Circle Widget

Break through notification noise with lock screen messages from loved ones

Timeline • Role

September 2022 - May 2023 • Personal Project

Problem

Modern phones are loud. Hundreds of notifications compete for attention daily — work pings, promotional emails, social updates. And somewhere in that noise, a message from your best friend or your mom disappears into the stack. We'd built incredible infrastructure for communication and lost the signal in the process.

Solution

Circle Widget lets you cut through the noise by putting messages from the people who matter most directly on your lock screen — the most-seen surface on your phone, reserved finally for the people who deserve it.

Part 1: Understanding the problem

Social apps live or die in the high school and college markets, so that's where I started. I ran interviews with college friends and my sister's friend group to understand how Gen Z actually communicates and what draws them to new apps. Two things stood out. First, word-of-mouth within a school is still the most powerful growth channel for social apps — if something catches on in one dorm, it spreads fast. Second, the viral success of Locket Widget had proven there was real appetite for making widgets social. Users weren't just interested in customization; they wanted widgets that felt alive and connected.

Part 2: Coming up with ideas and solutions

I focused the brainstorm tightly: this wasn't a messaging app, it was a presence app. Ideas explored included social lock screen widgets, quick reply actions that didn't require opening the app, and a completely fresh layout that felt distinct from every messenger on the market. The brief was simple — design something so delightful and novel that it earns a permanent spot on someone's lock screen.

Part 3: DECIDING + PROTOTYPING

The prototype prioritized two things above all else: simplicity and delight. Navigating to a contact, seeing their message, sending something back — each interaction had to feel effortless. Visual mockups focused on how the widget would sit on the lock screen and how it would feel to glance at it dozens of times a day. Every pixel had to earn its place on the most prime real estate on someone's phone.

Part 4: ROUND OF TESTING AND IMPROVEMENTS

Testing with college students and high schoolers revealed what resonated most: users didn't want another inbox — they wanted a reason to smile when they picked up their phone. Final design decisions reflected that: a friendship-centric design language, an unconventional page layout that broke from standard messenger conventions, and widget messages that functioned as conversation starters rather than just notifications.

Reflections

After launch, TikTok videos we produced crossed 100K views combined, and we hit 1,000 users with strong organic engagement. Ultimately, we chose not to raise and pursue Circle full-time — but the experience was formative. I came away with a real education in building for Gen Z: they want products that feel made for them, move fast, and carry personality in every interaction. Generic doesn't get shared.