MindPal
A gentle gamified app for connection and well-being.
MindPal is a concept app that combines self-care, psychology, and play. Instead of tracking habits alone, users care for a shared digital character that reflects the group’s collective mood and progress.
Ux
Ai
Gamification
Background & Purpose
The brief was to design an app where gamification is at the core — but instead of focusing on individual progress tracking, our goal was to create something more social and emotionally supportive.
We saw a clear gap in the market: most well-being apps are highly individual and often feel isolating, like private diaries. MindPal was our response, a concept that combines self-care and psychology with playful game mechanics. Instead of competing alone, users care for a shared digital character together with their friends.
The idea was to create a gentle, low-pressure social experience that fosters connection and emotional balance, especially for people who find traditional social platforms overwhelming — such as neurodivergent individuals, introverts, or anyone seeking calmer digital interaction.
"As an exhausted parent with many tough days, I want to keep in touch with my closest friends and see how they’re doing without having to join long group chats — making it easier to maintain connection and receive encouragement in everyday life."
My role
My role in the project focused on UX design, concept development, and interaction structure.
I contributed to shaping the core user experience of MindPal, from early ideation and user research to testing and interface iteration. I helped define the overall flow between the mood logging, group room, and quest system, ensuring the navigation felt clear and emotionally consistent.
I was also involved in the visual design direction, helping to establish the warm, pastel-based color palette and friendly illustration style that became central to the brand identity. I supported the team in testing how users interacted with the game mechanics, observing their understanding of feedback loops and group collaboration.
My strength in this project was translating psychological and emotional insights into intuitive micro-interactions, helping the product feel safe, empathetic, and rewarding without pressure.
Design process
Understand
We began with a competitive analysis and user stories to understand how existing wellness apps used gamification. Most focused on tracking and achievement, but few encouraged genuine emotional connection.
Through this research, we identified our target users as people who want to stay in touch with friends without text or constant social pressure, users seeking quiet togetherness rather than constant communication.
Ideate
Using brainstorming and How Might We questions, we explored how to merge motivation and care. We quickly landed on the concept of a shared digital figure a Tamagotchi-inspired avatar representing the group’s collective mood and progress.
We then mapped user flows and designed low-fidelity sketches showing the emotional journey from opening the app, logging a feeling, viewing the group’s shared avatar, and completing daily quests.
Define
Our design goal became clear:
“How might we design a low-pressure digital space that helps people maintain routines and social connection through playful collaboration?”
This guided all design decisions — from the absence of text and chat features to the use of emojis and subtle visual cues for expressing emotions. Accessibility and inclusion were also central principles, ensuring the app worked for neurodivergent users and those sensitive to overstimulation.
Prototype & Test
We built the prototype in Figma, focusing on simplicity and emotional clarity. The main features included a mood-logging widget, a group room showing all members’ avatars, and a task map where users completed daily wellness “quests.”
User testing revealed that some navigation labels were confusing — for example, users struggled with the “Map” page. Based on this, we renamed it to "Tasks" adjusted layout hierarchy, and made scrolling more intuitive. Another test showed that users wanted more nuanced mood options, leading us to add emotions like "tired", "very happy" and "low".
These iterations improved clarity and emotional expressiveness, making MindPal more personal and engaging.
Learnings & Conclusion
Through MindPal, I learned how emotional design and gamefication can coexist without creating stress or competition. The key insight was that motivation grows stronger when it’s shared, when users care for something together rather than chase individual rewards.
The project deepened my understanding of inclusive, low-pressure UX and the importance of subtle feedback loops. I also grew as a designer by learning how to balance visual softness with cognitive clarity, ensuring the app remained easy to use while emotionally comforting.
MindPal isn’t just a habit app — it’s a digital space for empathy, motivation, and calm connection.
