Meditate.Live
Meditate.Live began as a product of a wellness-focused hackathon in May of 2020. After placing 5th, our team decided to move forward with an actual prototype product focused solely on meditation.
Below documents our process in the Meditate.Live phase.
TIMEFRAME: 2020
TOOLS: Sketch, Figma, Adobe Photoshop, Overlay
Note: After a 4-month sprint, we evaluated our findings and decided to transition to focus on self wellness rather than just meditation and created MINDSET.
WHY
As the COVID-19 pandemic drudges on, mental and self wellness has been a rising concern. We hope to address this growing problem through consistent meditation practice and social engagement.
WHAT
Meditation has been linked to numerous health and wellness benefits. Projected to nearly double in market size by 2022, $1.2B to $2B, meditation is one of the easiest practices of general wellness.
HOW
A combination of a scheduling system and peer-to-peer video streaming to facilitate group meditation sessions. Users send recipients invites to their scheduled meditation sessions. Sessions begin when both users enter the “room.”
QUESTIONS
Self-wellness extends to many different forms; Is meditation something you practice?
What pain points have you encountered trying to meditate consistently?
How receptive is social accountability when a user is tied to a 1-on-1 partnership?
Why do existing technology tools i.e. Headspace fail both newcomers and regular meditators?
PERSONAS
De-mystify the nuances of meditation.
Meditation is one of the most accessible forms of self-wellness and can be practiced arguably at any time and place. Our goal is to educate and onboard potential practitioners and introduce the simplicity of the practice.
Optimize Peer-to-Peer User Engagement.
Meditation.Live differs from HeadSpace and Calm by pairing similar, goal-oriented individuals with one another, tying together their progress in meditation. With gentle, personal reminders from a buddy, we hope to increase meditation practice amongst users.
Build a community of like-minded individuals.
Meditation practice is a form of self-growth and sharing the personal journey is often a point of pride and reflection. With the relationships built through custom pairings, we hope to build further on social features and provide a hub for users.
HIGH-LEVEL GOALS
ARCHITECTURE
DESIGN CRITERIA
Accountability
Meditate.Live’s goal is to help build meditation into daily practice by facilitating an organic support system through social accountability between two people.
Engaging
Users are encouraged to join new rooms to build a relationship centered around meditation and self wellness. Custom profiles help create a level of transparency.
Resourceful
Providing live data further helps both partners identify areas of potential improvement. Other ideas include a content hub to provide newcomers with education.
A simple calendar and scheduling dashboard allow users to browse existing upcoming meditation sessions as well as create their own.
If intimidated by the “random” users and sessions on the Public Sessions feed, users have the option of scheduling their own session with a personal friend through the “Invite Friends” feature.
A video-in-video feature would begin when both partners join the scheduled meditation session. Camera and microphones can be turned off for users hesitant about a video-chat feature for an intimate practice like meditation.
A short follow-up would act like a “journal entry” after every session.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Self-wellness is on the rise.
Market research statistics and facts aside, our own interviews revealed more than 68% of users actively try to work on at least one “good habit” per day.
Not enough users have a basic understanding of meditation.
43% of interviewed users identified as newcomers to meditation - more than half of these individuals noted the “mysticism” and foreign origins of meditation as an obstacle. Not knowing how or where to begin was a recurring comment.
Users are more receptive to digital tools with a socially engaging feature.
Existing apps like Headspace and Calm fail to create social value for their users. Without a Peer-to-peer feature, users fall off quickly. 90% of surveyed users have either app downloaded but less than 20% return to the app more than once a week, if at all.
Users prefer a custom-tailored partnership rather than an automated pairing.
Though receptive to the idea of a meditation partner, one reservation more than half of our interviewees noted was “comfort level” with regards to peer-to-peer engagement. Almost all users agreed a level of trust must first be established.