Role
Lead UX Designer
Branding Lead
Timeline
10 Weeks
January 2025
Team
Grace Shepard
Kayla Ashley
Ana Durrego
Skills
User Experience
Social Strategy
AI Integration
Tools
Figma
Photoshop
OVERVIEW
What’s Bliss all about?
Bliss is a community yoga app that helps students integrate wellness into their busy lives. It offers tools for stress management, physical activity, and mindfulness.
THE CHALLENGE
Why Students Were Too Stressed to Stretch
SCAD students juggle intense academic schedules, personal commitments, and extracurriculars.
52% of students don’t practice yoga because they lack the time.
01
73.8% spend only 1-3 hours/week on self-care.
02
Classes fill quickly and space is limited at SCAD gyms.
03
Opportunities for self-care are limited.
We needed a solution that...
Fits into unpredictable schedules
Removes intimidation for beginners
Builds a real sense of community without adding stress
THE GOAL
Flexible, Accessibility, and Inclusivity
We set out to create a platform that:
Makes joining a class as easy as checking your phone
01
Offers virtual and in-person options for every skill level
02
Fosters a welcoming, judgment-free community
03
RESEARCH AND DISCOVERY
Listening Before Leaping
We used multiple methods to understand needs and barriers:
QR codes in high-traffic areas, YikYak posts, meeting our users where they are.
Surveys and User Interviews
Freshman
Senior
Time constraints
Convenience is key
Lack of Stress Management
Day- in-the-life mapping
Gaining a better understanding of ways to serve all SCAD students through journey mapping
Town watching at SCADfit
and local yoga centers.
To create a better case for yoga as self-care and stress relief, we dove in head-first.
Key Findings
We gained a well-rounded understanding of our problem space, users, and their desires.
Flexible scheduling is critical for users
Smaller, beginner-friendly sessions remove barriers
Community is a motivator, but it must feel inclusive
Materials and equipment must be provided
FROM INSIGHTS TO IDEAS
Post-it’s to Prototypes
Our “How Might We” questions led to four core features
Data Sorting and Affinity Diagramming
We synthesized insights from our survey, grouping them into categories. This understanding provided a foundation for the next phase of ideation.
148 Data Points
IDEATION & DESIGN PROCESS
Making Wellness Click (Literally)
Post affinity diagramming, we began designing iteratively based on our findings and synthesis.
Crazy 8 Brainstorming
We used crazy 8s to rapidly explore layouts and flows for proposed features
Moodboarding
I used mood boards for visual research, curating images to communicate the desired look and feel, enhancing collaboration.
Visual Identity
We then crafted a style guide with a clean, approachable visual identity ensuring approachable visuals & accessibility.
A place to simply be.
Embrace your community, find your Bliss
Bliss
Color Pallete
Hatha
Restorative
Iyengar
Mon
3
Tue
4
Wed
5
Thu
6
DDNnOoPpQq
AaBbCcDd
PP Mori
Test Martina Plantijn
TESTING & ITERATION
When Users Call Your Color Scheme “Hiking Vibes”
We tested with 17 participants (individual, group, and expert reviews). Here’s what we learned:
Key Changes
Increased text, button sizes, and text color for readability and user accessibility
Reconfigured Information architecture
Implemented iconography for easier scanning
Home
Schedule
Community
Profile
Back Care Yoga
Forsyth Park
5:00 - 5:45 PM
In-person
+3
Join Class
Profile
Community
AI Trainer
Events
Home
Back Care Yoga
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
On-site
12
Forsyth Park Savannah, GA 31401
Join Class
Beginner
Community Hub
New content for you, refreshed daily.
Discover
Community
Resources
Streaks
Pods & Groups
View all
UXDG 101 Crew
Tomorrow ∙ 8:30 AM
Join Pod
SCADPro Refresh
Tomorrow ∙ 9:30 AM
Join Pod
Mid-Term Mindfulness
March 8 ∙ 9:30 AM
Join Pod
Community Updates
View all
Emerson ∙ 20m ago
Completed her 10th Yin Yoga session!
Alyssa ∙ 2 hr ago
Completed her first yoga session ever!
