From Ancient Contemplative Practice to the App Store: Designing a Digital Container for Mindfulness
Kai Lukoff, Ulrik Lyngs, Stefania Gueorguieva, Erika S. Dillman, Alexis Hiniker, Sean A. Munson
arXiv Preprint Archive June 16, 2020 via arXiv
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA review of 370 mindfulness apps on Google Play shows they primarily present mindfulness as a tool for relaxation and stress reduction. Interviews with 15 U.S. mindfulness teachers from therapeutic, Buddhist, and Yogic traditions reveal concern that this narrow framing neglects mindfulness's full potential. The teachers' experiences suggest design implications for linking apps with deeper contemplative practices, such as cultivating compassion. The findings emphasize the importance of coherence in design: the metaphors and mechanisms of a technology should align with the underlying principles it follows.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Exploratory review and qualitative interview study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 15 |
| Population | U.S. mindfulness teachers from therapeutic, Buddhist, and Yogic traditions |
| Keywords | H.5.2 Mindfulness-technology meditation apps Digital meditation Contemplative computing Human-computer interaction cs.hc |
| Key finding | Mindfulness apps primarily frame mindfulness as relaxation and stress reduction, which teachers see as neglecting its fuller potential, pointing to a need for design coherence with deeper contemplative practices. |
Abstract
Hundreds of popular mobile apps today market their ties to mindfulness. What activities do these apps support and what benefits do they claim? How do mindfulness teachers, as domain experts, view these apps? We first conduct an exploratory review of 370 mindfulness-related apps on Google Play, finding that mindfulness is presented primarily as a tool for relaxation and stress reduction. We then interviewed 15 U.S. mindfulness teachers from the therapeutic, Buddhist, and Yogic traditions about their perspectives on these apps. Teachers expressed concern that apps that introduce mindfulness only as a tool for relaxation neglect its full potential. We draw upon the experiences of these teachers to suggest design implications for linking mindfulness with further contemplative practices like the cultivation of compassion. Our findings speak to the importance of coherence in design: that the metaphors and mechanisms of a technology align with the underlying principles it follows.