 min this week. Keep going.
How did you feel today?
Today’s habits
Timed to your body clock. Turn on the ones you want nudges for.
7:40 am · 10 min outside
2:15 pm
2:45 pm
8:35 pm
9:05 pm
Melatonin window opens in
2h 14m
10:05 – 11:05 pm is your easiest time to fall asleep tonight.
Smart alarm
We’ll wake you at the lightest moment in your window.
This month
Average sleep debt
From 4h 40m → 3h 10m
Nights in your Melatonin Window
18 / 30
Sample data for this concept.
Science · 2 min
Why your 3pm dip happens
Two systems drive your energy: sleep pressure, which builds every hour you’re awake, and your circadian rhythm, a roughly 24-hour clock. In the early afternoon the clock’s alerting signal briefly dips while pressure keeps rising, so you feel it.
The fix isn’t more coffee. Light, movement or a short nap before 3:30 pm lifts you without stealing tonight’s sleep.
…
07 · Beyond the phone
The curve, wherever you glance.
Most check-ins happen without opening the app. We designed the energy curve to work as a lock-screen widget, a Live Activity before bed, and a watch complication.
9:41
Tuesday 1 October
opens in 2h 14m
Glanceable rules
- One number. Time-to-next-peak beats any score.
- Warm = energy, violet = rest. The colours carry meaning everywhere.
- No red. Debt is shown as progress toward a target, never as an alarm.
08 · Design system
Night-sky calm, with a warm pulse of energy.
Colour tokens · click to copy
Type scale
- Display / numbersPeak in 42mMontserrat 800 · 40/44
- TitleAfternoon dipMontserrat 700 · 26/30
- BodyIt’s biology, not laziness.Inter 400 · 16/24
- LabelENERGY · TUESDAYInter 500 · 12/16 · +0.14em
Brand colours are our working approximation of RISE’s night-mode UI, not official values.
09 · Measure
How we’d know it worked.
Time to first insight
We expect: New users see their first energy peak in under 90 seconds.
How we’d measure: Onboarding funnel timing, install → home screen.
Daily glances
We expect: Widget and watch views outnumber app opens 3:1.
How we’d measure: Widget timeline reloads vs. app sessions.
Habit adoption
We expect: Users with the caffeine cut-off on hit their Melatonin Window more often.
How we’d measure: Cohort comparison over 14 nights.
Week-4 retention
We expect: Guilt-free debt framing keeps parents and shift-workers engaged.
How we’d measure: Retention by persona segment, A/B on debt copy.
These are the success measures we would agree with the client before launch. As a concept project, no results are claimed.
