Miguel Garcia

Designer

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Miguel Garcia

Designer

Home

Portfolio

About

Say Hello

Miguel Garcia

Designer

Home

Portfolio

About

Say Hello

Miguel Garcia

Designer

Midnight Moods: Relax & Sleep

iOS App, App Store (2024)

Project Duration

2 Months


Services Provided

Product Design, SwiftUI, App Store Connect


App Store


https://apps.apple.com/co/app/midnight-moods-relax-sleep/id6479256985?l=en-GB


Problem


Imagine being plagued by mild insomnia, struggling night after night to fall asleep in a reasonable time. This was my reality, and like many, I turned to the App Store for a solution. What I found were industry-leading apps that presented more problems than solutions: lengthy onboarding processes that culminated in expensive subscription lock-ins, overstimulating UIs with hundreds of options, and pagination that led to endless interface mazes. Instead of helping me sleep, these apps only added to my stress.


Unintentionally, I began benchmarking these competitors, identifying their shortcomings. Frustrated by the lack of effective options, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Despite having strong design skills, coding an app independently was uncharted territory for me. Having contributed to team projects before, this personal endeavor pushed me to manage the complete design and development process on my own.


This led to the birth of Midnight Moods, an app centered around the principle that "less is more" when it comes to relaxation. My goal was to deliver a premium user experience with the highest quality audio and visual effects, all within a single-screen user interface. The fluid button menu was meticulously designed to avoid overwhelming users with endless options, offering a few selective and curated experiences instead. This approach ensured the app was simple, effective, and user-friendly, focused solely on helping users achieve restful sleep.


Midnight Moods is not just another app; it's a testament to my dedication to user-centric design and my ability to transform personal challenges into innovative solutions. As the primary user and developer, I ensured every aspect of the app aligned with the needs of those seeking a peaceful night's rest. This unique blend of personal experience and professional expertise makes Midnight Moods a standout project, one that underscores my commitment to creating impactful, user-focused designs.


This project was a valuable exercise in putting myself in the user's point of view, understanding my pain points, and identifying the value propositions an app could bring. This experience not only enhanced my personal skills but also provided me with tools to collaborate more effectively with developers and better empathize with user needs from a primary perspective.

Project Duration

2 Months


Services Provided

Product Design, SwiftUI, App Store Connect


App Store


https://apps.apple.com/co/app/midnight-moods-relax-sleep/id6479256985?l=en-GB


Problem


Imagine being plagued by mild insomnia, struggling night after night to fall asleep in a reasonable time. This was my reality, and like many, I turned to the App Store for a solution. What I found were industry-leading apps that presented more problems than solutions: lengthy onboarding processes that culminated in expensive subscription lock-ins, overstimulating UIs with hundreds of options, and pagination that led to endless interface mazes. Instead of helping me sleep, these apps only added to my stress.


Unintentionally, I began benchmarking these competitors, identifying their shortcomings. Frustrated by the lack of effective options, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Despite having strong design skills, coding an app independently was uncharted territory for me. Having contributed to team projects before, this personal endeavor pushed me to manage the complete design and development process on my own.


This led to the birth of Midnight Moods, an app centered around the principle that "less is more" when it comes to relaxation. My goal was to deliver a premium user experience with the highest quality audio and visual effects, all within a single-screen user interface. The fluid button menu was meticulously designed to avoid overwhelming users with endless options, offering a few selective and curated experiences instead. This approach ensured the app was simple, effective, and user-friendly, focused solely on helping users achieve restful sleep.


Midnight Moods is not just another app; it's a testament to my dedication to user-centric design and my ability to transform personal challenges into innovative solutions. As the primary user and developer, I ensured every aspect of the app aligned with the needs of those seeking a peaceful night's rest. This unique blend of personal experience and professional expertise makes Midnight Moods a standout project, one that underscores my commitment to creating impactful, user-focused designs.


This project was a valuable exercise in putting myself in the user's point of view, understanding my pain points, and identifying the value propositions an app could bring. This experience not only enhanced my personal skills but also provided me with tools to collaborate more effectively with developers and better empathize with user needs from a primary perspective.

Project Duration

2 Months


Services Provided

Product Design, SwiftUI, App Store Connect


App Store


https://apps.apple.com/co/app/midnight-moods-relax-sleep/id6479256985?l=en-GB


Problem


Imagine being plagued by mild insomnia, struggling night after night to fall asleep in a reasonable time. This was my reality, and like many, I turned to the App Store for a solution. What I found were industry-leading apps that presented more problems than solutions: lengthy onboarding processes that culminated in expensive subscription lock-ins, overstimulating UIs with hundreds of options, and pagination that led to endless interface mazes. Instead of helping me sleep, these apps only added to my stress.


Unintentionally, I began benchmarking these competitors, identifying their shortcomings. Frustrated by the lack of effective options, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Despite having strong design skills, coding an app independently was uncharted territory for me. Having contributed to team projects before, this personal endeavor pushed me to manage the complete design and development process on my own.


This led to the birth of Midnight Moods, an app centered around the principle that "less is more" when it comes to relaxation. My goal was to deliver a premium user experience with the highest quality audio and visual effects, all within a single-screen user interface. The fluid button menu was meticulously designed to avoid overwhelming users with endless options, offering a few selective and curated experiences instead. This approach ensured the app was simple, effective, and user-friendly, focused solely on helping users achieve restful sleep.


