Solace

Manage your health effortlessly

Manage your health effortlessly

Manage your health effortlessly

#Product Design

#Product Design

#Product Design

My Role

UX Lead — Interaction Design, Visual Design, User Flows, Rapid Prototyping

Team

Individual

Scope

Mobile App

Timeline

6 Weeks

Solace is an AI-driven wellness platform that integrates physical and mental health, personalized insights, and a reward and play feature to keep users engaged. It tackles fragmented health apps and generic advice by learning from user habits to provide tailored recommendations, enhancing motivation and trust.

Highlights

Explore

The Explore feature provides a clean, intuitive interface that simplifies health management by offering resources and wellness strategies to guide users effortlessly.

AI

Solace's AI virtual assistant helps users schedule workouts, find resources, track progress, and plan activities, streamlining wellness with intuitive, user-focused support.

Play

The Play feature builds community and accountability by connecting users through group activities, shared challenges, and social engagement, inspiring lasting wellness.

The Background

Fragmented health apps and generic advice lead to frustration and disengagement. Solace solves this with an AI-driven, all-in-one platform integrating personalized wellness, rewards, and social engagement to keep users motivated.

The Problem

Managing health should be effortless, yet most people struggle with fragmented apps, confusing data, and generic advice that fails to adapt to their needs. Many lose motivation due to a lack of personalized accountability.

The Goal

The goal is to create a seamless, all-in-one platform that keeps individuals motivated and engaged in their wellness journey, enabling them to lead a happy and healthy life they truly enjoy. For businesses, the aim is to build user loyalty and trust by delivering a simple, comprehensive solution for all their wellness needs.

The Consequence

This fragmented approach becomes frustrating, time-consuming, and mentally draining, further discouraging engagement with health goals.

The Soloution

An all-in-one platform integrating physical and mental wellness, diet management, and personalized insights. The app uses AI to learn from user habits, enhancing engagement and tailoring recommendations. A built-in reward system collaborates with brands offering healthy, local options and wellness gear, keeping users motivated and engaged in their health journey.

Research

What did we learn from Survey?

Most Users Prioritize Health but struggle with motivation and time constraints.

Exercise & Diet Management are the top wellness needs.


Privacy & Data Security are key concerns for new health apps.

Existing Apps (MyFitnessPal, Apple Health) are commonly used but lack engagement.

What did we learn from Interviews?

Users Want Simplicity – A streamlined onboarding process is essential.

Customization Matters – They want personalized workout and diet plans.


Community & Accountability – Finding partners (e.g., for tennis) helps motivation.

Survey

What is your age group?

34-44 years old

24-34 years old

How many hours per week do you work or attend school?

31-40 hours

21-30 hours

+41 hours

How important is health and wellness to you compared to other daily activities?

Very important

Somewhat important

Extremly important

What is your age group?

34-44 years old

24-34 years old

How many hours per week do you work or attend school?

31-40 hours

21-30 hours

+41 hours

How important is health and wellness to you compared to other daily activities?

Very important

Somewhat important

Extremly important

Which health or wellness apps/tools do you currently use?

MyFitnessPal

24-34 years old

Apple Health

None

How many hours per week do you work or attend school?

0-1 hours

5-7 hours

1-3 hours

3-5 hours

3-5 hours

What prevents you from achieving your health goals?

Other

Lack of time

Motivation

Which health or wellness apps/tools do you currently use?

MyFitnessPal

24-34 years old

Apple Health

None

How many hours per week do you work or attend school?

0-1 hours

5-7 hours

1-3 hours

3-5 hours

3-5 hours

What prevents you from achieving your health goals?

Other

Lack of time

Motivation

What types of health and wellness activities do you engage in regularly?

Exercise

Healthy eating

Meditation

Sleep hygiene

Stress management

0%

25%

50%

60%

100%

What concerns might you have about using a new health app?

Privacy

Data Security

Ease of use

Cost

0%

25%

50%

60%

100%

In which areas do you feel you need the most support?

Exercise

Dietary Addvice

Stress management

Sleep hygiene

Other

0%

25%

50%

60%

100%

What types of health and wellness activities do you engage in regularly?

Exercise

Healthy eating

Meditation

Sleep hygiene

Stress management

0%

25%

50%

60%

100%

What concerns might you have about using a new health app?

Privacy

Data Security

Ease of use

Cost

0%

25%

50%

60%

100%

In which areas do you feel you need the most support?

