An immersive design experience for employees to reduce stress and promote mental health in the workplace
Company and Role: Beyond Digital, Project Lead, UI/UX, Creative Director
REDUCED STRESS, INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY, HAPPIER WORK ENVIRONMENT
We all seek to bring out the best, creative ideas to tackle complex challenges on a daily basis. Yet, keeping up with deadlines and meeting daily goals can become quite consuming, leaving us stressed. Some recent research suggests that 73% of employees exhibit psychological symptoms of stress and 52% of employees admit to calling in sick due to stress. Needless to say, stress kills creativity.
So, how can a digital and design agency, with high-profile, demanding clients, keep stress at bay?
An immersive experience where people can practice mindfulness in the workplace..
What is FEELS?
FEELS is a mindfulness experience that aims to quiet the mind and increase productivity, focus and creativity which leads to overall increased happiness.
We decided to construct an experience that integrated spatial and digital work. The idea, Feels, would allow employees to retreat from their normal tasks and normal environment, recenter, and — we hoped — reduce their stress.
We built a new kind of experience that offers a guided meditation room for both beginners and seasoned practitioners.
THE SPACE
Bridging digital and physical
The product plan focused on both physical and digital elements, and mapped each step in the digital program to the physical room. How people reported their stress level at the beginning of the meditation changed the lighting in the room, and ambient noises changed based on the meditation path chosen. By devoting the same design intention to the construction of the room we delivered a calming, holistic experience for all employees.
MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS POSTERS
Beyond won "NYC’s top 100 workplaces award”
Our initial findings have revealed a positive correlation between using Feels and an improved quality of productivity, a calmer state of mind, and a deeper level of focus.
