Overview

Planted is a mindful meditation application on a mission to improve mental health through Guided Meditation activities, Mindful Breathing exercises, and relaxing to Soundscapes.

Roles:
UX/UI Designer, UX Researcher, Information Architect

Tools:
Figma, Zoom, Canva, Google Forms

Process:
3 week end-to-end design

This was a project design by Thinkful.

Deliverables:
User Persona, Empathy Map, User Flow Chart, Sketches, Paper Prototype, Wireframe, Low-fidelity Prototype, Hi-Fidelity Prototype

Target Audience:
Adults 18+, specifically millenial generation

Constraints: Due to limited time, I did not collect as many survey and interview samples as I would have liked.

Problem

Most adults have busy schedules and find it challenging to tend to their mental health. When an individual’s mental health deteriorates, their overall health is negatively affected. Consequently, many individuals are seeking ways to incorporate mindfulness into their daily routines to improve their self-awareness and stay present at the moment.

Solution

The Planted app offers users a range of mindful meditation practices to enhance their mental well-being. The app has been thoughtfully designed, acknowledging that finding time for self-care can be difficult for many. As a solution, Planted provides daily mindfulness activities, along with a comprehensive library of brief meditation sessions, unlimited breathing exercises, and a randomized Soundscapes playlist.

Background and Process

 

For my capstone project, I took on a personal endeavor that resonated with me as a millennial. Having personally witnessed the challenges of mental health among myself and others, I recognized the common tendency to neglect self-care amidst the busyness of life. However, disregarding our mental well-being can have detrimental effects on our overall health.

In order to tackle this issue, I delved into research on mindfulness and meditation to understand why these practices are often overlooked and how they can be utilized to improve mental health. Through my research, I discovered that incorporating mindfulness and meditation into daily routines can have a significant positive impact on mental health.

Motivated by this knowledge, I created a mobile application that targets my audience's needs for improving mental health both at home and on-the-go.

Conducting a Competitive SWOT Analysis

 

In order to expand my knowledge of mental health, I conducted a competitive analysis on three popular mindful meditation apps: Calm, Headspace, and Stop, Breathe, Think (SBY). These apps were selected based on their high ratings and reviews on the app store.

Throughout my analysis, I observed several strengths across all three apps, including impressive visual design, content, and user reviews.

Calm stood out for its emphasis on user exploration, while Headspace was notable for its daily meditation timeline. Depending on the user's needs, these features could be effective techniques for improving mental health.

However, I also noticed some opportunities for improvement, particularly in the area of presence during meditation. As mindfulness and meditation are most effective when the user is fully present, I was surprised to discover that only 1 of the 3 had an Alexa skill product. Even when I explored Headspace's non-screen meditation session with Alexa, I found it difficult to follow along compared to their mobile application.

Performing User Surveys

User surveys were a valuable tool for obtaining further information on my target audience and their stress levels. In addition, I sought to understand whether users were currently using any mindful meditation apps and what features they would like to see in the app.

The survey results represented over 75.1% (39 out of 52 people) were aged 21-35, a large millennial population. Results also signified that 98.1% of surveyors have found themselves sometimes or often stressed/overwhelmed. This indicates to me that there is a need to alleviate daily stressors and improve mental health.

In order to conduct more comprehensive research, I inquired about the surveyors' use of mindful meditation apps, and a significant number (88.4%) responded positively, either indicating current usage or expressing an openness to exploring such apps. When asked about preferred activities, the top three choices were Guided Meditations, Mindful Breathing, and Soundscapes.

In my user interviews, I focused on understanding the needs and stressors of participants, as well as their current practices for reducing stress. While it was clear that participants recognized the benefits of meditation, putting it into practice was a challenge for many. Without actively participating in mindful meditation activities, individuals may not fully appreciate the relief that it can provide.

Through the interviews, I discovered that people are interested in trying mindful meditation exercises but often struggle with finding the time to do so. This led me to consider how an app could be developed to alleviate time constraints as a primary pain point.

Developing User Personas

To help me identify who my users were, I developed 3 personas to represent my target audience. I listed their goals, needs, and frustrations as they navigate ways to improve their mental health.

 

Defining the Problem

To refine the scope of my problem, I utilized "How Might We" statements. This approach helped me identify potential areas of opportunity based on the insights I had gathered.

User Stories

I created user stories to keep my users in the center of the design process, prioritizing accomplishable goals for them when using the app.

    1. As a new user, I want to sign up for an account so that I have a more personalized experience.

    2. As a returning user, I would like to see recommended activities so I have an idea of what to do on the app.

    3. As a user, I want to listen to music so I can calm myself down.

    4. As a user, I want to do mindful breathing exercises so I can relieve my stress.

    5. As a user, I want to practice guided meditations so I can learn to meditate.

    6. As a user, I want to connect my account to an Alexa skill, so I can have a non-mobile meditation experience.

      (**This was a stretch goal for my users as offering another way to meditate could improve their experiences.)

    1. As a returning user, I want to to change my account settings, so I can change my profile picture and account information.

    2. As a returning user, I want to add people, so I can have family and friends join me in meditation.

    3. As a returning user, I want to earn coins to unlock new mindful meditation experiences.

    4. As a new user, I want to login with email or social media, so that I don’t have to create a login.

User Flows

  • User Flow 1

  • User Flow 2

  • User Flow 3

  • User Flow 4

  • User Flow 5

  • User Flow 6

Developing a Sitemap

To help me visualize the number of screens I needed to design, I created a site map. This helped me determine what screens were essential for accomplishing each user story and became the roadmap to my app.

