Design and Development of a Self-Sabotaging Alarm Clock Mobile Application for Cognitive-Based Wake-Up Intervention

Oversleeping remains a common daily problem, not because alarms are unavailable, but because many existing alarm systems are too easy to silence during the low-alertness period immediately after waking. This study presents the design and development of a self-sabotaging alarm clock mobile application intended to reduce reflexive alarm dismissal by requiring cognitive engagement before alarm termination. The proposed system was developed as an Android-based application using a structured software development process that covered requirement analysis, interface design, implementation, and functional verification. Its core mechanism replaces one-touch dismissal with puzzle-based interaction, specifically math and memory challenges, so that the user must complete a task before the alarm can stop. For example, when the alarm rings at a scheduled time such as 7:00 a.m., the user is redirected to a challenge screen and cannot complete the wake-up workflow until the correct answer is entered. The application also includes alarm scheduling, user customization, and cloud-backed storage for alarm attributes such as hour, minute, label, and enabled status. The resulting prototype demonstrates that a conventional alarm workflow can be restructured into a more deliberate and cognitively demanding sequence. Although the present study does not report a long-term user trial, it establishes a working mobile prototype and a clear implementation pathway for future behavioral evaluation of wake-up compliance, dismissal time, and user retention.