How Headspace is Crafting the Future of Mindfulness
In the US alone, 1 in 5 adults (52.9 million people) experienced mental illness in 2020. The global lockdowns and pandemic amplified a mental health crisis of staggering proportions. Today, it’s no longer controversial that mental health is considered health, in part thanks to an increasing number of celebrities and professional athletes coming forward to declare its importance — but the world still has a long way to go to provide help and services to those who need it most.
Headspace is a science-backed meditation and mindfulness tool on a mission to democratize mental health services and help users create life-changing habits. On the latest episode of the Y in the Valley podcast, Headspace Health’s Chief Product and Design Officer Leslie Witt discusses the mission and strategy behind the platform used by more than 70 million users in 190 countries around the world.
De-stigmatizing mental health services and self-care
Mental health professional services were once considered an exclusive and expensive luxury — but the increasing prevalence and awareness over time has shown that a solution that’s more accessible and widespread can help change (and sometimes save) lives.
“We’re not trying to remove the human from the experience — we’re trying to augment the human and create the types of technology-driven systems that make care more affordable and accessible.” — Leslie Witt, Chief Product and Design Officer at Headspace Health
The average delay between mental health symptom onset and treatment is around 11 years. Headspace aims to speed up the cycle by offering anticipatory education and content to help mitigate problems before they become critical. But such a personal, sensitive topic requires a tailored approach that knows each user’s unique needs. How can one platform do it all?
Building a personalized, power-packed product
Headspace’s mindfulness and meditation product offers tracks based on where the consumer is on their own mental health journey. As Leslie notes, not everyone is on the same level of willingness or as bought in to the benefits of a mediation and mental health routine. Headspace aims to provide a set of tools that anyone can use, whether a consumer is deeply engaged with a practice and their product or just uses it during times of high stress. The product encourages new users to explicitly state a goal that helps assess and define where along the change journey each person lies — then uses that information to offer tailored content and lesson recommendations.
While many digital products see a high number of “boomerang” subscribers (subscribers that leave then later return) as a negative, Headspace embraces the notion that users will use the product as needed during the ebbs and flows of life. Because of this, they focus on education of techniques that can be used even without their product. By creating content that reflects varying level of commitments and situations, they can better serve people wherever they are in the journey.
Prioritizing habit formation and proactivity
Like exercising the physical body, mental health wellness requires practice and repetition. Headspace’s product strategy leverages behavioral science and research to encourage habit formation and consistent use — and they rely heavily on long-form interviews with both members and non-members to understand every state of need.
Humans need nudges, especially when the goal is to create lifelong healthy habits. Headspace recognizes this and has built notification and badging mechanics into the product to encourage long-term habit formation. They are constantly evolving their product roadmap based on their experiments and ability to assess needs. A promising example of this is their partnership with Ellipsis Health that explores the use of voice analysis and NLP — a potential feature that could allow them to proactively recognize stress signals and offer clinically proven assessment and treatment pathways.
Measuring success along the pursuit of happiness
No one has quite cracked the code on how to measure happiness (yet), but Headspace combines qualitative and quantitative feedback together to get a pretty good idea of how their product helps. Headspace’s customers share life-changing stories about the product — ranging in levels of intensity from lowering everyday stress and anxiety to finding support and solace through life’s darkest times.
In addition to the qualitative customer feedback they receive, Headspace watches Net Promoter Score survey results along with weekly and monthly product use. While it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when a habit is formed, the product metrics provide deeper understanding to any potential barriers or challenges customers are facing.
Evolving a world-class brand for worldwide growth
Headspace was co-founded by Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk, whose voice and vision led the meditation sessions and app launch that amassed millions of subscribers. Since then, they’ve been faced with the challenge of growing and evolving the brand — while still holding tight to the original magic that took flight. One of the biggest opportunities the team has noticed and since tackled was a lack of representation and diversity. Headspace has added multiple female teachers across the world who can provide unique perspective and voices to their platform.
From the creative aspect, Headspace faced a similar need for evolution. The illustrations and emblems used throughout the platform have since been updated to be more relatable and universal. With a world-class creative and brand team, they’ve successfully found a balance between the brand they started and the brand they want to become — all by maintaining a strong underlying set of values.
“We always have to think: How do we make sure the brand personification in the form of the teachers and the brand system in the form of the design, voice and tone represent an ethos of universality, hope and aspiration?” — Leslie Witt, Chief Product and Design Officer at Headspace Health
As they move forward into content and topics with more emotional depth, Headspace is starting to explore ways to bring authentic, documentary photography to the brand. Their recent acquisition of Ginger offers licenses clinician human services through teletherapy and text-based coaching. This fusion of brands presents a new challenge to increase the range of tones to be more serious and professional as needed.
To learn more about Leslie’s experience and how she’s helped Headspace create a hybrid, company-wide design culture, listen to the full episode of Y in the Valley.
