WorkplaceWell
Mental Wellness & Team Engagement for Remote Teams
Designed a remote wellness platform helping 78% of users feel more connected and 60% report reduced stress — by embedding 2-minute activities into existing workflows instead of building another standalone app.
Role
Product Designer
Timeline
10 weeks
Year
2023
Team
- 1 Product Manager
- 2 Engineers
- 1 Clinical Psychologist (consultant)
The Problem
Why this mattered.
Remote employees face compounding problems: team disconnection despite frequent meetings, elevated stress from always-on culture, and a market full of wellness tools that require new habits. 78% felt disconnected; 60% reported burnout-level stress.
Standalone wellness apps showed near-zero adoption in testing — users wouldn't form new habits of switching context. The insight: embed into existing workflows rather than demand new ones.
Starting Baseline
78% of remote employees felt disconnected · 60% elevated stress · standalone apps near-zero adoption in testing
Discovery
What the research revealed.
15 qualitative user interviews across multiple industries, 300+ survey responses, competitive analysis of Calm, Headspace for Work, Teams, Donut (Slack), Culture Amp
Users prioritized 2–5 minute activities embedded in existing workflows — not standalone apps requiring new habits
Team activities showed 3× higher adoption than individual wellness features — social accountability drove engagement
Market gap: no existing tool combined individual mental health support with team bonding mechanics
Privacy controls were prerequisite — users would not engage mood tracking without anonymity options
Solution
The architecture.
Workflow-integrated platform: 2-minute activities surfaced inside Slack and Teams, team bonding challenges, and anonymous mood tracking with aggregate manager views — no new app required.
Daily pulse check — 30-second team ritual surfaced directly in Slack/Teams
2-minute exercises — breathing, focus, movement — at the friction threshold users would cross
Team challenges — collaborative, non-competitive weekly activities
Anonymous mood board — individual privacy preserved, managers see aggregate trends only
Resource library — therapist-curated content on-demand, never pushed
Design Process
Warm, human, non-clinical. Approachable — not corporate, not medical. Sage palette, soft typography, zero jargon.
V1: Standalone app
Dedicated mobile app. Near-zero adoption in testing — users wouldn't switch context to a new tool. Discarded entirely.
V2: Workflow integration — Slack Block Kit (Final)
FinalBuilt as Slack components + web app. Met users where they already were. Adoption 3× higher in testing. Shipped.
Specifications
Slack Block Kit components for in-workflow delivery. Responsive web app for detailed views. Google Calendar, Teams, and Slack integrations. 2-minute activity as a hard product constraint.
Constraints & Solutions
Slack API rate limits created tension with desired notification frequency. Solved by designing a user cadence preference system — converted engineering constraint into user empowerment.
Outcomes
What moved.
| Metric | Before | After | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Users Feeling Connected | 22% | 78% | ↑56pp |
| Stress Reduction Reported | Baseline | 60% | 60% reported ↓ |
| Daily Engagement | Baseline | +35% | ↑35% |
| Adoption vs. Standalone | Near-zero | 3× higher | ↑3× |
Impact
Piloted across 3 companies with 200+ remote employees. Platform later acquired by an HR-tech company.