Mood tree
April 2023
April 2023
+ Appreciation and Suggestions for How we feel app.
Mood tree was a mood tracking and assist app project.
Mood tree was a mood tracking and assist app project.
Started with a discomfort and doubt.
Started with a discomfort and doubt.
Discomfort with the first mood meter app based on a scale created by dr. marc brackket. I had a love-hate relationship with it. I loved the core utility of the app but the flaws and friction to log share mood grated on me.
I wanted to improve my product skills so I decided that I will redesign the app to fix the issues I face. Not just to slap a fresh coat of paint on this thing. I wanted to rip it down to the studs and rebuild it from scratch. No more friction, no more fuss. Just pure, intuitive mood tracking.
But with that decision came a doubt that at the same time I also craved a project to build for the real world, for real people. I wanted to ship it and didn’t wanted to build another well-documented artifact gathering dust in the cloud. I wanted to ditch the training wheels.
My new goal was to build a new and better mood tracking app (mvp) and ship it for the people to use.
Discomfort with the first mood meter app based on a scale created by dr. marc brackket. I had a love-hate relationship with it. I loved the core utility of the app but the flaws and friction to log share mood grated on me.
I wanted to improve my product skills so I decided that I will redesign the app to fix the issues I face. Not just to slap a fresh coat of paint on this thing. I wanted to rip it down to the studs and rebuild it from scratch. No more friction, no more fuss. Just pure, intuitive mood tracking.
But with that decision came a doubt that at the same time I also craved a project to build for the real world, for real people. I wanted to ship it and didn’t wanted to build another well-documented artifact gathering dust in the cloud. I wanted to ditch the training wheels.
My new goal was to build a new and better mood tracking app (mvp) and ship it for the people to use.
Here we climb with the thrill!
Here we climb with the thrill!
I followed the simple design process and commenced the design phase.
I followed the simple design process and commenced the design phase.
Research
Goal — call to adventure
This is one of the projects where I delved deep into research, especially competitor analysis.
Did both secondary research and competitor analysis. Initially, I made a list of issues I faced with the Mood Meter app. After that, I delved into user reviews on both app stores and made a list of issues that other people are facing. After clarifying the insights and prioritizing, we proceeded with the user research - creating persona, story and map.
Made a mistake, Research turned into vague wandering. I conducted extra and unnecessary research I was just surfing without a clear aim.
Learnt a lesson in dividing research into two parts: one relevant for the present, focusing more on current goals and another part useful for the future.
This is one of the projects where I delved deep into research, especially competitor analysis.
Did both secondary research and competitor analysis. Initially, I made a list of issues I faced with the Mood Meter app. After that, I delved into user reviews on both app stores and made a list of issues that other people are facing. After clarifying the insights and prioritizing, we proceeded with the user research - creating persona, story and map.
Made a mistake, Research turned into vague wandering. I conducted extra and unnecessary research I was just surfing without a clear aim.
Learnt a lesson in dividing research into two parts: one relevant for the present, focusing more on current goals and another part useful for the future.
Information Architecture
Information Architecture
This is the part of the process I enjoy the most, kind of like solving a puzzle.
The issue of 3 vs 5 nav bar items.
For the Mood Tree, I was stuck with the decision on how many nav bar items it should contain. I was in conflict, choosing between 3 and 5 items. In the end, I decided to go with 3 for simplicity and to reduce information overload on the screen.
This is the part of the process I enjoy the most, kind of like solving a puzzle.
The issue of 3 vs 5 nav bar items.
For the Mood Tree, I was stuck with the decision on how many nav bar items it should contain. I was in conflict, choosing between 3 and 5 items. In the end, I decided to go with 3 for simplicity and to reduce information overload on the screen.
Prototyping
Prototyping
After the info arch, I made a list of usual flows to design and moved on to wireframing.
