Headspace — Exploring the Design
I originally heard about Headspace in a roundabout way, and figured I would give it a shot… I wasn’t sure what it was about or the effect it would have. I was initially really intrigued by the animation and unique design style.
What is Headspace?
Headspace is an application dedicated to helping people to find peace and reflect using meditation techniques that are taught through the various lessons in the application. You can select a specific topic, like sleeping, or anxiety, or take a course to learn more about meditation.
Does it work?
I actually don’t want to talk much about the meditation part of the application, I will leave that for you to discover on your own. I will say, I have greatly enjoyed the application, and plan to continue using it.
An experience that doesn’t know ahead of the game.
Using the application you will be engaged with just about all of your senses [if you follow the directions]. If you told me there was an application that would engage my sense of smell, or use visual, and audio, cues in tandem. I would have likely not believed you.
From basic home screens the application shows it’s depth very quickly. starting with the look and feel. The simple UI is not daunting, but does have a surprising amount of options.
Navigation:
As you see there are navigation menus on the top and bottom of the page as well as a [scrollable] set of content on each page. It is a feat to be able to provide two navigation bars and not confuse or scare off users. Getting lost on a website with a basic navigation can often take a team to maintain and cultivate the taxonomy.
Scroll:
Scrolling works both vertically & horizontally, depending on content. I bring this up since it was not confusing as a user. The interactions feel intuitive, and the taxonomy of the content makes it very simple to find what you are looking for. I feel a large portion of this is due to the actual design of the icons and the vivid art that engulfs each segment.
The contrast in colors are also something worth note; the simple “clean” style and use of white space is very intentional and bring about a calm to the application since color is only used to bring attention to items of note.
The items I can’t post here are the audio clips and expansive use of animations to help with education and furthering a concept or idea. The way that a user in able to engage and interact with the commands of the voice helps to bring the user into the meditation experience. Vocal design is something that clearly takes place and the clips are well crafted from tone, excitement and calm, as well as the length and location of pauses. The production (not just recording quality) is superb.
Designing an experience is something that must transcend a great visual element. This application for example, although home to beautiful designs, would flop if it was not for all of the other elements. A users experience is clearly first, users and their experience must be not only centered but explored to a great extent to be effective.
Consistency is clearly a key for Headspace down to the motion and timing of the videos giving a clean and unified feel. The cadence of the application matches the videos, that match the audio, that empowers use of your senses.
As far as User Experience and Design are concerned this application is off to a great start! Even if you are not interested in meditation, you should downloaded and explored to take note of their ability to understand the needs and successes of a User Focused process.
Download Headspace Here
