The Challenge

Design a Solution to Better Spend Alone Time

There are an infinite number of ways to spend alone time. Some are productive, others are not as much, and many of these decisions are easy to make; others require more cognitive load. For example, it may seem easier to scroll for an hour than it is to meditate for just 5 minutes. These ideas are what guided my team for our final Design project.

Our class was asked to create an interactive online experience based on observations of our alone time. Each of my team members arrived with a list of observations that we had made during our alone time that week. The conversation led to these insights:

• Go on phone to waste time
• When not “plugged in” we were with our thoughts, which is not always easy
• We all liked to utilize noise to some capacity, be it music, or some form of background noise

How might we use technology as a mental health and focus tool?

The Work

Ideation and Refinement

Here’s a look at our team brainstorming. As we discussed and tried to narrow down an idea, we ultimately agreed on a mental health app that utilizes sound to guide the user through breathing exercises, and ultimately make alone more beneficial. These brainstorms resulted in several static prototypes that led us to the final product.

The Results

Repose: The Meditation App Accompanied By Calming Sound

The audio doesn’t work with my screen recording capabilities but the final product is functional with sound.

We decided to adopt the pink elephant as our logo. When I was younger, my dad used to tease me by saying, “Don’t think about pink elephants.” Then, obviously, I would think about pink elephants. We thought this would be a good symbol for mindfulness, allowing you to observe and navigate your thoughts.

Also, with the feedback from the class, we decided that the elephant’s name would be Rose 🙂