Chris Messina

Zario - Digital balance, one challenge at a time

by
Top Hunter
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Zario is a digital wellbeing platform that helps you live a more digitally balanced life. Our goal is to reduce and replace your undesired screentime and cultivate healthy habits.
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๐Ÿง  Psychology backed concepts
๐ŸŽฎ Gamified challenges
๐ŸŽฏ More focus and control

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Ondrej Zak
๐Ÿ‘‹ Hey PH community, I'm Ondrej. This is my story, how I turned my addiction into a business solution. โฌ‡๏ธ I was always someone that had full control over his life, privately and professionally. But the more time I spent on my phone, the more I lost control over my life. No conversation without me checking my phone. The funny and upbeat Ondrej in private life? Gone. The ambitious and focused Ondrej in work life? Gone. I reached my lowest when my boss approached me one day after a meeting. She told me to never turn on Tinder during meetings again. ๐Ÿ˜… The scary thing was that I wasn't even aware of having used it. ๐Ÿ™ˆ This was the moment when I knew I needed to change my life... I was trying every possibility out there : disabled notifications, turned my phone black and white, and even deleted all social media apps. Each brought a short-term relief, but sooner than later my brain found a workaround. And there I was again, back at the mindless scrolling game. ๐Ÿคฏ There was one point where I wanted to give up. ๐Ÿ˜“ Luckily, a friend recommended me the book Indistractable by @nireyal, and I started exploring how my brain ๐Ÿง  was unconsciously programmed to reach for the phone every time I felt the slightest discomfort. Once I understood the psychological part behind my addiction, I started to deep-dive into the topic and read many books and papers. With a lot of effort and patience, I finally managed to get back the control. Not only over my phone, but also my life. ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿผ During this time, I found out that a lot of people were suffering from excessive screen time. I wasn't the only one. And all of a sudden, there it was! ๐Ÿ’ก The idea of helping other people overcome their (phone) addiction. Together with @killian_fjellbakk1 we decided to build the right solution to it: Meet Zario - our first MVP of the solution. It changed my life, will it change yours? ๐Ÿ˜‰ And now it's your turn. Download the app. Try it out. Share your personal story with unwanted smartphone habits, your thoughts on the app. We'd love to hear from you!
Sarah Jordi
@ondrej_zak " Each brought a short-term relief, but sooner than later my brain found a workaround. And there I was again, back at the mindless scrolling game." โฌ†๏ธ this part is really spot on. I think that's the big problem. We all make some small changes here and there, but for example deleting or time-restricting TikTok is only symptom control and not addressing the issue at its root, which in that case, is behaviour and habits. So I'm super excited about what your team is trying to accomplish with Zario. Congrats on the launch! ๐Ÿ˜
Ondrej Zak
@fares_aktouf Thank you, Fares!
Ondrej Zak
@sarahxjo Thank you for your kind words and sharing your experience, Sarah!
Fares
@ondrej_zak It's sincere, I love it! living a more digitally balanced life is a great idea. once again congratulations to you and the whole team @bartosz_dev @alterises @alexandra_akbasheva @tristan_overhagen @nabil_al_sayed @thomas_walker2 @jamiekroll
Nir Eyal
@killian_fjellbakk1 @ondrej_zak So honored that my book, Indistractable, inspired this! Keep up the great work!!
killian Fjellbakk
๐Ÿ‘‹ Hey PH community :) Meet Zario. With the some of the worldโ€™s smartest psychologists paid to keep you on your phone to watch their at ads, itโ€™s no wonder we unconsciously reach for our phones so many times a day. Weโ€™ve built Zario to help you fight back, understand the underlying psychology behind mindless scrolling and take action to change it. By combining psychology with gamification, we want to give you an additional motivational boost to help you stay on the journey. In the future, we plan to add features like: ๐Ÿ“ˆ Advanced progress tracking ๐Ÿ‘ค Profiles & login ๐Ÿ† Team challenges ๐Ÿšง Automation that opens a Zario choice screen when you try open other problem apps Not sure you are in the target audience? Take our test and find out what your Digital Health Score is: https://www.meetzario.com/score Weโ€™ll be around all day โ€” can't wait to hear your questions, feedback, and ideas! Finally, thank you @chrismessina for hunting us :)
Thomas Imhof
Looks great! I'm mostly interested in those challenges. How do they look like and will help me with reducing my screen time?
