This article explores the design process behind a fictional meditation app aiming to improve user retention. Statistics show a concerning trend: many users abandon their meditation practice after 10 days, even if they keep the app installed. This begs the question: how can we design an app that encourages consistent meditation?
Problem statement : users lose interest and stop meditating after 10 days of using a meditation app.
Moodboard
We started with a moodboard to define the overall feeling of the app. This helps establish a consistent visual style that aligns with the app’s purpose (promoting relaxation and focus). Moodboards are also valuable for stakeholder feedback, ensuring everyone is on the same page about the app’s direction.
Crazy-8
One of my favorite way to have new ideas for a specific problem, is to run a crazy-8.
Crazy-8s are a quick brainstorming technique where participants sketch eight different design solutions for a specific problem within eight minutes. The focus is on generating ideas quickly, not on perfectly detailed artwork. This method helps generate a variety of ideas within a short timeframe.
In only 8 minutes you should have 8 ideas, or bits of ideas that you can then choose and extract to build your solution…. awesome right?!
After the session, key elements that address the problem statement are identified and selected for further exploration.
Low-fidelity prototype
Based on the Crazy-8s results, a low-fidelity prototype was created. This is a basic mockup that focuses on functionality and layout, not visual design. Here are the features explored in the prototype:
- Personalized greeting: Displaying the user’s picture and name fosters a sense of connection and empathy.
- Meditation tracker: A visual tracker (like a streak counter) incentivizes users to maintain their practice and achieve longer streaks.
- Meditation duration preview: Showing the upcoming meditation’s duration helps users understand the time commitment involved, potentially reducing hesitation.
- Meditation timer: A timer provides flexibility for users who might need to pause or adjust their practice time.
Note that we should consider exploring different ways to visualize the meditation tracker for better engagement.
Keeping the problem statement at the forefront of the design process ensures we stay focused on our core goal: building an app that encourages consistent meditation practice.
The next step involves building a mid-fidelity prototype, which will refine the design, incorporate visual details, and prepare for user testing. Stay tuned for the next chapter in our design journey!