Sketches

  • Notes

  • Sketch 1

  • Sketch 2

  • Crazy 8's

 03| PROTOTYPE

Low Fidelity Prototypes

  • Planted Welcome

  • Sign In

  • Sign Up

  • Mindful Recommendation

  • Guided Meditation

  • Mindful Breathing

  • Soundscapes

  • Guided Meditations #1

  • Mindful Breathing Ex 1

  • Soundscapes Track #1

Testing for Usability

I conducted two usability tests on Tester T and Tester S to evaluate the Planted application. The feedback I received helped me refine the app's design and content, leading to a more streamlined experience. Initially, I was unsure whether to allow users to choose their experience or recommend one for them. However, based on the project goal of addressing the time constraints that prevent users from prioritizing their mental health, I decided to reduce the number of options and provide users with a more straightforward experience.

I also received feedback that the app should offer a more personalized experience. To achieve this, I incorporated onboarding questions for new users to suggest exercises aligned with their mental health goals. These changes make Planted more flexible and offer better guidance to users. Considering that many survey respondents have not used a mindful meditation app before, offering structured guidance will be a significant benefit.

Frustrations: My testers were presented with the biggest issue when attempting to connect their Planted account to the Alexa app.

This was due to their unfamiliarity with the Alexa app's design, making it challenging to navigate without guidance. As a result, connecting Planted as a skill to Alexa may be more feasible for those already familiar with the platform. I made sure to note this pain point and refer to the usability testing results when making future revisions.

Making Improvements

After receiving valuable feedback from my testers, I realized that providing a more interactive onboarding experience could demonstrate how easy the app can be to use. Therefore, I made modifications to three screens by adding an interactive feature that assists Jamie (my persona) in navigating the mobile app.

Branding and Typography

The branding process involved selecting elements, fonts, and colors that would evoke feelings of calmness, peacefulness, and lightness for the user. To begin, I brainstormed various names, with "Planted" and "Rooted" being the top contenders. After careful consideration, I chose "Planted" as it conveys the idea of being present and grounded, which are essential goals for users of the app.

To further establish the brand identity, I selected shades of blue and green for the color palette. These colors create a sense of tranquility and serenity for users. For typography, I opted for a simple and minimalist approach, with Arsenal as the primary font for titles and headers and Actor for sub-headers and texts. The color palette for buttons was primarily teal blue, with audio and music buttons in a grayish black. Overall, the aim was to create a modern, minimalist design that would evoke a feeling of being planted, whether the user is on the go or in their own home.

High Fidelity Prototype

  • Welcome to Planted

  • Sign In

  • Sign Up

  • Onboarding

  • Mindful Recommedations

  • Guided Meditations

  • Mindful Breathing

  • Soundscapes

  • Guided Meditation #1

  • Mindful Breathing Exercise

  • Soundscape Track

  • New List Item

  • Sign Up

    Added an interaction to help the user visualize how the sign up process would be

  • Sign In

    Added an interaction screen to help the user visualize how the sign in process would be

  • Onboarding

    Added an interaction for users to visualize how checking the boxes in their onboarding experience will help personalize their Daily Recommendations

 

Alexa Skill Integration:

Integrating the Alexa skill was challenging so I decided to problem solve by creating screenshots of the screens a user would go through to enable their account. I added the necessary interactions to mimic the a user’s journey through this process.

  • Alexa Home

  • Add Skill

  • Skills and Games

  • Search: Planted

  • Enable Account

Usability Test + Results

Once I had created a high-fidelity prototype that appeared to meet the user's needs, I performed an additional usability test to verify its effectiveness. To achieve this, I incorporated my prototype into Maze and reached out to my network for testers to obtain a larger sample size. I sought to determine if users could efficiently execute the five tasks based on user stories, as well as testing the Alexa skill integration, assuming that it would be the most challenging aspect for users, as not everyone is familiar with the Alexa app.

To my delight, users were mostly successful in completing the five main tasks, whether they achieved direct or indirect success in accomplishing them. However, one tester provided feedback that they disliked having to go through the login process multiple times. This was a mistake on my part in predicting the user's path. I now realize that repeating the login process is unnecessary and makes the tasks feel repetitive.

The feedback regarding the Alexa skill made me recognize that it may warrant its own project. I couldn't assume that users would be able to add a skill on their own, so including a tutorial in the app may be beneficial.

 

Interactive Prototype

  • Welcome to Planted

  • Sign In

  • Sign in- Jamie

  • Sign Up

  • Sign Up - Jamie

  • Onboarding

  • Onboarding - selected

  • Mindful Recommedations

  • Guided Meditations

  • Mindful Breathing

  • Soundscapes

  • Guided Meditation #1

  • Mindful Breathing Exercise

  • Soundscape Track

04 | Takeaways

Learnings

  • Time dedicated to mental health for Millenials could make a big improvement in overall health.

  • Optimizing the in-app experience with relevant content that is personalized to the user could increase engagement and optimize for return visits.

  • Alexa skill account linking wasn’t effective due to failed usability tests.

Next Steps:

  • Design a simple, more improved way to add the Alexa Skill integration for users. This could be done by offering Smart Integration directly onto the app removing the need for the user to launch the Alexa app and set up the skill manually.