Wonder Zen
Overview
Wonder Zen is an innovative mobile app designed to address the challenges of modern sedentary lifestyles by promoting a holistic approach to wellness. Our app combines the benefits of outdoor walking adventures with mindfulness activities such as meditation and yoga to improve both physical and mental health. Through personalized recommendations, goal setting, and virtual incentives, WalkWell empowers users to prioritize their well-being amidst their busy schedules.
My Contribution
Conducted a comprehensive competitive analysis to gain insights into market trends and competitor strategies.
Created personas to represent the target users, providing valuable insights into their needs, goals, and behaviors.
Led usability testing sessions for the initial prototype, gathering valuable feedback to improve user experience.
Refined the user flow based on usability testing results and developed the final UX flow for the project.
Developed a high-fidelity prototype to visualize and demonstrate the proposed design solutions.
Understanding the problem & Gathering insights
User interviews•Surveys•Affinity Map
80% of respondents have engaged with apps that cater to fitness, mental health, or a combination thereof, affirming a comprehensive interest in holistic wellness solutions.
46.7% of users engage with apps that serve both fitness and mental well-being needs, highlighting an evolving trend towards integrated health platforms.
Conceptualization
Personas•Potential Solutions
After thorough analysis and exploration of users' pain points and challenges, we crafted a persona to represent our target user for the product. Drawing from these insights, we developed four solutions as part of our design conceptualization. Firstly, tailored Wellness Activities utilizes AI to personalize wellness experiences, recommending activities and walking routes based on users' moods and physical states, thereby fostering a unique wellness journey. Secondly, Custom Goals and Tracking empowers users to set and adapt personalized health objectives over time, providing them with the tools to monitor progress effectively. Thirdly, Mood Recommendations tailors activities to users' emotional needs, offering solutions for stress relief and energy enhancement. Finally, Gamified Engagement introduces game-like elements and virtual rewards, motivating users to complete real-world inspired walking challenges and stay engaged with their wellness journey.
Ideation & Wireframe
We dove headfirst into ideation after pinpointing user challenges. Brainstorming sessions fostered a wealth of solutions aligned with user needs. To spark creativity, we embraced the "crazy eights" exercise, exploring diverse app features. User focus remained paramount, however. Collaborative sketches revealed a consistent theme: a dashboard or tracking feature. Prioritizing user experience, we envisioned a serene home page, prioritizing simplicity and ease of use over overwhelming metrics. This user-centered approach ensured a calming and user-friendly experience.
Validating the design
I spearheaded the usability testing phase, using low-fidelity prototypes to gather essential user feedback. I conducted 4 usability testing through zoom calls with our target users. Each participant tackled two key tasks, mirroring real-world scenarios across our diverse user flows. Here's the treasure trove of insights I unearthed:
AI Assistant Optimization: User feedback revealed the need to reimagine the AI assistant's positioning within various flows. We need to rethink how to adjust the mood check in.
Empowering User Control: Information hierarchy within the profile and settings needed to be adjusted. Users want better visibility of their goals and progress tracking.
Seamless Walking Flow: During testing, we identified areas for improvement in the walking flow, ensuring clear communication of system status updates throughout the activity.
Self-care activities: Users think the flow is straightforward but feel like a separate part of the app. Through the user testing sessions, we think there is a need to clearly demonstrate the interconnections, empowering users to see the bigger picture of their well-being.
Usability Testing
In response to user feedback and usability testing, we iteratively refined both the Home Page and Goals Flow sections of our app, focusing on improving user experience and customization options.
For the Home Page, we introduced new navigation elements such as Goals and Progress based on usability test results, and relocated weather and date details for better accessibility. We also introduced a High-Fidelity design incorporating new navigation icons, a progress ring, and refined fonts. Additionally, we integrated a feature to display goal progress based on user preference settings and added an AI assistant for enhanced usability.
In the Goals Flow section, we made significant adjustments to accommodate user preferences and usability insights. We replaced the goal of drinking water with taking walks, allowed users to select specific days and durations for their goals, and introduced a function to control the display of goals on the homepage. We streamlined the layout, fonts, and colors in the High-Fidelity design to improve visual appeal and user interaction. Overall, these iterative enhancements aim to optimize user engagement and satisfaction with our app.
Results and takeaways
A key takeaway from this project is the importance of focusing on specific user goals rather than introducing numerous new features. Users tend to prefer passive tracking mechanisms that seamlessly integrate into their daily routines. This insight underscores the need for simplicity and efficiency in app design, prioritizing functionality that aligns with users' primary objectives. By understanding and catering to users' preference for goal-oriented usage and passive tracking, we can create more streamlined and effective app experiences. Additionally, this project emphasized the value of iterative design and user feedback in shaping a user-friendly experience. Our adjustment to a non-intrusive approach for AI features reflected a commitment to user privacy. Clear navigation improvements, informed by user input, greatly enhanced usability. Prioritizing motivational elements based on user feedback increased overall engagement. Through iterative refinement, we successfully addressed user concerns, leading to a more effective and enjoyable app experience.