Midnight Moods is not just another app; it's a testament to my dedication to user-centric design and my ability to transform personal challenges into innovative solutions. As the primary user and developer, I ensured every aspect of the app aligned with the needs of those seeking a peaceful night's rest. This unique blend of personal experience and professional expertise makes Midnight Moods a standout project, one that underscores my commitment to creating impactful, user-focused designs.


This project was a valuable exercise in putting myself in the user's point of view, understanding my pain points, and identifying the value propositions an app could bring. This experience not only enhanced my personal skills but also provided me with tools to collaborate more effectively with developers and better empathize with user needs from a primary perspective.

I designed and developed this app with accessibility in mind from the beginning, ensuring inclusivity for all users. Leveraging the power of SwiftUI, I incorporated numerous built-in accessibility features while also optimizing the code to provide more meaningful context to the users. Specifically, the app is compatible with VoiceOver, enabling visually impaired users to navigate through auditory descriptions. I also integrated Dynamic Type, which ensures that when users with vision impairments increase font sizes in system settings, the app's menu interface seamlessly expands and collapses without crashing the UI.


Additionally, features like Switch Control and Voice Control allow users with physical and motor challenges to interact with the app effectively. The app also incorporates haptic feedback for a more immersive experience, enhancing usability and engagement across all interactions.


I paid special attention to designing a user interface that is operable through simple gestures and commands, ensuring an intuitive and stress-free experience for all users.


By prioritizing accessibility from the outset, I created an app that is not only functional and user-friendly but also inclusive, allowing all users to enjoy a premium experience regardless of their abilities.

This app was originally designed for iOS and iPadOS platforms, with the iPadOS version already supporting macOS and visionOS, demonstrating its multiplatform capabilities. To achieve this, I leveraged SwiftUI's built-in support for iPadOS optimization, supplemented by custom coding to ensure smooth functionality across all platforms. Key Apple frameworks such as AV Foundation were employed for managing audio playback, while MediaPlayer provided users with comprehensive control over audio settings.


Additionally, users can seamlessly interact with the app using their Apple Watch, allowing them to pause, play, and adjust soundscapes directly from their wrist. Moreover, the app features AirPlay Audio, enabling users to connect wirelessly to devices around their home for an enhanced audio experience.

Fluid UI


The app features a single, streamlined screen that prioritizes simplicity and intuitive navigation. What you see is readily accessible, with no hidden options or features. The interface offers a fluid and responsive menu that expands and collapses effortlessly according to your needs, ensuring a seamless user experience.


At the heart of the screen are dynamic mood lights designed to transform your environment into a personal oasis. Tapping outside the buttons toggles their visibility, providing a clutter-free interface that enhances immersion.

In the center, a slowly rotating 3D shape adds depth to the screen and helps focus visual attention away from external distractions. Its soothing animation promotes a sense of tranquility, contributing to a peaceful user experience.


We ensured that every interaction within the app falls within the thumb zone, designed for easy one-handed use.

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The app features Apple Lossless soundscapes and head-tracked spatialized audio, immersing users into their chosen mood with exceptional sound quality. Each soundscape is crafted to provide a premium auditory experience at no cost, allowing users to enjoy rich, clear audio that enhances their relaxation. Users can effortlessly switch between selectively curated soundscapes to find the one that best fits their mood, ensuring a personalized and immersive experience every time.


The Mix with Others feature also enables users to blend meditation sessions from other sources seamlessly with the soundscapes in our app. This capability enhances flexibility, allowing users to create unique and personalized relaxation experiences by combining different audio sources to suit their preferences.


The fluid menu interface makes it intuitive to change soundscapes, designed with fading techniques to ensure smooth transitions without abrupt audio level changes. Furthermore, a subtle Apple Lossless logo appears when users open audio selections, visually reminding them of the premium quality experience.

The Shut-Off Timer feature allows users to set a countdown timer to automatically turn off the music and lock the iPhone screen, facilitating a hassle-free wind-down experience. Users can start, stop, and reset the timer as needed. To maintain immersion in their environment, the app utilizes a progressive variable blur as the UI background for these timer controls, ensuring the soothing mood lights remain prominent and minimizing cognitive load while the user is in a relaxed state.

Dynamic Lighting Speed


Users have the flexibility to adjust the gradient speed of dynamic mood lighting, enabling them to customize the ambiance according to their mood and chosen soundscapes. They can choose from a variety of curated gradient blends, each crafted to enrich the overall experience and harmonize seamlessly with the auditory environment.


Whether you seek the serene glow of northern lights, the warmth of a cozy fireplace, the tranquility of a snowy winter haven, or the allure of a jungle cabin in the Amazon, or simply desire a gentle night light, this level of customization ensures that the visual aspects of the app enhance a unified and personalized relaxation journey.

Localization


The app is localized in six languages—English, Spanish, Italian, German, French, and Brazilian Portuguese. Localization involves more than translation; it integrates cultural identities and customs into the design. This ensures that text does not get cut off and considers variations in text formatting across different cultures.


For example, languages like German often feature longer compound words, necessitating flexible UI layouts to prevent truncation. Additionally, cultural nuances in color choices, icons, and imagery are crucial for resonating with diverse global audiences. The Apple Human Interface Guidelines provide a solid foundation for following best practices in design and localization.