How We Feel
UX redesign to master emotional well-being and redefine performance for high achievers.
End-to-End Designer
Process
The Problem
While the How We Feel app enhances emotional intelligence, its passive design lacks tools for real-time emotional regulation, deeper body-based awareness, and contextual pattern recognition.
The Solution
I conducted a competitor analysis, user research, and explored somatic psychology to identify pain points. Along the way I brainstormed solutions and storyboarded the user journey.
Key Finding: Users need proactive solutions that acknowledge the somatic portion of their emotional experience.
I mapped the site architecture, designed a prototype, and tested it with users through several iterations to refine the solution. This project enhances the How We Feel app to increase the impact of the established tools for emotional intelligence and self-regulation. This design helps individuals take intentional control of their inner experiences, enabling them to navigate life with greater confidence and clarity.
Body Based Check-Ins
This update incorporates the somatic portion of emotional experiences by giving users the ability to log bodily sensations in each check in (pictured in the first half of the demo below), linking emotions to somatic experiences. Additionally empowers analysis across time (the second half of the demo).
Proactive Analysis
To broaden the context that the app has to recognize patterns, optional calendar and biometric integration gives the app the ability to leverage heart rate, heart rate variability, and accurate sleep data. It also lays a foundation for advancements in emotion detection via wearables and mobile devices.
To push HWF from a passive log to a tool with greater impact, Proactive Analysis allows the app to analyze patterns for users and predict their most likely emotional state based on the available information like biometrics, calendar events, and previously logged emotions. It can then offer them tools to help them manage that emotion or cultivate a different one.
AI Coach
To provide a touch point where the user can wield these improvements effectively, this update included an AI powered coach. This coach can put language to the data and make it more understandable and actionable. One notable addition was the proactive "I want to feel____" tool where users enter their desired emotional state and receive suggestions for how to cultivate it based on their logs.
The coach also has a space where users can write goals and hold themselves accountable to taking the actionable steps needed to achieve them.
These updates transform the app from a passive emotional log into a dynamic tool for emotional balance, self-awareness, and action.
Full PrototypeAnimation
To communicate a core concept this solution is built around, I animated this explainer video for emotional granularity—the ability to identify and name specific emotions. It shows how recognizing subtle emotional differences improves self-awareness, communication, and decision-making. The end of the video points viewers to the How We Feel app to learn more.
Reflection
This project reaffirmed my passion for designing meaningful solutions that balance high-level strategy and detailed execution. My favorite aspect was handling the end-to-end design process, from researching to prototyping, while solving a problem I care deeply about.
The area where I could improve was the wireframe portion. I skipped over parts of this because my prototype incorporated many modified app screenshots. If I were to establish my own visual language from scrap I would have spent more time exploring different layouts.