While wireframing, I did three iterations, and behold, Here comes the wall and worry — How we feel appears. I was exploring Mobbin for inspiration for design flows and interface then I came across "How we feel." It's quite ironic that I spent so much time on competitive research, going through more than 100 tabs for both Apple and Android stores, and I missed out on "How we feel." I knew about "How we feel" before; I came across it on X (formerly known as Twitter, lol), about a year back. I was super excited to try it, but it was iOS only at that time. Now, it was available for Android too. I was happy but at the same time bummed out to realize that this awesome solution exists and is improving, especially considering it's developed by the maker of the Mood Meter scale, Marc Brackett, and an incredible team. Apple launched their own tool, and this isn't the right problem for me to solve.
After the info arch, I made a list of usual flows to design and moved on to wireframing.
While wireframing, I did three iterations, and behold, Here comes the wall and worry — How we feel appears. I was exploring Mobbin for inspiration for design flows and interface then I came across "How we feel." It's quite ironic that I spent so much time on competitive research, going through more than 100 tabs for both Apple and Android stores, and I missed out on "How we feel." I knew about "How we feel" before; I came across it on X (formerly known as Twitter, lol), about a year back. I was super excited to try it, but it was iOS only at that time. Now, it was available for Android too. I was happy but at the same time bummed out to realize that this awesome solution exists and is improving, especially considering it's developed by the maker of the Mood Meter scale, Marc Brackett, and an incredible team. Apple launched their own tool, and this isn't the right problem for me to solve.
The Choice - Giving up?
The Choice - Giving up?
After pondering for two days about what to do next, I decided to halt this project and start working on a new one.
We might have been climbing the wrong mountain, but it was fun and challenging.
HWF team has the best app and the best team, including scientists, professionals, and experts. Here I am, a naive 22-year-old, struggling to describe and share my own emotions, a beginner product builder. I wanted to choose my battles wisely. I appreciate and am inspired by the HWF team. I didn't wanted my ego and foolishness to take over, competing and spending all of my time on it, because there are some other high-priority problems also that I want to solve. This isn't the one piece I was after, and I moved on to a different position – the position of being a user of HWF, back to the user who emails product builders with suggestions and who fills the feedback.
Maintains a running list in a notes app of items mentioned in conversation for reference during gift-shopping.
After giving up, How We Feel?
After giving up, How We Feel?
Happy, sad, and lots of other emotions. After 9 months and 238 check-ins, here's appreciation and suggestions for the Android version.
// meme — I bring a mix of feedback and suggestion vibes to their emails that product builders both really love and hate.
I tried several existing wishlist apps to see how they helped people with gifting.
Sadly, many felt clunky, confusing, or missing helpful features. Amazon's wishlist feature, in particular, posed a hurdle for general use because it's limited to the Amazon ecosystem, excluding other online and offline retailers with wider product selections or lower prices. This restricts gift options and might not reflect the recipient's full preferences.
One standout app I discovered was Giftful, which offers a well-designed ios app, web app, and browser extension. BUT, it primarily targets the US and European markets and apple’s ecosystem. While it excels in providing a simple user experience, I couldn't find any similarly useful and enjoyable apps for creating and sharing wishlists suitable for the Indian market, both on Android and web platforms.
Solutions around gifting in India predominantly revolves around blogs, small businesses on instagram and e-commerce platforms, with a lack of specific wishlist tools or comprehensive shopping companions. This gap in the market presents an opportunity.
Appreciation
Appreciation
This app excels in user experience and interface with simple, well-executed features.
Check-in and navigate emotions, delightfully
Tracking emotions stands at the core and is among the best features of this app. The pleasant, surprising, and fluid experience of logging emotions motivates and consistently draws me back to check in and record my feelings.
It's a delightful experience that you must personally experience in to fully appreciate the seamless flow and interaction.
Analysis and Curiosity
Analyze section shows one of the best presentations of statistics from logged emotions. Covering three time periods: weekly, monthly, and all-time. It highlights the impact of activities, people, and places on your mood, including factors like sleep, exercise, and weather.
Knowledge and Empowerment
Alongside tracking and analyzing, there's also a learning section. It includes short videos on strategies for managing and regulating emotions, aiding users with their emotions—all for free! The quality and value they provide surprised me. It gives significant dopamine boost; no wonder it's made by scientists and designers.
This app excels in user experience and interface with simple, well-executed features.
