Bloom is an Augmented Reality app that makes mindfulness playful and tangible by letting users plant virtual gratitude notes in their real environment.
Company
Capstone Project
Timeline
2024
—
2025
Role
Product Designer, UX Researcher
Full Case Study
Project overview
This project was deeply personal to me, it grew out of my recovery from a traumatic accident. During that time, plants were the only thing that kept me grounded, but in Miami’s harsh weather I couldn’t keep them alive. That’s when the idea hit me: what if gratitude itself could grow like a plant 🌱 something I could nurture, but that wouldn’t wither away?
In today’s busy world, mindfulness often feels disconnected from daily life. Bloom merges AR with gratitude practice so users can visualize their gratitude as plants that grow over time in their own spaces. It turns reflection into something engaging, visual, and personal 🪴 a ritual that makes consistency easier.
Plant + gratitude? Yep, that’s how it started.
Challenges
How do you design a mindfulness app that’s engaging, personal, and easy enough for literally everyone? Could I make something so simple and fun that both a child and an adult would love it....without dumbing it down? That was my real challenge.
Most mindfulness apps focused on meditation audio, not gratitude.
AR was almost never used in wellness apps.
Users wanted novelty and something they could share that felt emotionally resonant.
So I experimented: AR plants in your bedroom that you can actually grow with gratitude, Duolingo-style avatars that nudge you to keep streaks alive, and interactive 3D plants. I even added an option to plant simple 2D plants 🌼 because hey, sometimes you don’t want to scan your room.
Results
This project actually won a Best UI/UX Award 🥇 and not just for the design, but because people loved the idea and built on it with their own suggestions. One idea that blew me away? “What if you could send gratitude plants to your friends?” Instant future feature.
It enabled users to plant gratitude notes in AR, blending the digital with the physical world, I also designed widgets and avatars that motivated daily use and streaks AND built interactive 3D plants that grow and respond to affirmations (Using Meshy.ai, yep one more stunning AI tool)
Learnings
Emotional design drives engagement just as much as functionality.
Iteration and constant feedback loops made the AR more realistic and the app more human.
AR can make mindfulness less abstract and more integrated into everyday life.
Full Case Study
