The Challenge
The BeWell app was born out of a growing need for a comprehensive wellness tool that seamlessly integrates mental, physical, and emotional well-being. In a post-pandemic world filled with stressors such as global crises, economic uncertainty, and ever-increasing responsibilities, people often find themselves overwhelmed and lacking the time or motivation to prioritize self-care. Anxiety and depression have surged, yet many existing wellness apps fall short in addressing the whole person—focusing primarily on physical health while neglecting the critical connection between mental and emotional wellness.
​The challenge was clear: How can we create a wellness app that empowers users to build healthy, sustainable habits by aligning mental and physical fitness, while offering personalized, actionable recommendations?
THE NEED FOR BeWell
There was a significant gap in the market for a tool that didn't just track steps or offer generic mindfulness tips, but truly worked with users' habits and needs. The BeWell app was designed to support users in navigating their wellness journey, offering personalized guidance rooted in behavioral science.
KEY GOAL
The goal was to create a tool that users could fall in love with—a tool that helps them achieve wellness through a combination of habit formation, motivation, and mindfulness.
THE DESIGN PROCESS
A structured, user-centered approach to ensure the app addressed the real needs of its users. Our design thinking process included:
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Empathy and Research: We conducted interviews and surveys to understand users' pain points and desires regarding wellness.
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Defining the Problem: We identified the critical challenge of creating a holistic app that combined mental fitness with physical health, tailored to individual needs.
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Ideation: Brainstorming and exploring solutions that integrated AI-driven personalization, behavioral science, and mindfulness features.
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Prototyping and Testing: We developed high-fidelity prototypes, tested them with users, and iterated based on feedback to ensure the app was intuitive and engaging.
MY ROLE
As the lead UX Designer and UX Writer, I spearheaded the design process, from user research to prototyping and testing. My responsibilities included:
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Conducting user research to identify core pain points and opportunities.
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Defining the user journey and creating wireframes, prototypes, and high-fidelity designs.
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Writing clear, engaging microcopy for the app, ensuring that it guided users through their wellness journey effortlessly.
UNDERSTANDING THE USER
To ensure that BeWell truly resonated with its audience, I led in-depth user research. This included:
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User Interviews: We spoke with people from diverse backgrounds to understand their wellness struggles and goals. Many users expressed a desire for a wellness app that addressed both mental and physical health, with personalized guidance to help them stay consistent.
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Surveys: A survey of potential users revealed that while many had wellness goals like improving nutrition or fitness, maintaining motivation and consistency was a major challenge.
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Personas: We created user personas to represent our core audiences—people looking to improve their well-being but struggling to find time and motivation amidst the chaos of everyday life.
Key user insights:
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Users wanted an app that felt like a personal coach—supportive, encouraging, and available when needed.
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The ability to track progress and receive reminders was crucial to helping users stay on track.
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Users were more likely to engage with the app if it offered community support and challenges, helping them feel connected and accountable.
DESIGN PROCESS BREAKDOWN
I have broken down my design process into distinct phases, each contributing to the overall success of the projects. This approach demonstrates my methodical and structured approach to UX design.
1. Empathize: Understanding User Struggles
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There are three unavoidable aspects of life: pain, uncertainty, and constant work. In today’s world—recovering from a pandemic, facing wars, global warming, and economic pressures—self-care often takes a back seat. People are overwhelmed with responsibilities, leaving little time or motivation for wellness.
Through user interviews and surveys, we identified a pressing need: people longed for a wellness tool that offered hope and a clear path forward, giving them control over their health and well-being. This wasn’t just about fitness; it was about creating habits that offer mental and physical resilience.
Key Insights:
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Users seek a tool to help them navigate their wellness journey, providing motivation and consistency.
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Anxiety and depression, the ailments of the 21st century, are deeply intertwined with physical health, yet many wellness apps overlook this mind-body connection.
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People are willing to pay for tools that tangibly improve their lives.
