Snazz is a screen time app developed by a team of Boston University students after suffering from social isolation post the COVID-19 pandemic. We wanted to help people get more present and connect with others more easily. We are proud to release to users.
Well, this all feels rather exciting and nerve-wracking (but I guess that's how it's supposed to feel). My name is Justin DiRaddo and I am 22 year-old Boston University graduate (Class of '23). I was originally born in Montreal, QC, and raised in a small town outside of Albany, NY to a family of immigrant restauranteurs. For as long as I can remember, servicing others and providing a delightful customer experience has been a virtue my family has lived and breathed. Thus, I am writing this newsletter as a way to cover the exciting progress we are making with a startup venture I co-founded during my senior year of college - Snazz. Stay tuned for how to download the app :).
Our big idea: to help the world get a little more focused and A LOT more present. You see, my friends and I experienced college during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time we had the ability to see several versions of the world.
- One where everything was relatively normal (your typical college experience)
- Another where the world felt like it was falling apart and we were at home isolated with our families (or alone)
- And lastly, a world that tried to recover but still felt disconnected in many ways
Upon returning for our junior year of college, a lot of us felt a sense of excitement for the very first time in a while. We were longing for connection and a return to the world of hugs, laughter, and seeing our friends right in front of us - but that never really came back.
Instead, we had become accustomed to socially isolating ourselves (or at least that is what we had observed). Instead of meeting up with classmates, engaging in extracurriculars, or even going out to parties (yep, I said it), a lot of people were spending more time on Tik Tok than they were doing literally anything else.
And we confirmed it. In the fall of 2022, my co-founders and I observed the following data from over 300 respondents that we interviewed across Boston with a silly old clipboard in hand.
This was painful. I had to go out and put myself on the line with hundreds of random strangers so that I could better understand how they related to their devices. But it ultimately helped me arrive at what we were going to do about it. It was go time - I became obsessed.
Since last year, I have been able to assemble a team of really passionate builders to help bring Snazz to life. To be honest with you, I have no clue how this happened because we got really lucky with the team we built in a lot of ways.
Today, I am happy to announce that our app is available for testing. The following video shows some of the features we have but I encourage you to check out the app as we've built more into since recording.
Filling out the form with intention is super helpful because it guides our decision-making around what to build next. We have endless ideas but your needs are what we really care about, so feel free to contact me with feature ideas, bugs you are encountering, or overall areas to improve the app.
There are many areas I know we need to make improvements on. That's why I am so scared to share the app but I was wisely encouraged to not let "perfect" get in the way of "good enough" so here we are. We can only get to perfect if more people guide us there. I hope you enjoy 🧡
@entreeden Thanks for the question Eden, apple's current approach is a big reason why we decided to make Snazz actually.
Early last year we hit the streets of Boston asking over 300+ people what their experience was with apple's screen time and 99%+ of people expressed that the tools did not work to reduce their usage in a significant way.
Through further questioning, we found out that people would often press dismiss (which our app does not have) and limits was not an effective way to reduce usage. It's sorta like trying to help a smoker stop smoking and pulling the cigarette out of their mouth halfway through a drag, only to let them have it back.
Our approach is different because we understand that if you want build a new habit you need to understand your current usage, set goals, be proactive and use schedules. Intentionality is built into every feature because often times people go on their phones without even realizing it.
I hope you enjoy and appreciate any feedback you have :)
@justin_diraddo that's awesome! i've always had issues with smart phone use (and even switched to using a flip phone lol) so it's cool to see more innovation in this space. congrats!
Congratulations to the team from Boston University on launching Snazz, a thoughtful screen time app designed to help people be more present and connect easily, especially after the social isolation experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. It's great to see such a user-focused solution coming to life.
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