Mellow | Fall 2024
College students find it difficult to implement mindful practices into their busy schedules. How might we help students reframe their thinking around everyday activities in order to discover mindfulness practices that align with their unique preferences and personal styles?Role: Designer, Research Team
Research Methods: Field Research, Usability Testing
Highlights from interviews conducted following WashU’s Mindfulness Week 2024:
The Challenges:
- How might we help people reframe their thinking around everyday activities in order to increase their mindfulness practices?
- How can we assist students in discovering mindfulness practices that align with their unique preferences and personal styles?
User Needs & Feedback:
- Seemed most interested in quick, simple exercises that could fit into a busy schedule, such as breathing exercises or 5-minute guided videos. Felt that shorter activities were more manageable and less intimidating, making it more likely to use the app regularly.
- Neutral about the app tracking progress and recognized that it might be motivating to see a record of activity.
- Appreciated gentle reminders to use the app but wanted control over how frequently they appeared. Too many notifications would be overwhelming and could cause disengagement.
- Open to trying new techniques as long as the app provided clear instructions or visual guidance. A combination of written descriptions and short video demonstrations would be most effective in helping her learn new exercises without feeling confused or frustrated.
The Solution:
Mellow is an app that helps users build mindful habits through personalized recommendations. Activities are categorized for easy exploration, with suggestions based on user-friendly quizzes that assess preferences, goals, and knowledge level. The app’s built-in algorithm tailors recommendations to individual or group preferences, providing simpler practices for beginners and advanced options for experienced users. Because the app is geared toward busy students, users can sync their schedules to the app. This way, the recommendations can fit into free moments they might have throughout the day and users will get notified when it’s time to take a mindful moment. Daily tasks based on goals set by the user creates structure for habit-building. By adapting to user needs, Mellow makes mindfulness practical, accessible, and easy to integrate into daily life.
Mellow addresses the challenge of scheduling when it comes to implementing mindful practices into one’s life. Based on primary research, this is a major barrier when it comes to students practicing mindfulness. Some of the app’s main features, such as the avatar and notifications are based on findings from prototype testing, where user feedback suggested a low stakes way to incentivize your practices. Rather than using competition with friends, the avatar is a favorable way to encourage users to continue in their practices.
View full prototype (IP):