Exercise

Dietary Addvice

Stress management

Sleep hygiene

Other

0%

25%

50%

60%

100%

Interview

Participant 1


Participant 1

Participant 2

Participant 3

Participant 4

Pain

Eats frozen food

has Sleep problems

and feel tired most of the time

not like commitment

no motivation

and feels tired

Commitment

No motivation

Being tired

No time

Drinking

Hard to start

Need

Better diet

Better sleep

Workout body

Workout plan

Partner for Tennis

Workout plan

Gym

Rewards

Workout plave

Workout plan

Motivation

Habit

Order online grocery

Eating out

You-tubing content

Spontaneous plans

Tennis

Yoga

Phone calls

Stretching

Cooking

Social media

Working

Drinking

Swimming

Goal

Play hockey in league

Stronger legs

Get to level 3 Tennis

Eat more vegetable

Go to gym

Stronger body

Go to gym

Stronger body

Sharp mind

Expectations

Easy app

Finding community

Overall health recommendation

Simple App

Easy app

Privacy

Recommendation for physical

and mental health

Enjoy

Playing hockey

Meeting people

Competition

Playing Tennis

Cashbacks

Working

Competitor Analysis

I analyzed MyFitnessPal and Headspace through a SWOT evaluation and user experience study to position Solace in the wellness app market.

Headspace

Headspace makes meditation and mindfulness easy with guided sessions, sleep aids, and stress management tools, helping users build healthier habits.

Strengths

Extensive Food Database

Integration Capabilities

Community Support

Customization Goals 

Opportunities

Expansion into New Markets

Partnerships with Healthcare Providers

Enhanced AI and Personalization

Corporate Wellness Programs 

Expansion in tiers for memberships

Weakness

Dependency on Premium Model

Data Privacy Concerns

Complexity for New Users

Threats

Intense Competition

Regulatory Challenges

Market Saturation

Technological Changes

high cost of the subscription

myfitnesspal

MyFitnessPal simplifies nutrition and fitness tracking with a vast food database, barcode scanning, and personalized goal setting to support healthier habits.

Strengths

High-Quality Content

Scientific Validation

Diverse Offerings(e.g., stress, sleep, anxiety)

Celebrity and Expert Endorsements

Opportunities

Corporate Partnerships

Global Expansion

New Content Areas

Technological Innovations

Weakness

Limited Free Content

Subscription Cost

Content Saturation

Threats

High Competition

Privacy and Data Security

Economic Downturns

Changing Consumer Preferences

Read more

Read more

Read more

The Insights

Affinity Map

Users face high stress, lack of motivation, and burnout due to fragmented health management. Solace solves this with AI-driven personalization, rewards, and social engagement through Explore, AI Assistant, Rewards, and Play Together, making wellness simple and motivating.

Define

User Personas

User Personas revealed diverse user needs—ranging from busy professionals like Sidney Wu and Brandon Spencer, who struggle with time constraints, to retirees like Clevis Smith, who prioritize accessible health management. Common pain points include fragmented health apps, lack of motivation, and inconsistent wellness routine

User Journey

User Journeys mapped how users interact with the app across key stages—onboarding, exploration, engagement, and continued use. We identified friction points, such as overwhelming information, lack of immediate results, and difficulty maintaining motivation, which informed solutions like AI-driven personalization, community engagement, and rewards.

User Flows

User Flows streamlined essential actions, including workout scheduling, health data management, and finding activity partners. These flows ensure an intuitive experience by reducing complexity and offering seamless navigation.

Personas like Sidney Wu (a busy mom), Brandon Spencer (a competitive dentist), and Clevis Smith (a retired engineer) face challenges such as time constraints, lack of accountability, and fragmented wellness routines. Solace addresses these pain points through AI-driven personalization, social engagement, and a reward system, offering a streamlined experience for workouts, health tracking, and motivation—making wellness more accessible and sustainable.

User Personas

User Journeys

User Flows

Finding Tennis Partners (Brandon)

Workout Scheduling and Guided Workouts (Sidney)

Health Data Management and Appointments (Clevis)

Ideate

Low Fidelity prototype

The Solace wireframes outline key features, including a personalized home dashboard, Explore for workouts, AI chat for guidance, Play for finding partners, and a profile for health management. The onboarding and sign-in flows focus on ease of use and personalization.

MidFidelity prototype

The mid-fidelity designs refine navigation and user interactions, ensuring an intuitive experience with clear layouts, guided onboarding, and seamless engagement across wellness tracking, social connections, and AI-driven recommendations.

