Concept project | team of 4 | 2 weeks
UX researcher & UI designer
Empowering 'Balance' Meditation App with Bioinformatics Insights
Design Process:
A ‘Double Diamond’ approach
Research, user interviews, affinity mapping, competitive and comparative analysis, low mid & hi-fidelity design, UI design, prototyping, usability testing.
Tools used:
Figma
Slack
Zoom
Canva
Brief
Balance is a meditation app that gives personalized meditation programs to users. They gained most of their customers during the pandemic by offering a year-long free trial
Problem
Balance has observed a substantial decline in customers continuing their subscriptions beyond the free one year trial. They believe new meditators find meditation to be difficult and frustrating because their minds get distracted more easily during meditation, preventing them from creating a regular habit. Additionally, Balance acknowledges the lack of a clear method for users to track their progress within the app.
Solution
Balance is considering partnering with Muse, a company that produces wearable brain-sensing headbands equipped with electroencephalography (EEG) sensors. These devices measure brain activity and help meditators become aware of distractions, making it easier for them to refocus. Balance is hopeful that this partnership would enhance the productivity of meditation sessions for their users. Before approaching Muse, they aim to gain a better understanding of the market and potential opportunities.
Process
15
User
interviews
8
Usability
test
4
Competitors
Discover
User Interview
For the first phase of this project, we conducted interviews as a crucial part of our UX research to understand users' needs, behaviours, and pain points. Before conducting the interviews, we had some assumptions:
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To validate these assumptions, we conducted 15 interviews. Afterward, we created an affinity map to synthesize all our findings.
1. Users can’t see a progress update, so don’t feel the need to continue using the app as they can’t see a long term incentive.
2. Users can’t see a physical achievement from the use of meditation apps, so can’t ‘see’ the monetary value in it.
We found 3 significant trends in user interviews:
"Struggle to make it a habit because I get easily distracted"
"I tend to give up on things if I can’t see progress or the achievement doesn’t feel like it’s changing"
"I stopped using it because I didn't want to pay"
"Struggle to make it a habit because I get easily distracted"
"I feel like it’s super important to track progress especially at the start of your ‘journey’"
"Subscription cost"
Competitive and Comparative Research
We also conducted competitive and comparative research, analysing both direct and indirect competitors. This analysis is a strategic and practical approach that enhances user experiences, reduces risks, and informs design decisions. It's a critical step in the UX design process, leading to the development of successful and user-centric products.
In our research, we observed:
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Consistent progress reports throughout the week in all four Apps.
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All of these apps highlighted the positive physical and mental impacts on users.
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The incorporation of gamification, which users interacted with through scoring mechanisms.
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Moving into the define phase, it became evident that incorporating incentives into the app is crucial for maintaining user engagement and retention, both of which were lacking in the Balance app.
Define
Persona
In the define phase, we translated our research findings into a user persona – Jenna. She represents the needs, goals, and expectations of a significant user segment, guiding us in crafting a product that resonates with their requirements.
Problem Statement
Reflecting on our persona we came up with our problem statement:
‘Jenna needs to establish a consistent and long-term meditation habit to effectively reduce her stress levels. However, she lacks motivation to meditate, and feels frustrated by the lack of progress and measurable achievements’
User Journey & Flow
Then we came up with a user journey which serves as a visual representation of the user's interactions with the current app. The user journey helps us understand the user's experience from start to finish, identifying pain points and opportunities for improvement in their interactions. Jenna’s current journey is from downloading the meditation app to losing her motivation for a long term meditation habit.
We also created a user flow to outline the user's journey. This helped us to find the most problematic areas and spots where we can make improvements.
As you can see the path lacks physical achievements and personal progress metrics to motivate users.
How Might We Statement?
Reflecting on our user experience and problem statement, we created our "how might we" statement.
‘How might we provide Jenna with the motivation to establish a consistent,
long-term meditation habit’
Solution Statement
‘Jenna needs a way to view tangible achievement and progress updates to give her the motivation to form a consistent meditation habit’
Develop
Design Studio
We centred our design studio around the 'How Might We' statement we developed. Each participant completed 2 rounds of 'crazy 8' sketches in a 5-minute time box. Afterwards, we shared our sketches and collectively selected features we liked from each sketch to develop mid-fidelity wireframes.
