Echo Page — Ava Cheah's Site

AAva Cheah
is a designer creating
thoughtful digital and
physical experiences.

Echo Meditation App
Personal (2024)
[ Product Design ]

Echo is a meditation app designed to help users establish and maintain a consistent meditation practice.

One of its unique features is its focus on social meditation, allowing users to connect with friends, join group meditations, and track each other's activity.

Check out Echo here.

Problem

Many people understand the benefits of meditation but struggle to maintain
a consistent practice due to busy schedules and external pressures.

This inconsistency can lead to stress, anxiety, and self-doubt, affecting overall
well-being.

Solution

Echo is a meditation app designed to help users build sustainable meditation habits through personalized programs, progress tracking, and social accountability features.

Users can meditate with friends, join group sessions, and track their progress, making meditation more engaging and consistent.

How might we design an app for busy & stressed users
so they can build a consistent meditation practice?

1. User Research

Empathy Map

I began my user research by creating an empathy map. This tool allows me to deeply understand my target user's motivations and decision-making processes.

Insights

Users understand the benefits of meditation but struggle with consistency in their practice.
External pressures like work and school often lead to feelings of anxiety, stress, and self-doubt.
They typically seek relaxation through outdoor activities and spending time with friends.
They desire a user-friendly meditation app that offers flexibility in programs and holds them accountable, with a simple onboarding process and easy navigation.

Prioritization

I prioritized features by creating a map that emphasized promoting mutual accountability and community through group meditation sessions. Encouragement was prioritized in the app's design, along with simplicity and ease of use.

Users can book slots and attend sessions with friends for added motivation, and monthly challenges were suggested for inspiration.

Competitors Analysis

Prior to sketching initial ideas, I conducted competitor research to grasp the
strengths and weaknesses of similar companies and identify opportunities in
the current marketplace for meditation apps.

Click here for full analysis.

2. Ideation

Application Map

I created an application map that outlines features like booking in-person classes, checking friends' activity, and tracking personal progress, among others.

3. Wireframes & Visual Design

For the visual design, I aimed to create a clean and calming feel with a grey-black palette, making the visuals pop more. I chose the sans-serif font Neue Haas Grotesk Display for its modern look and readability, enhancing the app's simplicity and ease of use.

These choices were driven by key takeaways from my user interviews, ensuring an engaging and simple user experience.

Main User Flow

4. Hi-fi Prototype & Testing

Analysis & Synthesis

Testing the validity of my design with a high-fidelity prototype is crucial to uncover issues in content layout, information hierarchy, and user journey friction.

I established a usability testing plan to define test objectives, task scenarios, and success metrics.

Success criteria:

Signing up and playing a recommended track from the home page and discover page.
Booking an in-person meditation class.
Checking friends' activity and sending a message to their friends.

Based on feedback, I created a new page solely for booking sessions instead of combining it with friends' activity to make it easier for users to find and book classes.

5. Final Prototype

In the second iteration of my high-fidelity prototype, I made small but effective changes to improve the user experience.
Click here to try out the updated prototype in your browser.