Ondrej Zak
@thomasi Thank you for your question. The challenges either make mindless scrolling harder or other activities easier. You can imagine it like a series of small steps that lead to a great result :) An example of the first can be analyzing your internal triggers (situations, emotions) that make you unconsciously reach for your phone or moving your phone far away from your workplace. An example of the second can be creating a list of hobbies you would like to do and making it a screen saver, to be always reminded or going for a walk in your hood to discover new places :) Every time you open the app, you can choose one of three challenges, depending on what you feel like doing. Let me know if you have other questions!
Mayank Joshi
Congrats on the launch ๐Ÿš€, Good luck for today!!
Ondrej Zak
@mayank_joshi Thank you very much!
Tim Dewyn
I waste so much time on pointless scrolling on social media and liking pictures of people I don't even know. I wish a day had 36 hours, but maybe I need to learn how to use 24 hours better. I've already tried to impose rules on myself, but I give in far too easily. A new attempt with zario? Tim (Belgium)
Ondrej Zak
@timdewyn Thank you for sharing, Tim! I was struggling with the same. I hope Zario can make a difference for you. Please share any feedback you might have!
Abdon
Super interesting product, I am looking forward to follow the challenges and see how in time I optimize my screen time ๐Ÿ˜Š
Ondrej Zak
@abdon_ahuile Thank you! Please let us know how the app works for you! We are happy to hear more feedback. It is one of the goals of our launch today :)
Cem ร–zรงelik
Congrats on the launch ๐Ÿš€
Tim Parsa
Congrats on the launch! โ€œNever, ever, think about something else when you should be thinking about the power of incentives.โ€ Charlie Munger (Berkshire Hathaway). Munger is so very wrong about Bitcoin, but so very correct about the power of incentives to shape human behavior. Indeed much of the excitement about web3 is due to its incentives-- that users can be rewarded for participating in play to earn/learn/own networks, rather than just being captive to the NFX of web3 moats and silos. Every referral program operates on the basis of incentivizing growth via sharing the upside of sales or adoption-- in a way, referral sales rewards are the original play-to-earn format. Digital cash incentives triggered by using or not using a device, product, or service combines humanity's two greatest invetions: incentives (money + contracts) and the internet. It's the potent antidote we need for the potent temptations provided by our smartphones. Doom-scrolling, gossip-consuming, clout-chasing (arguably I'm doing that right now), porn-watching, oversharing, overbuying, envy-stirring, anger-stoking-- our ape organism and algorithm weren't built for such abundance. I believe digital cash incentives triggered by online use (or not using) services, devices, apps, etc. will revolutionize health, learning, and general well-being. Stoked to see where you take the product. Would love to collaborate. I think you need a coin-powered community.
Ondrej Zak
@tim_parsa2 Super insightful, Tim! We were thinking about rewarding users for reducing mindless scrolling, but a coin-powered community, that is a new idea. Would you have time to have a chat about it with us and explain the idea in more detail?
killian Fjellbakk
@tim_parsa2 Think it's a super interesting point. We're interested in further developing our reward system, not entirlely sure how it will look in the future, but would love to setup a call sometime. Please send me an email so we can explore further killian@zario.io
Tim Parsa
@killian_fjellbakk1 love it and love the product now that I've tried it. I think of Zario as the peaceful and healthy brother of mario and wario. In control and mindful. Really well done. There's an entire world of smartphone users that need this. I'll be in touch.
Tim Parsa
@ondrej_zak I'd love to reaching out to Killian and will ask him to forward to you. I think what Zario does is very important and that there is a large cohort or early adopters, true believers, collaborators, and promoters who would love to see you succeed, as well as share in the upside and contribute to your success. Returning time to people is a very real form of life extension, a kind of miracle. Well done!
killian Fjellbakk
Yes! Letโ€™s talk. Weโ€™re so happy that you share the same enthusiasm as we do. Excited to speak with you. Btw, love the Mario and Wario idea. Could be really good to frame for our storytelling.