Check-in and navigate emotions, delightfully
Tracking emotions stands at the core and is among the best features of this app. The pleasant, surprising, and fluid experience of logging emotions motivates and consistently draws me back to check in and record my feelings.
It's a delightful experience that you must personally experience in to fully appreciate the seamless flow and interaction.
Analysis and Curiosity
Analyze section shows one of the best presentations of statistics from logged emotions. Covering three time periods: weekly, monthly, and all-time. It highlights the impact of activities, people, and places on your mood, including factors like sleep, exercise, and weather.
Knowledge and Empowerment
Alongside tracking and analyzing, there's also a learning section. It includes short videos on strategies for managing and regulating emotions, aiding users with their emotions—all for free! The quality and value they provide surprised me. It gives significant dopamine boost; no wonder it's made by scientists and designers.
Suggestions & possible enhancements
Suggestions & possible enhancements
Some areas that I feel could be improved are
Quickly adding feelings - Reduce check-in friction.
Recently discovered long-press to quickly add feelings—love it!
Also, appreciate the new log feelings screen. Unlike the single page it had in April last year, it's now separated into three pages. I enjoy this immersive experience with less information overload and different options to choose from.
However, there's still some friction in completing the full check-in with details. It feels a bit lengthy. The flow and interaction could be simplified further.
Reducing Information overload
Over time, I've added numerous options for themes, people, and places. Now, the abundance of choices feels overwhelming, making it harder to find specific options. I have to scan alphabetically, leading to information overload, friction, and fatigue in checking in and describing feelings.
To address this, need groups or a toggle feature to better categorize and sort them.
Automation
Integrate sleep and exercise data from tracker apps like Apple Health or Google Fit, similar to how it automatically takes weather data.
Checkin from widgets and other devices: Quickly add feelings through the iOS home or lock screen widget.
As I keep my phone away for most of the day and spend a significant time at my workstation, I find it challenging to use the app regularly. I wish for a web app or desktop support for convenient check-ins without relying on my phone. Alternatively, an app for watchOS or wearOS could be beneficial.
Integrations for strategies to regulate: Beyond video and text instructions, consider additional options for regulating feelings.
Built-in Timers for Meditation, Breathing, and Physical Exercise:
Breathing Exercise: Visualizer for breathing in and out
If Low Energy timer for Kapalabhati
If Stress timer for Anulom Vilom or Huberman’s Psychological Sigh
Quick 5-Minute Timer for a Walk
Integrations with Music Playlists: Integration with Apple and Spotify's chill mix playlists when feeling chill.
Creating Custom Links for Feelings: Linking to vision/mood board for inspiration when feeling uninspired.
Analyze
A Change in Default View in Analyze Section: Right now, it shows feelings of all time by default, but I think a weekly view as default would be more impactful for reflection as users will remember their ups and downs more closely, going from small to large.
Better Navigation: Improvement in navigation of the analyze section - it’s lengthy and needs a quick scrollbar from the side, like how we can scroll alphabetically in a contact book and need improvements to navigate to a specific section of the report.
Better search option for the diary of feelings to navigate to specific dates more easily.
Graph View and Widgets: A graph view based on pleasant, unpleasant, high, and low energy would be great in visualizing the emotional ups and downs. It's just a personal perspective, viewing life as a roller coaster ride with its highs and lows.
Widgets to quickly view the stats of the weekly reports and streaks.
Option for Yearly Time View: Wish it had a yearly time view for selected year stats—maybe even a yearly wrapped report? LOL.
Upgrades in Social and sharing aspect
Timeline View of Shared Feelings: Right now, feelings disappear after a certain time or after the next feeling. It would be great if I could also see the feelings my friends have shared over the week or month to see how they are doing based on the stats.
A Profile View and better sharing options: I’ll stop it here xD. Don’t want to dig into the idea of another social media, but it will be cool, though, sharing the daily, weekly, or yearly reports through a link or custom exports like Spotify and Apple Music’s cards in stories or exporting them into PDF documents.
I am curious how conversational UI (text or voice) fits this app—assuming it adds a more intimate touch.
Some areas that I feel could be improved are
Quickly adding feelings - Reduce check-in friction.