Mid-fidelity Wireframes
After our brainstorming and sketching phase, we moved to Figma to create mid-fidelity wireframes. Our goal was to maintain the current display and usability of the Balance app while incorporating new features.
We added an additional icon to the main navigation bar to make it easier for users to find and access the new Muse band feature quickly.
To enhance motivation and create a more enjoyable user experience, we now include a calm percentage and a heart rate screen at the end of each session. This provides users with instant feedback on their progress and fosters a sense of achievement.
To help users stay focused during meditation, we've added a visual focus prompt that combines the Muse band's audio with the Balance app's visuals.
We've added a tab for users to access their Muse metrics reports, which includes screens for viewing different reports like brain activity and heart rate.
Mid-fi User Testing
We conducted 8 remote usability testing via Zoom/Facetime. We wanted to:
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Determine if balance app is easy to navigate
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Test if users can find specific metrics
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See if users can easily connect their muse band and access its functionalities
We asked our participants to connect muse headband to the app, then navigate ‘singles’ sessions and play the ‘SOS’ meditation, then navigate to metrics screen and view heart rate reports and finally view their brain wave report.
User Testing Results
Quantitatively: We asked users to rate tasks on scale of 1-10 (1 being easy 10 being hard)
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Navigating Muse metrics - score 2/10
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Connecting the muse band - 1.25/10
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Understanding the data presented in the muse metrics - 2.8/10
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100% of users completed all the tasks.
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Qualitatively: Analysing our user testing results, we identified with some positive and constructive feedback
Positive feedback
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Users clearly understood how to connect the muse band
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Users saw the metrics as an incentive to practice regular meditation because they could see the physical benefits
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Users found the immediate feedback really motivating, giving them an instant sense of achievement
Constructive feedback
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Users wanted an indication that the muse headband was connected when they had left the Muse screen
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Users couldn’t identify Muse was a new feature
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Users were unsure as to what the ‘65bpm’ metric referred to
Colour & Typography
As we moved to our high-fidelity wireframes, we initially worked on the color and typography of our design.
We really liked Balance's clear and simple typeface, which matches our brand's message (Tranquil, Relaxed).
Then we created our mood board, combining Balance and Muse's colours to show collaboration and used Muse's bright primary colours for our app icons and metrics.
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We also added cloud visuals to connect with the Muse headband's meditation sounds, reinforcing collaboration between the headband and the Balance app.
Deliver
Let's put all of that research and user testing to work.
Revising the issue:
Problem statement
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‘Jenna needs to establish a consistent and long-term meditation habit to effectively reduce her stress levels. However, she lacks motivation to meditate, and feels frustrated by the lack of progress and measurable achievements’
High-Fidelity Prototype
Solutions
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Integrating the Muse Headband with the Existing Balance App.
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Utilizing the Muse Headband for Bioinformatics in Post-Meditation Tracking and Progress Monitoring.
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A customized user dashboard for progress tracking and monitoring was added, featuring four dedicated screens for brain waves, posture detection, breath detection, and heart rate.
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Enhancing Engagement and Focus in Meditation Sessions with Visual and Audio Focus Animation Prompts.
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High-fi User Testing & Iteration
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Following the mid-fi user testing feedback, we added coach marks into some of our screens to signify to the user that Muse is a new feature.
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Also, as a team, we deliberated on the colour for the headband connection feature. We initially chose green but later realised it wasn't accessible. We then went with a blue drop shadow for a subtle glow. Usability tests on our high-fidelity prototype showed that 100% of users recognized the headband as connected with this design choice.
Next Steps
1. We tested the usability of our colour palette and discovered that the tones of blue and grey Balance currently use aren’t user friendly- we would recommend changing the saturation of these colours and conducting more user tests
2. During our user research we discovered users were unsure what ‘singles’ meant when being asked to find a meditation session. We want to conduct more competitive research to think about how else to name that category in the app.
3. We have added in a 'visual focus' feature to combine elements of the Muse headband with the Balance app. We want to conduct contextual inquiries to discover if users would actually use this visual feature.
Key Learnings
​This project was my first group project, and I learned a lot. My greatest takeaway from this project was the importance of effective communication and collaboration within the team. During our 2-week sprint project, clear and frequent communication proved vital in keeping us aligned with project goals, efficiently assigning tasks, and addressing challenges promptly. It underscored the significance of not only individual contributions but also the collective effort required to achieve successful outcomes within a tight timeframe.
