Oak Meditation (feature)
Adding a Progress Tracker feature to a meditation app
Role: Researcher, UI/UX Designer
Timeline: 2 Weeks
Project: Add Feature To An Existing App
Overview
Oak Meditation app helps users build a mindfulness practice through meditation and breathing exercises. What draws people to the app is the simplicity and minimal design - helping users to focus on the task of practicing meditation and deep breathing daily, without the distractions or overwhelming choices found in many other apps.
Challenge
Being a user of this app, what I felt was missing was a more detailed visual display of user activity/progress.
Solution
I designed a Progress Tracker feature that allows users to view their meditation and breathing sessions on a calendar so they can visually track their data and streaks to strengthen consistency in this mindfulness routines.
Constraints
Because Oak Meditation is an existing product, I wanted this new feature to seamless integrate with the app. This meant sticking to the branding and UI elements as closely as possible.
Research
Research Goals
- Understand what people look for, and value most, when finding the best apps to use in their meditation practice
- Gain insight into the thoughts and objections people have about using digital apps to meditate vs. sticking to offline
- Decide the best way to structure the “progress tracking” feature so that it seamlessly integrates with the minimal approach of the Oak app design
How does Oak's competitors promote habit-building?
Before I began any competitor analysis or user research I spent time analyzing the current Oak app and all the features it provided. This provided me with more context about how to integrate the new feature.
Then I moved on to competitor analysis and identified 3 direct competitors and 2 indirect competitors. I downloaded each app and took note of features, layout, UI, and then mapped out the strengths and weaknesses for each.
A common pattern noticed within all competitors was each app put a focus on promoting consistency and mindful habit-building - through gamification, multi-day series, and progress tracking.
Gathering Insights From Real People
After competitor analysis, the next step was user interviews.
I interviewed 3 participants who had experience practicing varying mindfulness exercises such as meditation, journaling, and breathing exercises. While Oak is a meditation app, I asked broader questions about each participant's mindfulness experience - including their thoughts about mindfulness and meditation, current routines, and any benefits/challenges they face.
I also learned about their experience (and expectations) when using digital tools for mindfulness and meditation.
Research Findings
All participants found having a mindfulness routine helpful in their daily lives for calming stress, getting out of their own head, and being a better version of themselves.
The most common challenge was finding a set time to do their routine without letting life or other obligations get in the way.
Participants expressed wanting to be able to customize their experience (based on time, mood, and goals) and visually see their progress/goals as a way to stack on track.
Empathy Map
Define
Crafting The Persona
With the empathy map in place, it was time to move on to personas.
I decided to focus on the persona of the “Busy Professional”: a user that faces stress & anxiety due to the day-to-day busyness of life but is plagued by the belief that “I just don’t have enough time” to practice mindfulness.
Aligning User & Business Goals
Because Oak is an existing app, I wanted to be sure every design decision made aligned with the mission of the founder(s). I did research and found a Medium article by the founder, Kevin Rose, where he shared the vision and why creating Oak.
This helped me map out clear project goals for both the user and business.
User Flows
I then created a detailed user flow to paint a clear picture of where the Progress Tracking feature would fit within the app.
Design
As I began sketching, I kept the goal of staying consistent with Oak’s minimal approach in the back of my mind. I wanted a way to seamlessly integrate the new feature without adding any distraction or confusion to the experience.
I sketched out areas within the app to add the feature, then used Figma to create wireframes.
UI Design
When adding the UI elements for this new feature, I focused on keeping things congruent with the existing colors, styles, and tone.
Test
Testing The Prototype
During the testing phase, I created a prototype with the goal of accomplishing 3 things:
- See how well the feature integrates with the current app design/branding
- Get users initial impressions about the new progress tracking feature
- Learn about users' expectations with the feature (as well as anything they felt was missing or would help to improve the experience)
I conducted moderated usability tests with 3 participants. 2 in-person and 1 remotely using Zoom. Each participant was given two tasks before starting the test:
Task #1: From the home screen, view your meditation activity for a specific date (March 31, 2021)
Task #2: From the home screen, Complete a meditation and then view your progress/streaks for the month of March 2021
Test Findings
- 100% of participants found the added feature helpful with increasing self-accountability and consistency because they could see their streaks and the missed days
- Each participant spent a few seconds on the home screen looking for a way to access their progress/activity before clicking through to the Growth tab.
- 66% of participants mentioned the Growth tab icon (a leaf) didn’t clearly express what to expect on that page. Upon opening the app, they wouldn’t assume the progress tracker would be on that page
Areas For Improvement
- Participant #1 was initially confused by the meaning of the colors on the calendar and asked for clarification before selecting the correct date
- Participant #2 expected to have the option to edit/delete activity entries for specific days (similar to her experience with apps such as Nike Run Club)
- Participant #3 found the feature to be valuable in promoting consistency but mentioned wanting a way to track his mood/feelings before and after a session
Iterating The Design
With these insights in mind, I made revisions to the design to make the Progress Tracker feature easier to find and use.
Changes made:
- Changed the copy and icon in the Nav bar from "Growth" (leaf icon) to "Activity" (progress bar icon)
- Made the current date easier to find on the Calendar
- Adding the option to delete an entry
Reflections
With more time, the next iteration of this feature add-on would include a Check-In before and/or after each meditation session. Adding this will provide greater context to user activity and streaks - allowing users to track their thoughts and moods over time and have a way of visually seeing their progress.
Overall, I love the simplicity of the app and the founders vision to blend technology and meditation in a thoughtful and useful way.