David Roegiers
Nice!
Nabil Al Sayed
Very proud of you guys! Zario is not a one more app you download and then delete for not having space. Zario is a great solution for everyone to build the best of themselves! Scrolling endlessly is a very harmful habit, and a fun and personalized solution backed by science and gamification is an absolute necessity! I'm super excited for today and I hope everyone enjoys our new solution! #teamzario
Nabil Al Sayed
And absolutely a very special thank you to our #1 hunter Chris Messina ๐Ÿ† We are very grateful! @chrismessina ๐Ÿ™Œ
Jamie Kroll
๐Ÿ‘You guys are amazing! After doing user testing for Zario. I asked them if I could help them with creating content for Social Media and they were super welcoming. They even invited me to their headquarters in Zurich. Both founders are very inspiring for me as a student. This is one of the biggest opportunities for me. ๐Ÿ˜ŠThank you guys, you have an amazing product that I use daily! Keep the good work up!
Ondrej Zak
@jamiekroll Thank you very much, Jamie! When you offered us help with social media after testing Zario, it really gave us a motivation boost!
Tim Parsa
@jamiekroll I love that Zario was open to your collaboration. I think that's the future of building products-- believers become collaborators and share in the upside.
Parthmitra Shukla
Congrats on the launch! Spending so much time scrolling mindlessly on social media is getting too much now, I'm sure this will help!
Ondrej Zak
@parthmitra_shukla Thank you very much, Parthmitra! I hope our app can help you! Happy about any feedback!
Jha
You have Nir Eyal's upvote :O I definitely gotta try this over the weekend! Bookmarked (upvoted) until then!
Ondrej Zak
@shivam_jha3 Thank you very much!
killian Fjellbakk
@shivam_jha3 Thanks Jha, super appreciate your comment. I love your video! Nir's books are amazing reads and has been a really big inspiration for us.
Shreya R Nambiar
Nice concept!
killian Fjellbakk
@shreya_r_nambiar thank you so much :) please let us know some ways you think we could improve?
Daniel Kunz
Hey, congrats on the launch. ๐Ÿš€๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿป โ€œOnce I understood the psychological part behind my addiction, I started to deep-dive into the topic and read many books and papers.โ€ I read the book by Nir Eyal as well, but Iโ€™d be curious to know more about how you applied your learning to the product. What exactly is the psychology behind Zario?
killian Fjellbakk
@danielkunz2 Hey Daniel :) Actually, we've taking a lot of inspiration from @nireyal and actually told him as well about how his books really inspired us. The underlying psychology we use is based on (CBT) Cognitive Behavioural Science, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Our advisor Severin Haug, is also a leading expert in using digital tools to prevent and reduce addictions. So we're working with him, and our team of psychologists to take actionable steps that are fun and insightful at the same time. We're also planning to do a randomised trial soon with him at the University of Zurich and possibly IE university in Spain
Cornelius Mel
i think this is going to be a huge thing ! I have so many problems with my screen time and my phone use :( This is the final solution, thank you Zario :)
Ondrej Zak
@cornelius_mel Thank you, Cornelius!
Dominique Schlund
love the concept! i think we could all use some help getting away from our screens more๐Ÿ˜…
Ondrej Zak
@gopferdomi Thank you very much, Dominique!
Maria Alexandrova
Congratulations on your launch!
Iva Glazarovรก
This is very much needed! Especially during Covid my screen time increased and this is a great way to improve my focus on work and life! Congratulations for the launching ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘
killian Fjellbakk
@iva_g Thank you Iva! The pandemic definitely drove unwanted screen time up the roof on a global scale during the pandemic, so we're working non stop to try everything we can to help people feel a little better. Thats why we think psychology is key, but without gamification it can be a bit boring and unmotivating, so we're taking a lot of inspiration from Duolingo to make feeling good and learning more fun. We've just started, so we've got a long way ahead of us, but we hope to find more support and inspiration to shed more light on the problem and find a solution that improves :)
Rik
Very tempting App ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ
Ondrej Zak
@henrik88 Thank you very much, Rik!