No account
Reduce setup and avoid creating a second identity system for data Apple Health already manages.
Tradeoff: fewer growth and recovery mechanisms.Complete case study · Founder-built product
Private step tracking designed to feel native.
Isaac conceived, designed, built, launched, and marketed a step counter for iPhone and Apple Watch—using the product itself to test a point of view about simplicity, privacy, and sustainable software.
ScopeStrategy through shipped software
PlatformsiPhone, Apple Watch, and widgets
ModelFree core plus one-time unlock
ConstraintNo account or health-data harvesting
The problem
People wanted the number, not another relationship with an app.
Step counters often turn a simple glanceable need into an account, a subscription, a stream of notifications, and a crowded dashboard. The product thesis was narrower: make the step data people already own easier to see, understand, personalize, and share.
Isaac’s mandate
Own the whole product system.
Steppies was built directly rather than managed through a client or employer. That made every decision part of the same product responsibility: positioning, interaction design, native software, visual system, privacy model, monetization, launch, support, and the marketing site.
- PlatformsiPhone, Apple Watch, Home Screen widgets, and Lock Screen widgets.
- Core jobPut a clear, personal step count wherever the user already looks.
- Business modelFree use, a 30-day premium experience, and a one-time $4.99 unlock.
- Data modelStep data remains in Apple Health and the user’s Apple ecosystem.
Product decisions and tradeoffs
Clarity came from choosing what the product would refuse.
No subscription
Use a one-time purchase so ongoing payment pressure does not distort a deliberately simple utility.
Tradeoff: less predictable recurring revenue.No invasive analytics
Keep health and motion data on the user’s devices and make privacy part of the product architecture.
Tradeoff: less behavioral instrumentation.Native surfaces first
Design widgets and complications to fit the Home Screen, Lock Screen, and Watch Face instead of forcing every interaction into the app.
Tradeoff: more platform-specific design and testing.Depth without clutter
Add day-to-all-time history, pinch and zoom, milestones, sharing, and personalization while keeping today’s count immediate.
Tradeoff: advanced capability must remain secondary.Launch and evidence
A live product, a clear commercial model, and customer language that matches the thesis.
Steppies is publicly available and supported by a complete product site, setup documentation, privacy explanation, and contact flow. The product communicates its terms plainly: no ads, no subscription, no notifications, and no sale or harvesting of health data.
“Simple, no ads, no subscription, and very easy to use.”Five-star App Store review displayed on Steppies
“The widgets look like they were made by Apple themselves—but better.”Five-star App Store review displayed on Steppies
What the work demonstrates
Product judgment is the ability to make one promise survive every layer.
The same thesis appears in the app architecture, the interaction model, the monetization, the privacy policy, the support experience, and the marketing language. That consistency is the relevant consulting evidence: technical, commercial, and experience decisions can reinforce one another instead of becoming separate workstreams.