Recently discovered long-press to quickly add feelings—love it!
Also, appreciate the new log feelings screen. Unlike the single page it had in April last year, it's now separated into three pages. I enjoy this immersive experience with less information overload and different options to choose from.
However, there's still some friction in completing the full check-in with details. It feels a bit lengthy. The flow and interaction could be simplified further.
Reducing Information overload
Over time, I've added numerous options for themes, people, and places. Now, the abundance of choices feels overwhelming, making it harder to find specific options. I have to scan alphabetically, leading to information overload, friction, and fatigue in checking in and describing feelings.
To address this, need groups or a toggle feature to better categorize and sort them.
Automation
Integrate sleep and exercise data from tracker apps like Apple Health or Google Fit, similar to how it automatically takes weather data.
Checkin from widgets and other devices: Quickly add feelings through the iOS home or lock screen widget.
As I keep my phone away for most of the day and spend a significant time at my workstation, I find it challenging to use the app regularly. I wish for a web app or desktop support for convenient check-ins without relying on my phone. Alternatively, an app for watchOS or wearOS could be beneficial.
Integrations for strategies to regulate: Beyond video and text instructions, consider additional options for regulating feelings.
Built-in Timers for Meditation, Breathing, and Physical Exercise:
Breathing Exercise: Visualizer for breathing in and out
If Low Energy timer for Kapalabhati
If Stress timer for Anulom Vilom or Huberman’s Psychological Sigh
Quick 5-Minute Timer for a Walk
Integrations with Music Playlists: Integration with Apple and Spotify's chill mix playlists when feeling chill.
Creating Custom Links for Feelings: Linking to vision/mood board for inspiration when feeling uninspired.
Analyze
A Change in Default View in Analyze Section: Right now, it shows feelings of all time by default, but I think a weekly view as default would be more impactful for reflection as users will remember their ups and downs more closely, going from small to large.
Better Navigation: Improvement in navigation of the analyze section - it’s lengthy and needs a quick scrollbar from the side, like how we can scroll alphabetically in a contact book and need improvements to navigate to a specific section of the report.
Better search option for the diary of feelings to navigate to specific dates more easily.
Graph View and Widgets: A graph view based on pleasant, unpleasant, high, and low energy would be great in visualizing the emotional ups and downs. It's just a personal perspective, viewing life as a roller coaster ride with its highs and lows.
Widgets to quickly view the stats of the weekly reports and streaks.
Option for Yearly Time View: Wish it had a yearly time view for selected year stats—maybe even a yearly wrapped report? LOL.
Upgrades in Social and sharing aspect
Timeline View of Shared Feelings: Right now, feelings disappear after a certain time or after the next feeling. It would be great if I could also see the feelings my friends have shared over the week or month to see how they are doing based on the stats.
A Profile View and better sharing options: I’ll stop it here xD. Don’t want to dig into the idea of another social media, but it will be cool, though, sharing the daily, weekly, or yearly reports through a link or custom exports like Spotify and Apple Music’s cards in stories or exporting them into PDF documents.
I am curious how conversational UI (text or voice) fits this app—assuming it adds a more intimate touch.
End & pivot
End & pivot
This short project brought about a whirlwind of experiences and lessons. My goal was to create and launch an enhanced mood tracker app with cross-platform support and integrations with various tools. How We Feel effectively addressed most of the challenges I encountered with the previous mood meter app. The team behind this app has truly excelled in refining its core features and user experience. It’s a beautiful piece of work, and I'm genuinely grateful for its existence and positive impact on well-being.
In the end, I learned and gained new insights and experiences for other personal projects I aim to grow and develop.
I pivoted and began working on a different idea called Joyosa, still with the same goal of creating a real-world project to be shared with people. Feeling inspired and excited to develop it soon.
This short project brought about a whirlwind of experiences and lessons. My goal was to create and launch an enhanced mood tracker app with cross-platform support and integrations with various tools. How We Feel effectively addressed most of the challenges I encountered with the previous mood meter app. The team behind this app has truly excelled in refining its core features and user experience. It’s a beautiful piece of work, and I'm genuinely grateful for its existence and positive impact on well-being.