DATE:
12/17/2025
LENGTH:
16 WEEKS
ROLE:
SOLO
SERVICE:
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN, UI/UX DESIGN
Reko
about.
Reko started from a simple question I kept coming back to while designing for wellness: what if healing felt more intentional, not clinical? What if healing came straight from the palm of your hands? I wanted to create something that lived comfortably in your hands, something that encouraged you to slow down and engage with your body instead of rushing through recovery.
This project pushed me to think deeply about modularity, tactility, and emotional comfort. I explored how form, material, and interaction can make therapeutic moments feel personal and empowering. Reko isn’t about maximizing features. It’s about designing a calm, intuitive system that supports people when they need it most.
challenge.
Recovery tools often feel cold, clinical, or overly technical. Many prioritize features over comfort, leaving users disconnected from the act of healing itself. The challenge was designing a therapeutic product that people would actually want to pick up and use consistently, without feeling intimidated or overwhelmed.
I needed to balance modular functionality with emotional warmth, while keeping the system intuitive enough for users in moments of discomfort. The core challenge was making recovery feel human, not medical.
user.
Recovery is both a physical and cognitive experience.
Users engage with Reko through their hands and bodies while also seeking reassurance that they are using the system correctly. Traditional health products often separate these moments. The physical product does the work, while the digital product demands attention through screens, settings, and data.
This separation creates friction. Users are asked to switch mental modes while recovering.
For Reko, the physical and digital products needed to operate as a single experience. The digital interface could not feel like an instruction manual or dashboard. It had to reinforce what the user was already understanding through touch, form, and movement.
research & exploration.
I studied how existing recovery products combine hardware and software and found a recurring disconnect. The physical object and the app often felt designed independently.
Physically, products relied on intuitive form and tactile feedback. Digitally, apps relied on lists, menus, and abstract icons. This forced users to translate between two different mental models.
In response, I explored how people understand physical objects through geometry, orientation, and spatial relationships. I then examined how digital interfaces could reflect those same principles.
This led to a shift in approach. Instead of designing a physical product supported by an app, I designed a physical and digital system that share the same underlying structure.
I started with figuring out what people associate with "healing from the palm of your hands," then sketching and AI-generating potential forms.
key insights.
Users form their primary understanding of the system through physical interaction. The digital experience should reinforce that understanding rather than replace it.
When digital layouts mirror physical geometry, users spend less time learning how to use the system.
Traditional health app patterns introduce unnecessary abstraction into an otherwise tactile experience.
Consistency across physical and digital touchpoints builds trust and reduces hesitation during use.
These insights positioned the app as a companion surface that extends the physical experience.
experience flow.
The Reko experience unfolds as a continuous loop across physical and digital touchpoints.
Physical engagement
The user begins by holding and interacting with the core device. Its shape, weight, and tactile cues communicate how it should be used.
Digital reflection
When the app is opened, the interface visually mirrors the physical product. Modules are represented in positions that correspond to their physical placement, allowing users to immediately recognize their current state.
Guided interaction
As the user engages with the physical product, the digital interface provides subtle guidance and confirmation without interrupting the moment.
Closure and reassurance
The experience ends with a sense of completion, supported by both physical feedback from the product and quiet confirmation from the app.
This flow minimizes cognitive switching and reinforces a single mental model across both surfaces.
demo
results.
Reko became a cohesive, modular therapy system that prioritizes comfort, clarity, and emotional ease. The final design balances functional versatility with a warm, tactile presence, making recovery feel intentional rather than clinical.
The project helped solidify my approach to wellness design. Start with how something should feel in the hand, then build functionality around that experience. Reko demonstrates how thoughtful form and interaction can encourage consistency and trust in therapeutic products.
