Cozy Watch

Overview

Research

Redesign

Outcomes

Next: Houston

Cozy Watch

Redefining the Pull Request Experience for Developers

Redefining the Pull Request Experience for Developers

Redefining the Pull Request Experience for Developers

Client

Cozy Watch

Team

Solo Founder/ Developer

Freelance Product Designer (me)

Role

Product Designer UX/UI & Product Strategy

Industries

Developer Tools, Productivity,

SaaS

Date

September-Present

OVERVIEW

Introducing Cozy Watch: Focused GitHub Pull Request Management

Cozy Watch is a desktop app designed to help developers manage their GitHub Pull Requests effortlessly. Unlike complex project management tools, Cozy Watch focuses solely on PR notifications and review tracking, helping developers stay productive without distractions.


I joined as a Freelance Product Designer to redesign the Cozy Watch app. My goal was to establish a clearer value proposition, cleaner UI, and frictionless UX, improving user trust and conversion rates in a low-budget, early-stage environment.

Cozy Watch is a desktop app designed to help developers manage their GitHub Pull Requests effortlessly. Unlike complex project management tools, Cozy Watch focuses solely on PR notifications and review tracking, helping developers stay productive without distractions.


I joined as a Freelance Product Designer to redesign the Cozy Watch app. My goal was to establish a clearer value proposition, cleaner UI, and frictionless UX, improving user trust and conversion rates in a low-budget, early-stage environment.

CHALLENGE

Low Traction, Unclear Value, and Limited Visual Cohesion

Despite offering a genuinely useful functionality, Cozy Watch struggled to attract users.


Key challenges included:


  • Low traction due to limited perceived value and unclear messaging.

  • Visually inconsistent UI, lacking the polish expected from a professional developer tool.

  • No defined UX flow for onboarding, notifications, or upgrade experience.

  • Limited resources, requiring a high-impact redesign with minimal development effort.

Despite offering a genuinely useful functionality, Cozy Watch struggled to attract users.


Key challenges included:


  • Low traction due to limited perceived value and unclear messaging.

  • Visually inconsistent UI, lacking the polish expected from a professional developer tool.

  • No defined UX flow for onboarding, notifications, or upgrade experience.

  • Limited resources, requiring a high-impact redesign with minimal development effort.

RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

Understanding Developer Frustrations with PR Notifications

To ensure the redesign addressed real frustrations, I gathered insights from developer communities on Reddit and other sources.


Recurring pain points included:


  • Missed or noisy notifications leading to review delays.

  • Email overload making PR tracking chaotic.

  • Lack of clarity in feedback (“subjective” review comments causing friction).

  • Desire for fast, objective, and transparent review processes.


These findings validated Cozy Watch’s potential niche, a focused, frictionless PR manager that reduces noise and improves review collaboration

To ensure the redesign addressed real frustrations, I gathered insights from developer communities on Reddit and other sources.


Recurring pain points included:


  • Missed or noisy notifications leading to review delays.

  • Email overload making PR tracking chaotic.

  • Lack of clarity in feedback (“subjective” review comments causing friction).

  • Desire for fast, objective, and transparent review processes.


These findings validated Cozy Watch’s potential niche, a focused, frictionless PR manager that reduces noise and improves review collaboration

HEURISTIC ANALYSIS

Identifying UX Friction and Design Inconsistencies

I performed a heuristic evaluation of both the desktop and menu bar apps using Nielsen’s usability heuristics.


Key findings included:


  • Visibility of system status: No indicators for pending reviews, PR age, or priority levels. Users lacked a clear sense of what required immediate attention.


  • Match between system and real-world language: Ambiguous terminology such as “Your Pull Requests” and “Team Pull Requests” made it unclear what action was expected.


  • Consistency and standards: The visual hierarchy and interaction design of the tray menu were not aligned with the main app, reducing overall coherence.


  • Flexibility and efficiency of use: The fixed “Pull Request” button did not reflect true usability. A richer dashboard or tab structure would better support power users.


These findings helped prioritise improvements in information hierarchy, terminology, and visual consistency, ensuring Cozy Watch would feel clearer, faster, and more aligned with developers’ workflows.

I performed a heuristic evaluation of both the desktop and menu bar apps using Nielsen’s usability heuristics.


