Overseer
Contributions
Product Design
TOOLS
Figma
Coursework
Time
2025
Introduction
Overseer is a productivity system that combines software and a physical device to interrupt digital distraction patterns in real time. Designed for students and young adults, it monitors digital habits, calling out distractions, and rewarding sustained concentration with monetary payback.
The Differentiator
Most productivity apps focus on support and positivity. Overseer differentiates itself through its mischievous personality, physical presence, and monetary incentives. The device expresses personality through cycling light patterns and sound cues that roast the user, creating social accountability in a lighthearted way. By bringing alarms and warnings into the physical world, it makes distractions tangible and harder to ignore. The service refunds subscription fees when users reach focus goals. In theory, disciplined users can use it free of charge.
The Digital
The companion app helps you initiate tasks, track your progress (or lack thereof), and rewards sustained focus with monetary payback. But once you start a focus session, the app hides into the background and the physical device takes center stage.
The Physical
The physical device is a MagSafe puck that docks your phone, creating friction against impulsive checking. Meanwhile, it monitors your computer activity and responds through light, sound, and a mischievous personality, operating in three states (Focused, Suspicious, Alarm) that reflect your current behavior.