Product Design

Flow - Meditation, made second nature

Designing a Meditation Habit, Not Just an App

My Role

UX Strategy

Research

Empathy Maps

Usability Tests

UI Design

Team Members

Solo

Tools Used

Figma

Zoom

Otter

Adobe Illustrator

Timeline

3 weeks

background

Meditation, made second nature

The first time I spoke to Thomas, he was pacing. 'I just want people to meditate,' he said. 'But I don’t want to nag them with notifications. I don’t want it to feel like another task on their to-do list.'

I understood the problem immediately. Meditation apps were everywhere, but most relied on streaks, badges, and reminders that felt more like obligations than invitations. Flow needed to be different—it had to fit seamlessly into users’ lives, making meditation feel as natural as breathing.

When I joined the project, there was market research, a few sketches, and a strong ambition to launch fast. However, there was no clear direction on how to design an experience that truly helped users build a habit. My role? To answer a few questions:

  • How do we help users build a habit without pressure?

  • How do we make meditation feel seamless and natural, rather than another obligation?

  • How do we design an app that users return to not because they have to—but because they want to?

challenge

Why People Struggle with Meditation Apps

Through user research, I identified key pain points that make it hard for people to maintain a meditation habit.

Fragile habits

Users want to meditate but easily forget or lose motivation.

Choice overload

When overwhelmed by options, users often quit before even starting.

Annoying reminders

Notifications feel like guilt trips rather than encouragement.

Difficult navigation

Users struggle to find the right meditation quickly.

Busy lifestyles

Meditation needs to be seamless, not a rigid commitment.

research

Empathy Mapping & Task Analysis

To fully understand why people struggle with meditation, I built three user personas based on real interview data:

 

1. The Inconsistent Meditator (Person 1)

  • Wants to meditate but only remembers during stressful moments.

  • Struggles to find time in a busy schedule.

  • Uses meditation apps but finds them overwhelming.

  • Need: A meditation app that is low effort and easy to return to.

 

2. The Daily Meditator (Person 2)

  • Meditates every morning for focus.

  • Needs an app that’s reliable and intuitive.

  • Doesn’t want interruptions or forced notifications.

  • Need: A meditation app that is predictable and efficient.

 

3. The New Meditator (Person 3)

  • Just started meditating and is unsure how to do it “right.”

  • Finds existing apps too complex.

  • Wants simple guidance but not overwhelming lessons.

  • Need: A meditation app that is gentle and easy to follow.

Empathy maps person 1,2,3
solution

A Meditation App That Adapts to You

To meet these goals, I designed a frictionless meditation experience that users could effortlessly integrate into their day.

 

  • Personalized Homepage – Instead of overwhelming users with options, Flow suggests just 3 meditations based on their past behavior.

  • Quick-Start Feature – No digging through menus. Users can press play immediately on their last meditation plan.

  • Adaptive Reminders – Instead of pushy notifications, Flow offers gentle nudges based on user patterns (e.g., “Need a reset?” instead of “You missed today’s session”).

  • Mindful Pause – A one-minute breathing exercise for users who don’t have time for a full session.

 

Why It Works:
💡 It removes barriers – No long onboarding, no complicated settings. Just tap and meditate.
💡 It respects the user – No guilt-tripping, just gentle encouragement.
💡 It adapts naturally – The app suggests meditations based on real user habits.

Task analysis shot
user flows
Connecting Insights to UI Decisions

First Prototype

& User Testing

After designing the first prototype, I ran usability tests to evaluate:

 

  • How intuitive the onboarding process was;

  • Whether users could easily find meditations;

  • How users reacted to the homepage layout and navigation.

Key Findings from User Testing & Iterations

Issue

Solution

Homepage was unclear, users didn’t know what to do.

Added a pop-up guiding users to set preferences.

Notifications were confusing—some users thought they were cookies.

 Redesigned notifications to be soft nudges, not alerts.

Users didn’t know where to find meditation reminders.

Moved reminders to the homepage instead of burying them in settings.

Menu icons were too abstract.

Replaced ambiguous icons with clear text labels (e.g., “Journaling,” “Quick Meditation”).

Users struggled to navigate between categories.

Simplified navigation into three clear sections – Home, Meditations, Profile.

mid-fidelity screens
(Before testing)
high-fidelity screens
(after testing)

Test the prototype

Final thoughts

What I Learned from Designing Flow

Initially, I assumed users needed more reminders to meditate. But testing showed the opposite—people resist notifications that feel like pressure. This forced me to rethink habit-building entirely. This project taught me that habit-building is about ease, not pressure. A great meditation app isn’t just about content—it’s about removing friction and creating space for mindfulness.

 

The best design isn’t loud—it’s the one that disappears into your life.