My Approach
My approach for this project was to keep the notifications and over-the-top interactions to a minimum while clearly displaying all of the app's features.
One main goal with this project was to showcase all of the features of the app and make them available to the user without the need to pay for upgraded content. I wanted to take out the frustration that many people have with “freemium” applications that bate the user into the ecosystem then essentially force the user to pay a fee in order to continue using the app to its fullest capabilities.
This app is intended to be very simple and straightforward to use and limits many of the additional, in my opinion, unnecessary bells and whistles that many wellness and mindful meditation apps have taking up user time and visual space. This app should help the user relax and find peace, not feel frustrated with long interactions and visual overload.
To do this, I kept the color scheme to a soft green color palette and used illustrations as opposed to real images. I wanted to make all of the necessary actions the user would have to make no more than two clicks away. I also kept many of the settings and session preferences in their own tabs pertaining to that session without burying them many levels down in a menu tab. One of the biggest needs of an app like this is it needs to not only help the user actually relax and find a peaceful headspace, but it should keep many of the frustrations that can alter our moods as individuals.
For example, there are no lengthy or unnecessary interactions. Even seconds can feel like a long time when you have limited free time. Everything is clearly visible and all of the sessions are very easy to navigate to. Additionally, push notifications are disabled by default and session times are automatically recorded, stored and configured into their own specific data graphs. This essentially allows the user to focus on what is important - their wellbeing.