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2. Define: Clarifying the Problem
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Wellness isn’t just about physical health; it’s about the whole person—mind, body, and emotions. Yet most wellness apps focus on the bottom-up perspective of physical health, missing the mind-body connection. We wanted to bridge this gap by designing a tool that supports users through holistic wellness practices, driven by behavioral science.
The problem we defined was: How might we create an app that aligns mental fitness with physical wellness, using personalized behavioral insights to help users build healthy, lasting habits?
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3. Ideate: Envisioning the Solution
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The BeWell app was designed with a core mission: to empower users to take charge of their well-being with a tool that works with their habits, helping them fall in love with the process. We explored a holistic approach, leveraging insights from neuroscience, mindfulness, and behavioral science.
Some key ideas included:
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Personalized wellness plans based on user behavior, combining mindfulness, exercise, and nutrition into a seamless experience.
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AI-powered recommendations to support users in forming and maintaining habits, with insights driven by behavioral science.
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Push notifications offering motivational nudges like, "It’s time to de-stress," or, "Ready for your mindfulness session in 5 minutes?"
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Community and challenges to provide users with social support, accountability, and a sense of belonging—vital for sustaining long-term changes.
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4. Prototype: Building the Experience
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We designed a clean, intuitive interface that focused on simplicity and usability. The BeWell app includes:
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A customizable planner where users can track their wellness routines and monitor progress across nutrition, exercise, and mindfulness.
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Guided challenges that offer a clear, step-by-step path to achieving wellness goals, integrating personalized tips and reminders.
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A community feature, allowing users to connect with others, participate in challenges, and celebrate wins together.
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Mood tracking to monitor emotional well-being, enabling personalized recommendations for mindfulness sessions based on real-time data.
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5. Test: Iterating for Impact
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User testing provided invaluable feedback, revealing the need for:
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Simplified onboarding to make it easier for users to start their journey.
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Enhanced AI personalization for more tailored recommendations.
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A more engaging progress tracker to motivate users and highlight achievement​
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Testing confirmed that users loved the holistic approach, particularly the seamless integration of mental fitness with physical health. Many reported feeling more in control of their wellness journey, with consistent use of the app leading to better mental clarity and physical health improvements.
These are some of the artifacts I used
I continued developing new features and iterating
THESE WERE SOME MAJOR LEARNINGS OR POINTS WE WANTED TO CALL OUT
A Wellness Revolution
By addressing the whole person and combining behavioral science with AI, we empower users to create lasting habits that improve both mental and physical well-being. In a world where anxiety and stress are ever-present, BeWell offers a lifeline: a simple, intuitive path to wellness that users can follow to achieve their best selves.
Simplicity is Key
Users gravitate toward apps that are intuitive and easy to navigate. Overcomplicating the interface with too many features can lead to frustration.
Behavioral Science Works
Incorporating AI-driven, habit-forming features significantly increased user engagement and motivation. Users felt empowered by the app’s ability to “understand” their habits and provide tailored recommendations.
Early and often
Continuous feedback from real users was crucial in refining the app’s design and ensuring it met users' needs. Starting testing early helped avoid costly changes later in the design process.
Wellness is a journey
Users responded positively to the idea of falling in love with the process of wellness rather than focusing solely on the end goal. Motivational nudges and habit trackers helped users stay committed to their journey, fostering long-term engagement.
INSIGHTS GAINED
During the development of the BeWell app, we discovered that personalization plays a critical role in user engagement. Tailored recommendations based on individual habits and goals helped users feel more supported and motivated. This level of customization made a significant difference in how users interacted with the app and stayed committed to their wellness journey.
We also learned that simplicity is key to user retention. Overwhelming users with too many features or complex navigation discouraged engagement. A clean, intuitive design allowed users to focus on their wellness goals without getting bogged down by unnecessary distractions, reinforcing the importance of a user-friendly experience.
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Finally, we recognized the growing demand for holistic wellness solutions that address mental, physical, and emotional health. Users valued a platform that combined mindfulness, fitness, and nutrition, with built-in habit-forming tools and community features that fostered accountability and consistency. This insight shaped the app into a comprehensive wellness tool that supports users in every aspect of their well-being.