Rose Garden
Journaling app inspired by the "rose, bud, thorn" icebreaker. Encouraging users to self-reflect daily with flowers.
Journaling app inspired by the "rose, bud, thorn" icebreaker. Encouraging users to self-reflect daily with flowers.
For many people, the hardest part of journaling is simply knowing where to begin. It's easy to feel overwhelmed, unsure what to write, or how to organize your thoughts (I knew the feeling all too well).
Through our 27 interviews, several common themes emerged:
A negative stigma around digital journaling.
Users who already journal did not prefer a structured journaling experience.
Users who didn't journal preferred the structure of the rose-bud-thorn.
Make journaling easier and more approachable by using the familiar "rose-bud-thorn" icebreaker. This simple structure offers a gentle guide for daily reflection.
Leverage digital strengths — Instead of replicating traditional journaling, I wanted to focus on the flexibility of digital spaces, like importing and exporting images, rather than mimicking traditional journal entries.
Balance structure and creative freedom — Provide a guided journaling framework that users can follow or customize, allowing them to shape their experience without feeling restricted.
The opening screens guide users into reflection by letting them choose which prompt to begin with, making journaling feel more structured and approachable.
Inspired by Notability and Instagram Stories, the freeform journal page gives users the flexibility to expand on their thoughts after using the given prompts. Movable text boxes, drawing tools, and image uploads allow each entry to feel personal and unconstrained by a traditional journaling format.
Users can switch between garden and calendar view, giving them flexibility in how they visualize and track their journaling progress.
This is the project that started my journey of making meaningful experiences — it will always hold a special place in my heart!
With a visually heavy project, it was essential that the designs were clear and easy to navigate.
Working with 3 other designers helped spark new ideas and develop innovative features for Rose Garden.
So grateful to my Project Leads Helen Feng and Andrew Wang for making Rose Garden possible!
Shaping the visual identity for SoCal's largest hackathon serving 1,500+ participants.