During my time at Sidekick Health, I had the opportunity to work on a unique project aimed at enhancing the user experience for the Gratitude Mission. The challenge was clear: create a visually engaging design that allowed users to remain focused on the practice of mindfulness, without distracting them from being fully present.

Mindfulness content is all about guiding users into the present moment, and visual elements can easily become a distraction. The goal was to develop something aesthetically pleasing but subtle, encouraging users to engage in the mindfulness exercises without feeling glued to the screen. We wanted to ensure that the visuals complemented the practice of gratitude, rather than detracting from it.

I drew inspiration from the Headspace Guide to Meditation on Netflix, which employs a clever approach to visual content. The animations begin, and users are asked to close their eyes to meditate, with the animation evolving as they meditate, only to reveal the final visual when they open their eyes again. It was a brilliant model for encouraging mindfulness while still providing visually engaging content.

With this in mind, we focused on a minimalist design approach, using brand assets to create a calm and pleasing visual environment. Each interaction, such as a click, filled the screen with shapes—symbolizing the act of filling up with gratitude. This metaphor connected the exercise to the visual elements in a subtle and meaningful way.

The final design struck the perfect balance between aesthetics and functionality, allowing users to focus on their mindfulness practice while still engaging with the visual content. By emphasizing subtlety and simplicity, the Gratitude Mission became a visually fulfilling experience without overshadowing its core purpose: cultivating a sense of gratitude.