For my capstone project during my spring semester senior year, I created and designed Zenwalk. It is an app geared toward college students designed to encourage them to be active, get outside, and take healthy breaks from class and work to reduce stress. The app offers trails in the area and pairs users with mindfulness meditations or podcasts that cater to relaxation, inspiration, etc.

Zenwalk came from the culmination of weeks of ideating and research. I began by diving into some self-reflection and consciously thought about my passions. I ended up finding an opportunity to combine my love for hiking and passion for mental health advocacy.

I then created personas based off of my targeted audience. These personas helped me curate the details of my design and create an app with my audience in mind.

After thoroughly researching competing hiking apps in addition to meditation apps, I found a way to stand out and make a difference. Many current hiking apps strictly use a green color palette. I decided to incorporate blues and earthy browns in order to invoke a more earthy connection. I also wanted to incorporate textures, potentially patterns, and imagery from nature to encourage relaxation and meditation.