Practice: Your Personal Guide to Wellness
A standalone app catering to creators and listeners of wellness content.
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Project Summary
SAADHANA Group is a prominent wellness content creator that has gained recognition for its engaging content available on platforms like Spotify and YouTube. They are currently developing a standalone app to cater to both listeners and content creators of wellness content, with a focus on yoga and meditation. The app aims to revolutionise the way people engage with wellness practices by offering personalised experiences and providing creators with revenue streams. SAADHANA Group's vision for this innovative app is to elevate the wellness journey by delivering a seamless and enriching experience in the realm of wellness.
Team Focus
Uncover potential user insights, including usage patterns, needs and pain points of existing apps
Create a service blueprint to explore touch points and identify additional ways to engage users
Deliver a user-friendly and easy-to-navigate interface
Project Details
Client
SAADHANA Studios
Duration
July 2023 (3 weeks)
Team
Venus Tong (Leader), Michael Chu, Agnes Zhong, Lakshya Aswani
Target Users
Listeners, Content creators
Main Scope
User Interview, Service Design, Wireframing
Tool
Figma, Figjam
Design Process
Discover
Understand target audience needs, motivations, pain points
Analyse findings and define design goals
Brainstorm and map out the ideas and app structure
Test and validate user experience
Define
Ideate
Prototype
🔍
Desk Research
User Interviews
🎯
Affinity Map
User Persona
👩🏻💻
Interactive
Prototypes
Usability Testing
Iterations
Pitch to client
💡
Service Blueprint
Information
Architecture
User Flow
Wireframing
01. Discover and understand user insights
Desk Research
We started off the journey by examining existing yoga/meditation apps and audio streaming platforms, enabling us to gain a preliminary understanding of the landscape and market trends. Through trying out these apps ourselves and analysing app store reviews, we uncovered unique values, capabilities, and similarities among these apps, as well as valuable insights into user preferences.
“ Quality content requires subscription
😓
I don’t recommend it if you don’t want to pay for anything. It is almost impossible to find something good without buying premium. It is so frustrating when you see the little lock symbol on a lot of options in the app.
“ Easy-to-use and accessible
👍
It’s easy to bookmark your favourites based on time, category etc. Also I like that I can use the search bar and filter function to find desirable tracks. It has different lvs of difficulty so you can pick whichever lv you feel comfortable doing.
“ Offline listening
💡
Both Spotify and YouTube music allow users to download for offline listening, making it convenient for users who may not have access to a reliable internet connection.
“ Content diversity is key
👍
This app is one of the most beautiful meditation app I know: they have tons of amazing content, from guided to singing bowls meditation, covering areas such as stress, sleep, frustration, energising etc. I can easily find something that suits my current mood and goal. The possibilities are endless. The quality of these content is also amazing.
“ Lack of personalisation
😓
Unlike spotify or youtube, this app doesn’t allow you to make custom playlists. I can’t repeat a track, or add a song after it. I want to create a sleep playlist so that I can use music intervals to fall back asleep without looking at my screen at night. I don’t understand why such essential feature is missing.
“ Community Engagement
💡
Some apps have a “community” feature which allow users to join or create groups and participate in discussion forums. However, there are mixed opinion on this feature. While some users adore the sense of connectedness, others don’t find it very useful.
“ Timer feature
💡
Insight Timer offers customisable meditation timer with interval bells and background sounds. Users can set their preferred duration and track their progress over time.
User Interview
Based on our desk research findings, we developed interview questions to gain a deeper understanding of potential users in real-world contexts. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 participants who were yoga and/or meditation practitioners and current users of one of the apps mentioned above. The interviews aimed to uncover insights in the following areas:
Goals and intentions of practice
Pros and Cons of existing Apps/platforms
Thoughts on community feature
Thoughts on progress tracking
Customisation requirements
Expected features for premium users
02. Define the needs, problems and opportunities
Insights Gathering
After collecting all the interview data, we reviewed and identified the key points that participants consistently mentioned. These recurring themes were then grouped together and organised into an affinity diagram.
Goals of practice
Improve mental well-being
Stress relief
Improve flexibility (yoga)
Maintain a healthy lifestyle
Customisation
Timer (meditation)
Content filtering
Add background music and sounds
Change speed and sequence
Progress Tracking
Very helpful for habit forming
Track times and days
Monitor self-improvement
Understand practice patterns
Other Features/Opinions
Mixed opinions on community features
Preferred guided videos for yoga
No ads preferred
Challenges and reward
Live sessions and advanced content for premium users
Upon delving into the characteristics of our participants, I noticed that beginner and experienced practitioners have very distinct goals, needs, and pain points. This prompted us to create four user personas: Yoga Newbie, Meditation Beginner, Experienced Yogi and Experienced Meditator. Each persona is crafted to capture the unique qualities of these different user groups. Our intention was to gain a comprehensive understanding of each persona, enabling us to generate ideas that precisely address their individual requirements.
