The Phocus unit on a desk, phone placed face-down on the Qi charging surface. The ambient light ring glows green (working state). Secondary image: the progression from rough cardboard prototype to laser-cut bent wood final form.
Phocus
The phone is not the problem. The absence of a deliberate ritual for putting it down is.
Selected
Interaction to Advance the Human Condition
Pomodoro
Method integrated
3 colors
Green / Red / Blue ambient states
Qi
Wireless charging integrated
Screen-time apps suppress phone use by blocking apps or setting timers. They treat phone use as the problem. The actual problem: there is no designed moment for putting the phone down — no physical commitment, no ritual, no environmental signal that work has begun. Willpower alone is not a design solution.
My Role
Solo designer. Behavioral research, interaction design, hardware-software system design, physical prototyping (cardboard through laser-cut bent wood), electronics integration (Qi charger + load sensor + RedBoard).
Where judgment was required
The moments that shaped the product.
A comparison diagram. Left: 'Restriction model' — phone use blocked, notification shown, willpower required to comply. Right: 'Ritual model' — phone placed, timer starts, environment confirms, no willpower required in the moment. Annotation: 'The difference is where the decision happens.'
Restriction vs. ritual: the model that changed everything
The Pomodoro method works because it creates a deliberate act of starting work — a commitment mechanism separate from willpower. Screen-time apps work by restriction: they tell you what you cannot do. Phocus works by ritual: it creates a designed moment of putting the phone down. The load sensor detects placement. The timer starts. The ambient light turns green. That sequence is a physical commitment mechanism — the same behavioral design principle as Pomodoro, applied to a hardware-software system.
Three side-by-side views of the Phocus unit. Left: green ring (working). Center: red ring (distracted). Right: blue ring (break). Each state labeled with the trigger condition and the behavioral meaning.
Ambient light as the feedback system: green, red, blue
The three ambient states communicate the session state without any screen interaction. Green: phone is down, timer is running, work session is active. Red: phone was picked up during a session — the session is broken. Blue: break time — the environment confirms rest is intentional, not accidental. The ambient light communicates to the periphery rather than demanding attention. You know your session state without looking at anything.
A three-stage prototype sequence. Stage 1: rough cardboard — proportion and interaction validated. Stage 2: laser-cut flat wood — detail and electronics integration. Stage 3: bent wood final form — surface, curvature, desk presence.
Cardboard to laser-cut bent wood: material as prototyping method
The prototype sequence was deliberate: rough cardboard first to validate proportion and placement behavior, then laser-cut bent wood to validate the production form and surface feel. The wood form was inspired by the curvature of redwood forests — an organic geometry that belongs on a desk rather than reading as electronics hardware. Form decisions in interactive product design communicate to the user what kind of object this is before any interaction occurs.
A hardware-software system diagram. Physical layer: phone placement → load sensor + Qi coil. Processing layer: RedBoard → timer logic + state machine. Output layer: ambient LED ring (three states). Annotation: 'One gesture. Three simultaneous functions.'
Qi + load sensor + RedBoard: a complete hardware-software loop
The Phocus system integrates Qi wireless charging (so placing your phone powers it), a load sensor (detects placement and measures removal), and a RedBoard microcontroller (manages the timer logic and ambient light state machine). The phone placement is simultaneously a charging action and a session trigger. The load sensor detects pick-up events that break the session — a fault condition that triggers the red ambient state. One physical gesture, three simultaneous functions.
Process
Restriction fails. Ritual works. The phone isn't the problem.
Pomodoro + load sensor + ambient light: a physical commitment mechanism.
Cardboard → laser-cut flat → bent wood. Three stages, three questions.
Qi + load sensor + RedBoard: one gesture, three functions.
What Shipped
3
Ambient states
3
Prototype materials
3
Integrated systems (Qi, sensor, controller)
Selected for 'Interaction to Advance the Human Condition.' A hardware-software focus system that creates a physical ritual for putting the phone down — not a restriction on what you can open. Qi wireless charging, load sensor trigger, RedBoard state machine, three-color ambient feedback. Prototyped from rough cardboard through laser-cut bent wood.
- Selected for 'Interaction to Advance the Human Condition' — Georgia Tech ID program
- Complete hardware-software system: Qi charger + load sensor + RedBoard + ambient LED
- Three ambient states communicate session status without any screen interaction
- Prototype sequence: cardboard → laser-cut flat wood → bent wood final form
What I Learned
The behavioral reframe was the design. Calling phone use a 'bad habit' and building restrictions around it treats the symptom. The actual gap is the absence of a commitment mechanism — a designed moment where the decision to focus is made physically rather than mentally. Pomodoro works not because it limits time, but because it creates a start ritual. Phocus extends that principle into hardware: placing the phone is the ritual. The ambient light confirms the commitment. The load sensor detects defection. That behavioral logic drove every downstream design decision — what the sensor detects, what the light communicates, what the timer tracks. Form came last, and it served the behavioral model: an organic wood form that belongs on a desk signals 'tool for thinking,' not 'electronics product.'
What this demonstrates
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