Key findings included:


  • Visibility of system status: No indicators for pending reviews, PR age, or priority levels. Users lacked a clear sense of what required immediate attention.


  • Match between system and real-world language: Ambiguous terminology such as “Your Pull Requests” and “Team Pull Requests” made it unclear what action was expected.


  • Consistency and standards: The visual hierarchy and interaction design of the tray menu were not aligned with the main app, reducing overall coherence.


  • Flexibility and efficiency of use: The fixed “Pull Request” button did not reflect true usability. A richer dashboard or tab structure would better support power users.


These findings helped prioritise improvements in information hierarchy, terminology, and visual consistency, ensuring Cozy Watch would feel clearer, faster, and more aligned with developers’ workflows.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

Positioning Cozy Watch Between Simplicity and Functionality

I benchmarked Cozy Watch against Linear, Monday Dev, and PullBar, mapping their focus, strengths, and weaknesses.


This revealed a clear opportunity for Cozy Watch to stand out as the most lightweight, developer-centric, and cross-platform solution.

Key opportunities identified:


  • Emphasise focus - “just PRs, nothing else.”

  • Strengthen visual identity through a cohesive and trustworthy UI.

  • Add clarity with lightweight onboarding and upgrade touchpoints.

  • Optimise navigation to differentiate personal vs. team reviews.

I benchmarked Cozy Watch against Linear, Monday Dev, and PullBar, mapping their focus, strengths, and weaknesses.


This revealed a clear opportunity for Cozy Watch to stand out as the most lightweight, developer-centric, and cross-platform solution.

Key opportunities identified:


  • Emphasise focus - “just PRs, nothing else.”

  • Strengthen visual identity through a cohesive and trustworthy UI.

  • Add clarity with lightweight onboarding and upgrade touchpoints.

  • Optimise navigation to differentiate personal vs. team reviews.

REDESIGN & UX IMPROVEMENTS

Creating a Clear, Calm, and Developer-Centred Experience

Guided by research and heuristics, the redesign focused on clarity, focus, and workflow alignment.


Key design decisions:


  • Dashboard clarity: Introduced clear grouping for “My Pull Requests” and “Team’s Pull Requests.”


  • Notification visibility: Added review counters and status indicators.


  • Sorting and filtering: Enabled sorting by “Last Updated"


  • Professional visual hierarchy: Redesigned layout with consistent typography, spacing, and iconography.


  • Upgrade flow: Introduced “Upgrade to Pro” section to promote premium features.


  • Menu bar redesign: Simplified interaction and aligned terminology with the main app for consistency.

Guided by research and heuristics, the redesign focused on clarity, focus, and workflow alignment.


Key design decisions:


  • Dashboard clarity: Introduced clear grouping for “My Pull Requests” and “Team’s Pull Requests.”


  • Notification visibility: Added review counters and status indicators.


  • Sorting and filtering: Enabled sorting by “Last Updated"


  • Professional visual hierarchy: Redesigned layout with consistent typography, spacing, and iconography.


  • Upgrade flow: Introduced “Upgrade to Pro” section to promote premium features.


  • Menu bar redesign: Simplified interaction and aligned terminology with the main app for consistency.

OUTCOMES

Delivering a Clear, Focused, and Professional Developer Experience

  • Introduced a refined, minimalist UI aligned with developer expectations.


  • Enhanced information hierarchy, making PR management faster and clearer.


  • Improved perceived product value through professional and consistent design.


  • Created a foundation for scalable monetisation models (freemium, pro)


  • Established a clear product identity focused on efficiency and calmness.

REFLECTION

Designing for Focus and Clarity in Developer Tools

This project reinforced the importance of user empathy and focused design in technical products. Developers value clarity and speed above all — every design decision needed to support those principles.


Working under tight time and budget constraints, we had to be extremely strategic prioritising the 20% of improvements that could deliver 80% of the perceived value. Despite these limitations, the redesign process proved that even small, well-targeted changes can have a significant impact on usability and perceived product quality.


Although the project is still in progress, it has already shown that good design doesn’t rely on scale, but on precision, empathy, and focus.


“Simplicity, clarity, and trust were the driving principles behind every design decision.”.