NoPuff case study hero

NoPuff is an iOS app designed to help Gen Z quit vaping through real-time progress tracking, gamification, and a monetization model validated with paying users. Built and shipped during the Apple Developer Academy Business Challenge in 6 weeks, from first research to App Store approval.

Every decision was grounded in data: competitor analysis via AI, keyword mapping before any design work started, and analytics instrumented from day one. The result was a live product with 15.6K App Store impressions, 68 downloads, a 20% page-to-download conversion rate, and a 1.85% download-to-paid conversion — built with zero growth budget at launch.

Design Process — NoPuff
The Problem

Turning a habit no one talks about into a product people actually use.

The quit-vaping app market is crowded and broken. We analyzed competitor reviews at scale using AI and found the same complaints repeated across every product: aesthetics disconnected from Gen Z's visual language, poor maintenance, and a punishment mechanic where one relapse erases all accumulated progress. The most addicted demographic in the market was the worst-served by every app available.

NoPuff screens distribution
NoPuff mockup
Solution

A product built around the reality of quitting, not the ideal.

NoPuff was designed around four decisions: a real-time day counter that makes every vape-free hour visible, a money-saved calculator that turns abstinence into a concrete number, a shareable calendar that makes progress a social act, and customizable notifications the user controls. Relapse doesn't erase progress. The product supports, not punishes.

NoPuff screens bottom top
NoPuff screen bottom left
NoPuff screen bottom right
Outcome

A live product. Real users. Measured results.

In under four weeks, NoPuff generated 15.6K App Store impressions, 333 product page views, and 68 downloads across 14 shipped updates. Page-to-download conversion reached 20%. Five of 68 users converted to paid in some form, reaching a 1.85% download-to-paid rate within the 1–3% industry benchmark for freemium apps. Top acquisition markets were Brazil, Italy, and Spain — none explicitly targeted, discovered entirely through analytics.

NoPuff final image top
NoPuff final image bottom
Context & Challenges

Before choosing this niche, we used AI to process hundreds of apps, reviews, and App Store keywords. What would have taken weeks manually was done in hours, producing a ranked list of niches by demand-to-quality ratio. Vaping came out on top.

Key challenges we addressed:

  • No product speaking to Gen Z in the quit-vaping space, with aesthetics, tone, and UX all misaligned with the most affected demographic.
  • Relapse as a product-killer, the most cited reason for abandoning competitor apps. We removed the punishment mechanic entirely: progress is cumulative, not fragile.
  • Building, distributing, and measuring simultaneously, with no phase separation between design and growth across a 6-week timeline.
Project Goals

We aimed to enable:

  • Validate the niche with data before committing. Use AI-powered competitive research to confirm real market demand and identify specific product gaps.
  • Ship a monetized iOS product within 6 weeks. Real App Store listing, real RevenueCat integration, real payments.
  • Instrument the full product lifecycle from day one. PostHog for in-app behavior, RevenueCat for subscriptions, Apple Analytics for acquisition funnel.
  • Test distribution across multiple channels in parallel. Five social profiles, two paid channels, one ASO strategy running simultaneously to identify what actually generates downloads.