Feedback

What was not working?

During my quick testing and feedback gathering, a few key issues emerged:

Screens feel cluttered, violating Miller’s Law

The purpose of the home page felt unclear.

The purpose of the home page felt unclear.

Re-imagining: Asking the right question

How can we simplify the UI to make it more user-friendly and intuitive?

what should users be able to access immediately(Home), and how can we give them more control over these key features?

How can we highlight this main feature to ensure users notice and use AI chat feature effectively?

Design

UI Components

High Fidelity Prototype

Test

Usability Testing and learning from affinity map

The usability testing aimed to identify issues in onboarding, navigation, and reward redemption by measuring success rates, task time, and user satisfaction. Five participants tested AI chatbot, rewards, and player search through scripted tasks and scenarios.

This fragmented approach becomes frustrating, time-consuming, and mentally draining, further discouraging engagement with health goals. See more

Key Takeaways

Task 1: Setting Up a Profile

Users appreciated the guided setup and clear steps.

Some found too many required fields frustrating.

Users encountered confusion with password criteria and profile picture uploads.

Task 2: Finding and adding a workout to their plan

Users liked the variety of workout options.

Some struggled to find recurring options easily.

Misleading labels made it hard to confirm a scheduled workout plan

Task 3: Finding a Recipe Using AI Chatbot

Users found the chatbot intuitive and easy to use.

Some responses were too generic or lacked customization.

AI occasionally misinterpreted dietary preferences.

Task 4: Finding a sport partner

Users liked the filtering options for interests and skill levels.

Matching process felt slow or lacked clear feedback.

Some users experienced issues with message notifications.

Task 5: Earning Cashback for Workouts

Users liked the variety of workout options.

Some struggled to find recurring options easily.

Misleading labels made it hard to confirm a scheduled workout plan

Task 3: Finding a Recipe Using AI Chatbot

Positive: Users found the chatbot intuitive and easy to use.
Negative: Some responses were too generic or lacked customization.
Errors: AI occasionally misinterpreted dietary preferences.

Read more

Read more

Read more

Issues and new design

Usability Testing

The goal of usability testing was to Identify usability issues in onboarding, navigation, and reward redemption Measuring success rates, time on task, and user satisfaction.

We conducted testing with 5 participants using a script that included demographic and background questions, open-ended inquiries, direct tasks, and three scenarios focused on key features: an AI chatbot, a reward system, and locating a player in your area.

Issues and new design

Impacts After Fixing the Issues

100% Task Completion – All users successfully:

  • Added a workout to their plan.

  • Found and scheduled a game with a sports partner.

  • Engaged with the reward system by signing up for challenges.

Improved User Experience – UI received overwhelmingly positive feedback with higher usability ratings.


🔹 100% Task Completion – All users successfully:

  • Added a workout to their plan.

  • Found and scheduled a game with a sports partner.

  • Engaged with the reward system by signing up for challenges.

🔹 Improved User Experience – UI received overwhelmingly positive feedback with higher usability ratings.

Increased Efficiency – The time required to complete tasks was reduced by 48%, making interactions faster and more seamless.

These results confirm that the design improvements significantly enhanced clarity, efficiency, and engagement for users.

🔹 Increased Efficiency – The time required to complete tasks was reduced by 48%, making interactions faster and more seamless.

These results confirm that the design improvements significantly enhanced clarity, efficiency, and engagement for users. 🚀

Reflection

Test and test forever

Continuous testing was key to refining Solace, allowing for rapid iterations based on user feedback to enhance design, flow, and overall user experience.

Prioritize

Defining the scope and solutions through research-driven design was essential, using personas, storyboarding, and user insights to inform decisions and address challenges.


Defining the scope and solutions through research-driven design was essential, using personas, storyboarding, and user insights to inform decisions and address challenges.

Validate with resrearch

Referencing personas, storyboards, and interview insights was key to framing Solace’s scope and solutions, ensuring informed, user-focused design decisions.

Nakisa Dehpanah | Product Designer

What is Next?

I am looking forward to working on the responsivity of the Solace app as a key next step in its development. Ensuring the app functions seamlessly across various devices will be an exciting challenge, requiring a thoughtful approach to layout optimization, touch targets, and overall adaptability.

Next, I will focus on Solace’s responsiveness, ensuring seamless functionality across devices by optimizing layouts, touch targets, and adaptability for an intuitive, accessible user experience.

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