There are dozens of mobile apps that help user’s lives easier in any number of different categories. However, this is a double edged sword for app fanatics who end up using several different apps from a category before they find the right one. Jon Mitchell, a writer for ReadWrite, was trying to find the right meditation app when he stumbled upon Mind. The author already had an meditation app for his iPhone but he needed something that was simple to use and not as cluttered. Mind fit the bill and attracted Mitchell because of its simple design and its ability to stand out from the rest of the apps in the search results. The app was free and it surprised Mitchell to find that it was exactly what he needed.
Mind was developed by Fred Oliveira, who is a developer, designer, O’Reilly author and mentors a startup. Oliveira says that, “I built Mind mostly for myself. I looked around for a timer app (for meditation as well as a Pomodoro Technique tool) that was as simple as it could be. The App Store was packed with apps that looked bad, were poorly designed or were just too complex.” He adds, “So since building mobile and Web apps is what I do by trade, I just created my own.”
Most apps, including meditation apps, struggle to find a balance between paid and free. A free app is usually packed with ads that distract users and keep them from meditating which is the purpose of the app. If it is paid, then developers try to put in so many extra features that distract users and end up being overkill. Users tend to try and use all the bells and whistles but in the end that takes a user away from the meditation part.
Oliveira, who created Mind to help in his own meditation practices, says that, “Meditation isn’t about configuring a bunch of parameters. It’s about sitting. I didn’t need a complex UI, a number of buttons, to help me track how long I sit.” That is why he made Mind to be as simple and straight forward as possible.
There is only one one screen where the user swipes a multi-colored time slider to the left or right. This allows the user to a set the a timer that can go from one minute up to 60 minutes. Once a user is ready they hit start and the timer is on its way and advices the user to relax. When time is up the app chimes three times and saves the timer length for the next time a user turns on the app.
According to Mitchell, even the design of the app is simple and that minimalist nature also attracted him to the app. It is not pigeonholed into one type of meditation like Buddhist or Hindu inspired apps. Any one looking to meditate can us it with out having to follow a specific method. Oliveira says that, “I never intended to make money from it which is why it’s free today and will probably stay that way forever. It was easy to build, and is easy to maintain. The emails and thanks I get from people who use it are payment enough, to be honest.”
He adds that, “I guess in the last few years I realized I’m a tool maker. Making tools is a calling. Mind is one of those tools. But I’ve built others before, and will continue building tools in the future. It makes me happy.”
Source: Read Write
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