Project at a Glance

Problem

Design a medium fidelity product prototype with interface and 3D components for a product in travel, commute or health categories.

Concept

Being always connected makes it challenging for people to relax and have a balance in their life. Our concept product Koya is a mindfulness-based stress reduction app and device. The wearable monitors stress levels with changes in heart rate. The app provides meditation exercises, breathing exercises and tracks progress and patterns over time. It is integrated with the native contacts and calendar for customizable notifications.

My Role

This was a collaborative group project with three group members and we all contributed to various phases of the process. I spent most time working on concept, wireframes, initial research, usability testing, and design summary report.

Tools/Skills

• Balsamiq

• Axure

• Invision

• Trello

• Personas

• Journey Mapping

• Prototyping

• Interviewing

• Usability testing

• Paper prototyping

• Sketching

Understanding the User and Problem

Research Methods

We interviewed individuals to get insight on their thoughts about relaxation, meditation, and willingness to unplug from technology and engage with a wearable device. Additionally we reviewed literature focusing on self-care, conducted a competitive review, and performed usability testing of early prototypes.

Persona

From our initial research we created a persona Autumn who is a working professional and parent with a busy schedule. Autumn’s goals are to build daily habits to distress and recenter without guilt.

Context scenario

We created context scenarios that explored how Autumn might use the device and app on a typical day.

Design Process

Brainstorming

Since our team was remote we did brainwriting to generate initial ideas. We also did early sketches to communicate ideas among the team.

Prototyping

Once we selected a concept, I worked on wireframes in Balsamiq with a teammate, while another teammate created the macro-level architecture for the app and wearable. We focused on simplifying the wearable design to give the user flexibility on how to wear it, while still keeping the functionality needed to read their stress signals.

We performed usability testing or our initial prototypes and incorporated the feedback in next iterations.  

The app has the customization controls and a more features. While the device and app sync, it is important for the user to be perform some action on the device without the app since their overall goal is relaxation and mindfulness.

Our final prototype in Axure includes the following:

• setting up the device

• setting personal meditation goals and preferences

• taking a scheduled or unscheduled meditation session

• monitoring progress of physical signs over time, and

• monitoring progress of achievement of goals over time.

We used the initial feedback to make changes to our next prototype which was in Axure.