Tomo Time

Home Screen
Study Timer
Choose your break activity
Activity with Tomo

Slide Deck https://www.figma.com/deck/Fp7qKe182H6HPBifbBHtWu/Tomo-time?node-id=1-497&t=2VmmukJjgbv6K1T7-1

TomoTime — Project Story ✨ Inspiration Our team was inspired by a simple but familiar problem: university students aren’t taking real breaks. From our user research, we found that: 52% doomscroll during breaks

67% turn to screens for stimulation

76% get distracted by social media notifications (From our survey of 33 students)

We realized that while most students try to be productive—many using Pomodoro—the break itself was the point of failure. Breaks weren’t restorative. They were overstimulating, unintentional, and left students feeling even more drained. We wanted to design an experience that made recovery: socially safe

guided

low-stimulation

and actually rewarding

That’s how the concept of Tomo, a cozy tomato mascot, and the idea of “cooking dishes while you study” emerged. Cooking felt intuitive, warm, and symbolic of letting things rest—the opposite of doomscrolling.

📘 What We Learned Throughout the project, we learned that: Break design is as important as focus design. Recovery isn’t passive—it needs structure.

Students want boundaries, not restrictions. Guided options like “Move,” “Breathe,” and “Reset” felt encouraging, not punitive.

Visual metaphors motivate behavior. Seeing a dish “cook” during a focus session gave users a gentle reason not to pick up their phone.

Cute, illustrative mascots reduce pressure. Tomo added personality and emotional softness to an experience that is often stressful.

Accessibility matters from the start. Low-stimulation modes, contrast considerations, and alternative break types were essential—not optional.

🧑‍🍳 How We Built TomoTime We followed a structured, research-driven UX process:

User Research Surveyed 33 university students

Identified break behaviors, focus patterns, and pain points

Synthesized key insights into a persona (“Sally”) and journey map

Ideation Explored metaphors for rest (growth, cooking, pets)

Selected cooking for its warmth and “slow process” symbolism

sketched Tomo, the tomato mascot, as the emotional anchor

Core Concept Development Guided break system (Move / Breathe / Reset)

Dishes cook during the study session

Break completion = completed dish

Dishes added to a personal Cookbook

Light personalization + accessibility-first approach

Wireframing & Visual Design Built low-fidelity flows for the Pomodoro cycle

Created screens for timer, break selection, and cookbook

Chose a soft, kitchen-inspired color palette for low stimulation

Designed Tomo’s expressions to match phases of the cycle

Prototyping Connected all flows: onboarding → timer → guided break → dish completion

Integrated cooking animations as progress indicators

Refined interactions to be calming and predictable

⚠️ Challenges We Faced

Balancing stimulation and reward We needed the interface to be cute and rewarding, but not overstimulating. Finding a balance between illustration, color, and simplicity took many iterations.
Avoiding guilt-based design Many productivity apps use fear or loss (“your plant dies if you fail”). We wanted TomoTime to feel gentle, not punishing—this required reframing how rewards were earned.
Designing guided breaks that feel natural Crafting Move/Breathe/Reset activities that were: short

accessible

effective

and not “homework” was harder than expected.

Creating a coherent metaphor Cooking needed to map cleanly onto Pomodoro cycles: study = cook break = dish completion We iterated several versions before landing on a unified flow that felt intuitive.
Time constraints We had to simplify complex features (social recipe-sharing, accessibility modes) into a focused prototype while still communicating the long-term vision.

🍅 Final Thoughts TomoTime became more than a Pomodoro app—it became a reimagined break experience. By guiding students through intentional rest while letting Tomo cook in the background, we created a healthier rhythm of work and recovery that feels warm, rewarding, and sustainable.