— PROLOGUE
Da Capo
Every good story starts somewhere, and for Unblok, that somewhere was a dissertation project in my master's program. It wasn't about building a company yet but about solving a problem for a dissertation. The problem? Creative Block.
I was in my own kind of creative block as I was stuck thinking about what to write my dissertation on, and trying to define the real problem that I needed to solve. It felt like a perfect, frustrating paradox. I wasn't alone. I saw it everywhere: in my design peers who couldn't find an elegant solution, in my developer friends staring at a blinking cursor, even in my family members who struggled to get started on a new hobby.
We all had the same problem. The information was out there: books, articles, and workshops on creativity. But the moment we needed it, it was too much. The gap wasn't in the what to do, but in the how to do it.
So, the idea for Unblok was born. It would be a digital companion, a gentle guide that could help you through the messiness of being stuck. It wouldn't just give you information; it would give you a simple, repeatable process. It would be like having a creative facilitator in your pocket, always ready to lend a hand whereever you go, whether it's in your own room, on the go or in a team meeting with your colleagues.
The challenge:
Same pattern found based on secondary and primary research with creatives:
Creative block isn’t just annoying but also it’s stressful and often tied to procrastination or self-doubt.
Solutions exist (take a walk, brainstorm, switch tasks), but they’re scattered, vague, or hard to stick with.
People wanted something that felt kind, fun, and structured, but not rigid.
Solution space:
A digital facilitator that acts part coach, part sparring partner, part playful guide that provides bite-sized, structured techniques to break the block.
AI “sparring partner”: A chatbot that challenges ideas from different angles (angels vs. demons, pros vs. cons) .
Custom toolkits: Users can reorder steps or pick techniques that fit their style, avoiding a one-size-fits-all trap.
Journals & insights: A gentle way to track progress and reflect over time.
— PART 1
Adagio
The first movement was all about the slow, deliberate work, starting by looking at the world as it was. What was the status quo when we get blocked?
The most convenience thing we could do today is to pop into AI (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc…) with a question in mind.
Old-fashioned folks would be using using sticky notes and whiteboards, attending workshops facilitated by someone else. Still, the most effective way is to have a conversation with someone to gain new perspectives.
But…what if we're alone? Introverted? Shy? Working independently or as a freelancer? It would be a little bit harder.
This was the context for my challenge: to build something simple, personal, and actually useful for individuals. In my experience, guided facilitation was about more than just instructing people what to do; it was also about asking the right questions when you're blocked. It was about making a secure environment for exploration and experimentation, and trusting the process as a whole became a reflection of that.
Therefore, I conducted in-depth, semi-structured ethnographic interviews with 12 creative professionals from diverse fields (design, illustration, marketing, advertising)
Thematic analysis and affinity mapping:
I came up with a bunch of HMWs that were further broken down to reframe the problem, and prioritized one:
"How might we help creatives into the habit of creating, even when their skills don't yet match their taste?"
4 user personas to humanize the problem:
To reveal that creative block isn't just one thing, but a complex web of interconnected issues.
— PART 2
Fortissimo
Moving into the development phase, I ran a series of ideation exercises with my colleagues, from which we established three core principles for the solution.
It had to be: Playful and non-intrusive, so it felt like a partner, not another chore. Action-oriented, designed for doing, not just for consuming information. And a tool to shake up your thinking and break stuck thought patterns.
And came the aha moment, and proud part of the story — where the ideas finally came to life.
So, with that key learning in mind, I'd like to introduce you to Unblok. Unblok is a guided tool that provides actionable techniques to overcome creative block. The philosophy is simple: "This is not a therapist, it's a coach". It provides the map and the compass, and it empowers you, the user, to do the walking.
The first feature:
Guided, action-oriented sessions
The first core feature is the Guided Session. Unblok first helps you identify the likely cause of your block through a simple, guided flow.
Then, using AI, it walks you step-by-step through a proven creative exercise. The goal here is to make it much easier to get started. It transforms the overwhelming task of 'being creative' into a series of small, manageable, and rewarding actions.
The second feature:
Putty as a creative growth partner
The second key feature addresses a problem as most AI it's designed to agree with you and doesn't help you think critically and grow.
So, I aimed for a different approach. 'Putty' (as our mascot and the AI partner) acts as a non-judgmental AI sparring partner, and designed to be a gentle critic, asking you probing questions that make you think, such as "Have you considered this from an opposite perspective?" to challenge your assumptions which creates the healthy friction needed for a real breakthrough.
And the user can document their daily creative thoughts and ideas using the built in journal, both during or outside of sessions, as well as log their ideas as they spar with Putty.
The third feature:
Creative insights
I got my idea around the Smart Schedule feature because creativity isn't a 9-to-5 job – it has its own personal rhythm for each user. The ML algorithm tracks your engagement patterns, learning when you naturally flow with ideas and when you tend to hit walls. Maybe you're most creative at 11 PM or right after morning coffee – Unblok picks up on these subtle cues and builds a personalized creativity map.
An another key part of the solution was the "My Insights" feature.
While users were completing sessions, Unblok would be quietly learning about them and their style. It would track which techniques they preferred, the speed at which they generated ideas, and the types of problems they tended to solve.
The app then analyzes this data to give them a snapshot of their creative style. For example, "spontaneous and emotional" or "analytical and structured" as a way for users to see their own creative growth and understand themselves better, and provide with recommendations and next steps for their creative journey.
— PART 3
Leggiero
The "Less is More" lesson
Now, we come to the final, gentle movement. This part is about what I learned and where the story goes from here. The biggest takeaway was that it really is difficult to truly reach simplicity.
The wireframe feedback hit me like a wake-up call. My "helpful" onboarding flow actually paralyzed users with too many choices, and the cluttered home screen created exactly the kind of cognitive overload that people experiencing creative blocks don't need. I learned that designing for mental overwhelm requires a completely different approach – less is genuinely more.
The validation phase shattered my core assumptions and revealed friction points I never could have spotted alone.
Therefore, I knew that creative block isn't a knowledge problem. People don't need another article or tutorial – they need that gentle push to actually do something - that's where Unblok needed to focus its energy on.
Orchestrating expectations about AI
And as such, people would expect Unblok to be an AI that helps solve their problem by providing the outcome, but I would think otherwise: the AI here is not to do the work, but to act as a challenging partner asking probing questions and provides constructive friction, which is far more valuable for creative growth than one that offers generic, positive reinforcement.
The most effective solution, as I imagined is a hybrid. It's more of a Digital/Analogue synergy while digital tools provide unparalleled convenience and accessibility, they cannot fully replace the empathy and intuition of a human facilitator.
Final words
The journey of Unblok proves that with the right guidance, the right tools, and a deep, empathetic understanding of human struggle, a simple app can do more than just help you get unstuck, with the hope that it can empower you to find your own flame, again and again.
