Alarmy is an unusual alarm clock. While the selling point of many alarm clock apps is a pretty interface, a soothing melody, or even smart triggers based on sleep-tracking, alarmy deliberately makes itself a nuisance. In order to turn it off, you take a picture of your bathroom, you shake your phone vigorously, or scan the barcode of your shampoo. These annoying cues force you to wake up, and the harsh actions guarantee that you get out of bed.

The interesting interaction design angle to this product is that it deliberately does not design for a "delightful" UX. Instead, it's unique selling point is a negative experience. But by incorporating this annoyance into its UX, it ultimately flips the negative experience on around head. One can …