Beginners
Experienced practitioners
Pain Points
We observed that beginners prioritise progress tracking and motivational support while requiring more guidance at the start of their journey. In contrast, experienced users have established practice routines and seek advanced customisation for a more immersive experience. From the feedback we collected, our group prioritised addressing the following three prevalent and critical pain points:
😢 PAIN POINT 1
Difficult to find suitable content catering for one’s needs and goals
😢 PAIN POINT 2
Lack of essential customisation features
😢 PAIN POINT 3
Motivational deficit and no way to track progress
Delving into our insights: What are the opportunities?
To address the challenges faced by potential users, we incorporated "how might we" questions as a guiding framework during the development process. These questions helped us explore possibilities and innovative solutions to enhance the user experience.
💭 HOW MIGHT WE...
Categorise and integrate content with diverse themes and intentions to effectively address specific user needs and goals?
Design a flexible practicing experience with a right amount of customisation in a clear and easy-to-use way?
Foster habit formation, boost motivation and increase user retention by encouraging regular and consistent practicing?
💡 OPPORTUNITIES
Content classification and filtering 🗂
Customisation options: 🪄
Timer
Speed
Background sounds
Repetition
Sequence
Goal setting, progress tracking, and journaling 📊
03. Ideation and wireframing
Service Blueprint
In the service blueprint, we aim to gain a comprehensive understanding of the user journey within our app, visualising the entire process from initial discovery to regular usage. By mapping out the frontstage and backstage steps, we can effectively identify pain points and uncover opportunities for improvement at each stage.
App Structure and User Flow
Before moving on to the design phase, we built the structure of the app using a sitemap. We also created user flows to envision the steps that users would interact with the app’s features and navigate its page.
Wireframes and design system
After defining the structure and user flows, we created low fidelity digital wireframes.
We applied our design system to create high fidelity wireframes, ensuring a consistent and unified visual identity for the app. Keeping in line with the SAADHANA brand, we chose purple as the primary colour. For the secondary colour, we wanted to convey a sense of calm, relaxation, and a healthy lifestyle that aligns with the app's wellness theme. Therefore, we decided on using turquoise as the secondary colour. This choice complements the primary colour, creating an overall experience that promotes a serene ambiance within the app.
04. Prototyping and Finalising
Usability Testing and Feedback
Usability testing is crucial as it helps identify areas for improvement and ensures that our design meet user needs. Considering the time constraints, we conducted usability tests with 5 participants experienced in using yoga/meditation apps for their practice. The primary objectives were as follows:
Evaluate overall usability and user experience while navigating the app
Identify issues or challenges while using the app
Gather feedback and recommendations
Positive Feedback 👍
Improvements 😢
We appreciated the feedback received and took them into consideration when making improvements to our design, ensuring that the app is as user-friendly as possible.
Introducing our app: Practice 🧘🏻
Empower Practice with Motivation
To enhance habit formation and bolster motivation, our app provides various engaging features. Users can set practice goals with reminders on the home page, enabling them to seamlessly integrate wellness activities into their daily routines. To foster a sense of accomplishment, we offer a range of “challenges” for users to test their limits and earn badges as rewards. Recognising that maintaining motivation can be challenging at times, we incorporated motivational and inspiring UX writing and quotes throughout the app. Furthermore, we empower users to monitor their progress over time through comprehensive statistics presented in clear graphs and numerical data.
Personalise Your Experience
Our app offers a variety of customisation options, allowing users to tailor their routines to their preferences. Users can adjust the speed and incorporate background sounds during their practice sessions. We provide a diverse range of libraries, from natural sounds to instrumental music, and even allow users to add their own sound sources. Additionally, users have the flexibility to rearrange the sequence, duplicate, or delete specific sessions, ensuring that each session is tailored to their individual needs. For those who prefer self-guided practice, we also include a "Timer" function, enabling users to customise the practice duration, intervals, and receive start and end reminders.
Explore and Discover Content Choices
Our app allows for easy classification of content based on various types, goals, targeted body parts, length, and difficulty levels. With content filtering feature, users can effortlessly find content that aligns with their specific needs and preferences. In addition to videos and tracks, we offer live sessions, providing users with the opportunity to engage in real-time wellness experiences. Learn from experienced teachers who generously share their expertise, and gain valuable insights by exploring their profiles.
Nurture Wellbeing through Journaling
We aim to enhance wellbeing and nurture users inner world throughout the practice, which is why we are excited to offer a journaling feature. With the mood recording function, users can effortlessly document their daily emotions. Our journaling feature empowers users to engage in self-reflection and express their thoughts and feelings in a meaningful way. It serves as a personal space where users can track their progress, delve into deeper reflections, and capture the essence of their experiences.
“Ignite Self-discovery Through Practice”
Self-Reflection 🧘🏻♀️
This project has allowed me to deeply understand users' needs and challenges, enabling me to craft solutions that not only provide a user-friendly experience but also differentiate from other apps in the market. In addition to color style, I have utilized UX writing to infuse the wellness theme with a motivational and supportive tone.
Next step?
If given additional time for this project, I would explore the perspective of content creators and their user journey. This would involve creating a seamless design flow for the content uploading feature. Additionally, I would take a step back to craft a personalised onboarding experience by understanding users' practice goals and levels, generating relevant suggestions on the homepage. Furthermore, I am eager to delve into the potential of introducing a community feature.
