Calligraphy Health
Designing a digital experience for daily holistic practice
UX Research · Product Strategy · Mobile Experience
Role:
Product Designer
Duration:
3 months
Project status:
Currently in development
Confidentiality Notice
This project is currently under development. Some product details, interaction flows, and feature implementations are intentionally omitted to respect project confidentiality.
The case study focuses on the research process, design thinking, and strategic decisions behind the product.
Additional materials can be shared privately upon request.
Overview:
Calligraphy Health is a holistic movement system developed by Master Zhen Hua Yang. The practice combines principles from traditional Chinese medicine, meditation, and calligraphy-inspired movements to support physical and mental wellbeing.
Through social media and in-person retreats, the practice has attracted a growing international audience. Many people report deeply transformative experiences when learning directly from Master Yang during workshops and training events.
However, after these initial experiences, practitioners often face a challenge: continuing the practice independently. Without ongoing guidance, many practitioners feel uncertain about how to structure their training, revisit movements, or maintain a consistent routine over time.
Task:
Design a mobile minimum viable product (MVP) that helps practitioners of Calligraphy Health maintain consistent daily practice and deepen their understanding of the movement system outside of workshops and retreats.
The challenge was to translate an embodied offline practice into a structured digital environment while respecting the philosophy of calm, intentional movement.
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Section 01
Research
1.1 Project Initiation
The idea for the mobile application emerged from my experience as a practitioner and my previous collaboration with Master Yang’s team.
To explore the feasibility of the product, I created early low-fidelity wireframes illustrating the core functionality of a potential mobile solution. These initial concepts were shared with the project and community manager, Emilia, and later presented to Master Yang.
After reviewing the concept internally, the team discussed the potential business goals and scope for a minimum viable product (MVP).
Once Master Yang confirmed interest in moving forward with the project, I conducted a stakeholder interview with Emilia to better understand the product vision, business priorities, and expectations for the MVP.
Stakeholder Interview
The key insights from the stakeholder conversation helped clarify:
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product goals
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target audience
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business priorities
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scope for the MVP
1.2 Research Planning
First I defined the research goals and planned how the study would be conducted.
This phase included selecting research methods, mapping the timeline, and reviewing existing wellbeing products. I also explored literature on habit formation, motivation, and engagement, which helped me understand how digital products can support long-term practice.
1.2 Competitive Analysis
Competitor analysis is a key step in the research phase, helping to understand how existing products solve similar user needs, what interaction patterns users are already familiar with, and where meaningful gaps or opportunities exist. By analysing successful and established apps, this stage informs later ideation by grounding design decisions in real-world user expectations, proven UX patterns, and observed strengths and weaknesses — rather than assumptions.
1.3 User Interviews
The most substantial part of the research was conducting four in-depth interviews with Calligraphy Health practitioners. Participants were selected across different age groups, locations, and levels of experience with the practice to gain a more well-rounded understanding of their needs and challenges.
The interviews were conducted via Zoom video calls and recorded with participant consent to support later analysis and extraction of key insights.
Participants were recruited through the existing practitioner community with the support of the project stakeholder. To respect participant privacy, the recruitment details and interview data cannot be shared publicly. However, the insights gathered from these conversations informed the following design decisions.
1.4 Data analysis and synthesis
All research findings were first gathered into a structured research table, including captured references and direct links to sources from the literature review. Each insight was documented and labelled according to the nature of the experience (positive, neutral, or negative), helping to clarify where the current experience supports users and where challenges or gaps exist.
The findings were then transferred into affinity mapping to identify patterns and relationships across the data. During this stage, sticky notes were colour-coded by data source to maintain traceability and transparency throughout the synthesis process.
This combined approach allowed insights from different research methods to be compared, validated, and clustered into meaningful themes that directly informed design decisions and MVP prioritisation.
1.5 Research Outcomes
After completing the research and analyzing the collected data, I synthesized the findings into key research insights and design recommendations.
Due to project confidentiality, these insights cannot be shared publicly at this stage. However, the findings were presented to the stakeholder and used to guide the next phase of the design process.
Section 02
Defining the Design Direction
After synthesizing the research findings, the next step was to define the core user needs and translate insights into clear design opportunities.
This stage focused on framing the problem and identifying areas where the product could support practitioners most effectively.
2.1 Primary User Persona and Scenario
2.2 Problem and Vision
Problem Statement
Practitioners of Calligraphy Health often struggle to maintain consistent daily practice after attending in-person workshops. While Master Young’s teachings are widely shared across social media, the content lacks structure and continuity, making it difficult for participants to deepen their understanding and sustain long-term engagement independently.
Vision Statement
To translate the philosophy of Calligraphy Health into a structured digital experience that empowers practitioners to practice consistently, grow confidently, and integrate holistic well-being into everyday life.
2.3 How Might We Questions
Research insights were translated into How Might We (HMW) questions to frame potential design opportunities.
Section 03
Design Process Overview
After defining the problem and design direction, I moved into the design phase of the project.
Following the design thinking process, I developed the product structure, created low-fidelity flows, conducted usability testing, and iterated toward higher-fidelity prototypes.
The diagram below summarizes the main stages of this process.
Section 04
Usability Testing 1
To evaluate the early design concepts, I planned and conducted usability testing with practitioners from the Calligraphy Health community.
This phase included defining the testing goals, preparing task scenarios, and recruiting participants. The sessions were designed to observe how users navigate key flows and to identify potential usability issues before further design iterations.
4.2 Usability Testing Analysis
After the testing sessions, the collected data was analyzed using affinity mapping to identify patterns in participant feedback and observed behavior. In addition, testing metrics were reviewed to evaluate task completion and overall usability.
The findings were summarized into key insights and identified friction points, which were then shared with the stakeholder. These results helped align the design direction and informed the next round of design iterations and decisions.
Section 05
Current Status & Next Steps
The product is currently in the ongoing design phase. Based on the usability testing results, I continued expanding the design by developing additional categories and screens while refining existing flows. Design decisions are supported by usability metrics and continuous feedback.
Throughout the process, I work closely with the developer and the stakeholder to ensure that the product direction aligns with both user needs and the overall project vision.
Key insights from usability testing included:
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The visual design and color palette were consistently perceived as calm and balanced, successfully reflecting the philosophy of Calligraphy Health.
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Participants appreciated that the features align closely with their existing daily practice habits, allowing the app to support their routine without interrupting their natural flow.
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The structure of the application was rated as clear and intuitive, making it easy for users to understand how to navigate the product.
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Several participants noted that the digital solution could encourage practitioners to explore the practice more deeply and maintain consistency in their training.
In the next phase, the design will focus on developing a structured knowledge base, including articles and videos. This will help organize the deeper philosophy of Calligraphy Health and make it easier for international users to explore and understand the practice.
