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Kaura

Optimizing WatchOS Experience from iPhone App

Role: UX / UI Design, Prototyping, Design System
 

01. Background

Kaura is a highly customizable meditation app that empowers users to tailor their mindfulness practice. With a diverse library of soundscapes and guided sessions, it supports both beginners and experienced meditators in creating a seamless, personalized experience.

Beyond relaxation, Kaura helps users build lasting mindfulness habits through features like habit tracking and reminders. By blending modern technology with timeless meditation practices, it transforms mindfulness into an effortless part of daily life.

02. Problem

Modern users seek mindfulness and relaxation on the go, but traditional meditation and soundscape apps are designed primarily for mobile devices, requiring visual interaction and prolonged screen time. This creates friction for users who want a more seamless, distraction-free experience—especially in moments where reaching for a phone is inconvenient, such as during walks, commutes, or quick mindfulness breaks.

03. Solution

 Adapting the meditation app to WatchOS provides users with a seamless way to access essential features anytime, anywhere. By focusing on quick session access, intuitive playback controls, and mindful reminders, the WatchOS app enables effortless meditation on the go. With a glanceable interface and hands-free interaction, users can easily integrate mindfulness into their daily routines—whether commuting, taking a break, or needing a moment of calm in a busy day.

04. Feature Prioritization

A handful of features were prioritized for the WatchOS application to ensure a seamless, intuitive, and distraction-free mindfulness experience. Unlike the mobile app, which offers deep customization and an extensive content library, the WatchOS version focuses on essential functions—quick session access, playback controls, and mindful reminders—optimizing usability in a compact, wrist-based format.These features were chosen to align with the strengths of the WatchOS platform: glanceability, simplicity, and hands-free interaction. Quick access to soundscapes allows users to start a session instantly, while intuitive playback controls enable seamless adjustments without reaching for their phone. Timely reminders, enhanced by haptic feedback, gently encourage mindfulness throughout the day. By streamlining the experience, the WatchOS app makes meditation more accessible in moments when convenience matters most, such as during walks, commutes, or short breaks.

New Session
Personal Playlists 
Playlist Details 
Soundscape Customization 
Timer Customization 
Timer Sheet Details 
Album Details 
Album Art
Bell Settings 
Library 
          Playlists 
          Albums 
          Artists 
          Tracks 
Playlist Details 
Artist Details 
Album Details

04. Design

After prioritizing key features for the WatchOS adaptation, the design phase focused on translating them into a streamlined, intuitive experience. The challenge was to distill the iOS app’s functionality into a compact interface while maintaining ease of use and the calming nature of the experience.

Leveraging WatchOS design principles, I explored layouts that emphasized glanceability and effortless interaction. Essential actions, such as starting a session or adjusting playback, were mapped to simple gestures and the Digital Crown for minimal friction. Typography, iconography, and haptic feedback were refined to enhance accessibility, ensuring that users could engage with the app quickly and intuitively

Home / Start New Session Screens

Soundscape Settings Screens

Library Screens

05. Conclusion

Adapting an iOS meditation app to WatchOS was both a rewarding and insightful challenge. It required distilling a robust mobile experience into a simplified, wrist-friendly interface while maintaining usability, accessibility, and the calming essence of the original app. The process highlighted the unique constraints of WatchOS—smaller screen real estate, limited interaction methods, and the need for quick, glanceable experiences—while also reinforcing the benefits of designing for convenience and accessibility.

One of the key advantages of this project was starting with an established design system. This provided a strong foundation for consistency, allowing for efficient adaptation of typography, color schemes, and UI components while still refining interactions for the smaller form factor. Through this experience, I gained a deeper understanding of designing within platform-specific constraints and how to prioritize essential features without compromising the user experience. Ultimately, this project reinforced the importance of simplicity, intentionality, and leveraging existing design systems to create cohesive and effective digital experiences across devices.

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