Sanson ki Mala

Why?

I went looking for a meditation app, a timer to mark the start and end of a meditation session. All the apps I found were full of meditation guides, and were cluttered with options and marketplaces to buy meditation from. That all seemed antithetical to what is to me, a process of understanding myself and my relationship to the world.

These apps provide ways for me to do meditation, when I am seeking not doing.

So, I decided to build my own. Keeping it as simple as I possibly could. That sits in meditation with me.

Why the name?

The name comes from the beautiful devotional poem Sanson ki mala pe written by Mirabai in the 16th century. This was then re-written and performed by the great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (video). There's even a metal version.

The main refrain in the song is:

Sanso ki mala pe simruun main pe ka naam

which roughly translates to: I bead my beloveds name on the garland of my breaths.

Isn't meditation a practice of creating a garland of breaths?

How does it work?

• Tap on the time to change it
• Tap anywhere else to start/pause the timer
• Tap on stop timer to stop it
• Meditate

What did I learn?

Honing an idea while retaining personality

Learning about focused design working on wander, I decided to trim this idea down to its very essence. At the same time I didn't want to leave it with no personality or point of view.

The underlying need was clear, a timer that chimed to start the meditation session and one to end it. But I also realized that the app would be sitting with me in meditation. A companion on this journey. From this came the idea of making it feel alive. The animation helps you watch your breathing while also making the time "readable" from a distance.

This point of view added personality to the pure function of the timer. These simple systems come alive when we look past their utilitarian function into their existence as beings that share the same space as us.

Sound as interface

Games use sound extensively and in many interesting ways. But, sound is a severly under-utilized interface in most apps. I wanted a chime to signal the start and end of the session. Apps I've used in the past used a singing bowl chime. I decided to compose my own. Rather than using a single sound for start and end, I decided to mark the start and end using chimes. I quickly created a pleasant rising and falling chime using an OP-Z. It was delightful to create this and have it be part of the app experience.