Community Resources
View all
3 Minute Read
Study Smarter, Not Longer
Mindful breaks and focus hacks to improve productivity
5 Minute Read
Find Your Flow Together
How small group yoga sessions build accountability
Design
SCAD Podcast: inFLUX
inFLUX is SCAD FLUX's central design podcast.
2 hr 30 min
Bliss Yoga Playlist
Slow down and unwind with a curated yoga playlist.
Home
Schedule
AI Guide
Community
Profile
13:13
Community Hub
New content for you, refreshed daily.
Discover
Community
Resources
Streaks
Pods & Groups
View all
UXDG 101 Crew
Tomorrow ∙ 8:30 AM
Join Pod
SCADPro Refresh
Tomorrow ∙ 9:30 AM
Join Pod
Mid-Term Mindfulness
March 8 ∙ 9:30 AM
Join Pod
Community Updates
View all
Emerson ∙ 20m ago
Completed her 10th Yin Yoga session!
Alyssa ∙ 2 hr ago
Completed her first yoga session ever!
Community Resources
View all
3 Minute Read
Study Smarter, Not Longer
Mindful breaks and focus hacks to improve productivity
5 Minute Read
Find Your Flow Together
How small group yoga sessions build accountability
Design
SCAD Podcast: inFLUX
inFLUX is SCAD FLUX's central design podcast.
2 hr 30 min
Bliss Yoga Playlist
Slow down and unwind with a curated yoga playlist.
Home
Schedule
AI Guide
Community
Profile
13:13
Complete Product Overhaul
The initial round of iteration made me realize the direction of the product needed to be addressed as a whole
VISUAL OVERHAUL & REDESIGN
Less Scroll, More Soul
Feedback from testing made it clear: while features solved core problems, visuals and hierarchy needed refinement to feel more intentional, inviting, and modern. The redesign focused on three key areas:
Clarity & Scanability
Past feedback: Students struggled to quickly parse dense screens.
Response: Added modular card layouts, bold headers, and clearer section dividers. Each interaction feels lighter, scannable, and approachable.
Community Freshness
Past feedback: The community feed felt generic and “like every other app.
Response: Redesigned into pods, event cards, and streak widgets inspired by Partiful and Airbnb. Interactions are now playful, purposeful, and tied back to yoga motivation.
Social Flow
50+ Friends
Event Explorer
10 Events Attended
20 Posts
Mindful Sharer
FINAL PRODUCT
Bringing Bliss to Life
The following screens represent the final iteration of Bliss. Each reflects adjustments made through user testing and feedback, focusing on clarity, familiarity, and seamless integration of wellness and community features.
The Home Page is a personalized dashboard that highlights wellness streaks, upcoming classes, and quick resources,keeping students motivated and making wellness easy to fit into daily life.
Home
The Schedule Page simplifies planning, allowing students to browse classes, RSVP, and host events. Filters for in-person, hybrid, or virtual options make joining wellness activities easy.
Schedule
Community
The Community Page connects students through pods, updates, and resources. It features event cards, discussions, and saved content for social and wellness support.
The Profile Page personalizes each student’s journey with posts, achievements, and events. It celebrates milestones like streaks and badges, reinforcing accountability and community.
Profile
PROJECT TAKEAWAYS
Final Notes and Reflection
Reflecting on the Bliss experience, I grew significantly as a designer and strategist. Here are three important lessons that shaped my approach to UX and product design:
Strategic Pivots Matter - Bliss taught me that design isn’t about stubbornly holding onto initial ideas. When testing revealed that our community feed wasn’t resonating, we pivoted toward pods, events, and streaks. Strategic shifts like this keep a product aligned with real user needs.
UX is Evolving, Not Fixed - I realized that UX isn’t a “finished” outcome but an evolving process defined by users and their lived experience. Iteration is essential, and each round of testing made Bliss more intentional, approachable, and effective.
Familiarity First - One of the most valuable lessons was that users expect digital experiences to behave like the apps they already know. Even if a feature provides extraordinary value, people won’t adopt it if it feels unintuitive. Good UX lowers barriers, aligning novelty with familiarity.
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