COLC - Ocean-based meditation app

The challenge is to address stress in a city surrounded by lakes and leverage their potential to promote well-being and community connection.

An app that provides a meditative experience that combines guided and sound meditation exercises with informative podcasts to create a calm environment for the COLC users. Users can easily access and engage in guided breathing exercises while tracking their progress over time. In addition, the app includes informative podcasts on ocean health, and location pining to help users track their journey around the coastal regions.

Project manager

UI Design

Shagun Batra

Marta Panek

Mohammed Areeb

3 months (2023)

The Coastal Connection Challenge presents an opportunity for participants to engage in people-powered movement activities while connecting with local waterways and collectively traveling the distance of Canada's coastline. To enhance the campaign's impact and foster a sense of personal involvement in ocean conservation, the team aims to design an experience that immerses individuals in the oceanic environment and empowers them to contribute to its betterment. The research included a questionnaire/survey, literature review and precedent study.

Through extensive research, the team discovered the concept of the "Blue Gym Effect," which highlights the positive impact of water-based activities on mental health and overall well-being. This finding suggests that incorporating elements of the ocean experience into the campaign can potentially enhance participants' emotional and psychological connection to coastal environments.

The campaign can encourage a stronger emotional and psychological connection to coastal ecosystems by creating an immersive experience that incorporates parts of the ocean and encourages people to participate to its preservation.

It has to do more with choice of lifestyle, clearly understanding the market. By infusing the existing meditation app with soothing audio, captivating visuals depicting serene coastal landscapes, and compelling storytelling, the enhanced experience aims to transport participants to the oceanic realm. This immersive journey fosters a sense of tranquility and connection, elevating their overall well-being and cultivating a smarter and more aware lifestyle choice.

By creating a digital platform that allows individuals living near coastlines and in cities to connect and share their experiences, we can foster a sense of community and inspire collective action towards ocean conservation.

To learn more about a general vision of target age groups/ users a survey was curated to dig a bit deeper and defog the path to designing an interface

Users strongly expressed that water bodies in their vicinity significantly impact their emotional state, with many appreciating the therapeutic benefits of visiting tranquil places such as beaches or bay fronts, especially during challenging times.

A large proportion of respondents, less than half, displayed little awareness of the true state of ocean health and a complete comprehension of the marine ecosystem in their surrounding area.

Approximately 50 percent of the survey participants expressed willingness to share their personal experiences or stories related to beach/ocean/water body visits. This highlights the potential for user-generated content and indicates an opportunity to create a community-driven platform for sharing and connecting through these shared experiences.

The app successfully strikes a balance between providing educational content and promoting ocean literacy, fostering meaningful exchanges of user stories. As a result, more city dwellers would become aware of the Canada Coastal Challenge and its mission. Furthermore, it explores various genres to present meditation, offering users a range of choices that cater to a wider audience. This versatility contributes to increased user engagement and broadens the app's appeal.