How can the benefits of Minimalism be explored through an app?
“Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.” — Joshua Becker
The idea behind decluttering your mind is exactly this one: you analyse what matters in your life first and then get rid of everything that is superfluous. And that is specifically what we propose to do with our solution: Stohos.
This app revolves around the idea that to make order to your thoughts you must first visualise them, then take the time to reflect on them and finally decide what is essential and what is not, before you let them go for good.
But how did we bring our idea to life?
So, first, we started from the concept of “Overthinking”. An overthinker is someone who thinks too much, and wastes a lot of time and energies in overanalysing a situation, which can often be harmful.
When interviewing people that fell into this category, we tried to understand their everyday routine and how they managed their stream of thoughts daily. We found out that especially people who go to work or university, and perform activities that occupy more than half their day, accumulate a lot of thoughts during the daytime.
So, once we validated our Persona, we started to come up with different solutions, through Minimalism, in order to help these people and give them a way to declutter their minds and improve their focus and productivity, which are just some of the benefits of Minimalism and Decluttering.
The first time Stohos is launched the user is guided with a small number of steps through the definition of what is an Essential and a Non-Essential Thought, and why it is important to have a decluttered mind. Then after three questions, to show the user what he could write inside the app, it is explained the importance of letting go of what is not important anymore. Finally the user will find themselves in the main view of our app, where the thoughts are collected inside of clickable coloured shapes, floating at the top of the screen. You can edit them or decide to let them go.
An important feature of the app is also the small plant at the bottom, which guides the user with small tips on how to use it in the best way possible, for example telling them how to categorise an Essential and Non-Essential thought and how Minimalism can help them.
Furthermore, another feature we decided to add is the music. Inspired by Brian Eno, we made our own sound, aiming to relax the user while reflecting on their thoughts.
The importance of Design
One very important feature of our app, though, is the design. We decided to base everything on hierarchical typography, avoiding buttons, pop-ups and graphic elements in order to make the most of the white background. The thoughts have the shape of something ethereal, similar to smoke, to represent how immaterial thoughts are. While the plant on the bottom represents the materiality from which the thoughts come from and for a visual and stylistic consistency it is designed with only one line.
Test our app and leave us some feedback!
Start your journey of Mind Decluttering by using our app, and discover the advantages that Minimalism can have in your life. From feeling more calm to achieve more productivity during the day, the benefits are countless and can improve your life in different ways. What are you waiting for? Download our app through the link below:
Team CBLissimi: Francesca Diana, Giada Ciotola, Gianna Stylianou, Raffaele Iengo, Silvio Cresci, Simona Palumbo.
