Calm-Mind

Problem

Mindfulness is a psychological process and an innate human quality to become aware of our present surroundings, actions, thoughts, fleeting emotions. But this innate quality needs to be nurtured on a regular basis so that it can be used in our day-to-day living.

According to the APA, stress levels are increasing each year, with about 4 in 5 adults reported that they have at least one physical symptom of stress with increased self-reports of depression, anxiety, anger, irritability, and sadness It also leads to poor eating habits, disturbed sleeping patterns, chronic illness, and frustration (Segal, et al., 2002).

Research shows that practicing mindfulness can significantly lower the levels of stress, depression, and anxiety. Brain imaging studies have shown that continued mindfulness practice can alter the way distressing emotions are processed in the brain. Additional studies have proven that mindfulness meditation can lower blood pressure, strengthen the body’s immune system, and improve the quality of sleep, all of which impact, or are impacted by, our levels of stress (Salmon, et al., 2009).

Solution

Calm-Mind: A web-based platform to create individualized and customizable video clips to practice the art of Mindfulness.

Target Audience

It can be used for people of any age group looking for resources to create an individualized and customizable solution to create a conducive environment for practicing mindfulness irrespective of their demographic profile, religion, culture, age, profession, etc.

The only technical skills required to use this platform should be the basics of navigating a website. Other than that, no prior technical experience is needed since the platform will provide step-by-step instructions to guide the process. Therefore, there is no need for users to stress about anything.

Learning Goals

• Help people experience the benefits of practicing the art of Mindfulness
• Provide resources to people so that they can create their individualized and customizable small movie clips to practice this technique
• Empower them an important skill to help de-stress themselves and improve their quality of life.

Product Demonstration

Although there are many ready-made videos and tools available to practice this technique, the drawback with them is that one type of clip may not be as effective for all kinds of people since everybody has different sets of personality traits. Hence, through this platform, users can customize and create small video clips depending on their preferences, moods, requirements, thoughts, conflicts, struggles, stressors, etc. The concept of the product can be described by using the following user persona:

Avia, a 23-year-old female working in a bank has a very hectic job and has been experiencing a couple of physical symptoms of chronic stress along with mental fatigue. Due to her work commitments and financial responsibilities, she is not able to plan very frequent vacations which are making her feel all the more miserable.

One fine day, she is searching on the internet on ways to de-stress herself. There she comes across an article on how the practice of mindfulness can help to reduce her stress levels. She gets intrigued by the term and starts reading more about the practice. Then she comes across this web-based platform where she will be able to create individualized and customizable small video clips that can help her get started with the Mindfulness practice.

The following storyboards demonstrate the user walkthrough of the product:

The users needn’t have any prior experience with video editing to use this function; there will be pop-ups that will guide the process and make it easier for anybody to create a small video clip and practice mindfulness meditation. Please click on the following link to view a sample of the output.

Theoretical Framework

Universal Design for Learning

Generative Learning Theory

Affective Theory

For a detailed description of the project & references, please access the design document here.

Supervised by: Emily Reardon