Mindful Design • Part 1

Originally published on my personal website.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

We, designers, always strive to create products and experiences that meet the needs of intended audience. That’s basically the fundamentals of good UX — user’s needs, pain points, behaviours and expectations. But what if we can do better than that? What if we designed products and experiences that are not only user-centric but serve a higher purpose?

In these Mindful Design series (yes, there will be more than one article) I will be exploring how mindfulness principles can be applied in a designer’s workflow.

Mindfulness

I have always been passionate about living life in a healthy and balanced way. Once I discovered mindfulness and started practising it regularly, my life positively changed.

First things first, what exactly is mindfulness?

Here’s a definition from mindful.org:

Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.

Interesting, right? It’s the basic human ability to be present. It’s already part of us and always has been. So why is it more and more difficult to be fully present? I’m sure you can sense where I’m going with this.

Photo by Jens Johnsson on Unsplash

Our phones are with us 24/7. We have flat screen TVs, iPads on the go, smartwatches, voice assistants. The list is only growing. We are constantly distracted by technology, leaving very little time to check-in with ourselves, observe how we feel, slow down and actually have some quality, uninterrupted time with our family. Checking latest notification while catching up with friends? Been there, done that. That’s why, as a designer and mindfulness advocate, I decided to do an experiment — give up social media for some time and see what happens.

There are digital products however that we can’t run away from and we use them on a daily basis because it’s better, faster, more convenient. We manage our money, businesses and keep in touch with friends and family. I’m sure nobody would like…