Embedded Files
Breth
Overview
Breth transforms breathwork from something you follow into something you feel.
I led product design for Breth: a wearable device and app that transforms nervous system regulation into a physical, guided experience. By synchronizing haptic feedback with audio and visuals, Breth helps users regulate stress, improve focus, and build consistent breathing habits.
I worked end-to-end from concept through launch, shaping software, hardware, and brand in close collaboration with engineering.
Impact
Shipped from 0 → 1 in ~12 months
Launched on Kickstarter + Indiegogo
Successfully transitioned to e-commerce sales
Built full hardware + software ecosystem
Created a new category: haptic-guided breathwork
Shifting from instruction-based tools to sensation-first design
Validated with real users across home, classroom, and clinical contexts
Insight: Calm isn't instructed. It's felt.
Most breathwork tools rely on attention, counting, or screens.
But in moments of stress, cognition is the first thing to break down.
We saw an opportunity to shift breathwork from something you follow to something you feel — using the body itself as the interface.
Breth replaces instruction with sensation.
The Design System
Synchronized, multi-sensory guidance
Visuals
Soft, flowing motion paths mirror the structure of each breathing pattern.
Haptics
A pair of actuators create precise, rhythmic pulses across the body.
Audio
Soundscapes, music and haptic patterns reinforce timing and emotional tone.
Focal Point
I designed each breathing exercise to be anchored by a single glowing sphere.
It acts as a visual guide that:
Reduces cognitive load
Maintains time & pacing (no need to count)
As the sphere moves through each phase of breath, it crosses a boundary - marking the transition from inhale to hold to exhale. A shift in shadow creates a sense of direction, a quiet signal that something has changed.
Motion Language
Every breathing exercise is built on the same visual logic:
Upward movement → inhale
Horizontal → hold
Downward movement → exhale
This creates a system people can understand almost instantaneously.
Instruction & Colour
Each breathing pathway includes an interior space for written cues, reinforcing timing and instruction, especially for the more complex breathing patterns.
Each path starts neutral grey, fills with activity specific colour through inhale/hold, and recedes on exhale - visually mirroring full and empty lungs.
Motion System
Each exercise was designed to sit within a cohesive system, while remaining distinct, intuitive, and easy to recognize.
Ideation of new breathing exercises was relatively straightforward once a simple, consistent ruleset was established.
Every shape is designed to mirror the motion and rhythm of the exercise, like tracing a path with your finger or a cursor you can follow intuitively to understand both sequence and timing, without the need for numerical representation.
UI Components
Designing the Vibrations
I started drawing each haptic pattern as a scalable primitive with CTO Dylan Scott. Ensuring that patterns moved towards peak amplitude in a way that is understandable, enjoyable and not jarring. You wouldn't want to jump from 0 to 100 intensity too quickly.
Haptic Exploration
With Wizardry from Lead Embedded Systems Engineer (Jason Palm), a test rig with a simple UI was created.
This gave me the freedom to begin designing how the haptic vibrations should feel.
And provided me with the flexibility to begin synchronizing visuals, haptics and sounds.
Haptic Heartbeat
This expanded beyond breathing exercises, into elevated meditative experiences like a forest walk and an oasis experience.
For the heartbeat, two complementary modes were developed:
A slowing heartbeat to guide users into calm. You pick your time and the heartbeat gradually slows down throughout the experience.
A rising rhythm paired with audio to build energy and focus
Triples are best
Designing a synchronized software/hardware experience, and a design system that included in-depth exploration of visuals, soundscapes and hapticscapes was challenging and uniquely satisfying. I got to flex my creative muscles in a variety of ways.
Usability Testing
We tested Breth through live sessions using early prototypes, gathering feedback across a wide range of users and environments.
These sessions helped refine experience and the design system.
Hardware Design
The device was designed to be minimal, wearable, and intuitive.
Form and material choices support comfort and approachability, while internal architecture enables precise, high-fidelity haptic feedback (and repairability).
Motion & Marketing
Breth (unfortunately) is a product that is not fully understood until you experience it in person.
I bridged this gap through motion within the product's visuals and throughout marketing.
Packaging
Packaging was treated as part of the system.
A calm, minimal exterior opens to reveal vibrant internal patterns - reflecting the shift from stillness to energy that defines the product itself.
Synchronized Sessions
Breth enables multiple devices to connect and guide users through the same breathing rhythm.
Whether used by families, classrooms, or groups, this creates a shared physical experience, bringing people into sync through breath.
Screenless by design
Calm shouldn't depend on a screen.
Breth allows users to start and complete sessions directly from the device using haptic cues alone.
This makes the experience more accessible, more present, and easier to integrate into everyday life.
Onboarding
I designed the onboarding to use clear, progressively disclosed animation and text to guide setup that leads into breth’s first baseline activity.
Many users don't read instructions, so this is an example of the largest wall of text you'll see in the app.
It's important for visuals/motion to communicate enough for the people who are scanning through content during setup, so they still manage to accomplish the objectives.
Product/Brand
Brand & Guidelines
An open wordmark and flowing visual language echo the natural movement of breath, while reinforcing the physical, sensory nature of the product.
The 'b' rotates to become the brandmark used through the product.
Splash Screen
A subtle glow radiates from the “b,” at the app splash screen, introducing haptic feedback at the core of the experience. The button press on the physical device also introduces haptic vibration, echoing the visual.
Baseline
Breathing Baseline assesses breathing capacity through a two-minute exercise.
A glowing sphere moves along the brandmark’s path, acting as a visual timer while the device measures each breath to determine your…
Inex Results
…Inex score (short for inhale/exhale). Similar to a CO2 tolerance test, it measures your breathing capabilities - the maximum comfortable duration for inhales, exhales, or holds during activities. This ensures every exercise stays within your control.
Flexible & Considered
Each modality - haptics, visuals, and audio - can operate independently.
This allows the experience to adapt to context:
Full guidance when learning
Minimal guidance once familiar
Fully screenless when desired
The interface supports the system, but never becomes a dependency.
Designed to be experienced
Watching the surprise during use was a real joy.
The response was often:
surprise → calm → curiosity → repeat use
What made it meaningful was seeing how it attraced different use cases - from quiet moments at home helping a kiddo calm down after school, shared experiences at yoga studios, in sensory rooms at schools, or an athlete getting mentally ready before an important game.
Deeply Involved
From discovery, to prototype, to launch, I was deeply involved in the realities of bringing Breth to market - including assembly, packaging, and fulfillment.
This reinforced the importance of designing not just the product, but the system required to deliver it.
Following launch, Breth transitioned into a direct-to-consumer model, continuing to evolve through real-world use.
Key Learnings
Navigating complexity is awesome and something I love.
Product discovery is something that fuels curiosity and process.
Design is not linear. Trying to stick to ideal process ≠ ideal outcomes. Plan. But it helps to be fluid.
Messiness and chaos are managed through communication. Even when it's uncomfortable.
Everything is manageable when you're working with people you trust (and genuinely like).
Kickstarter Launch Video
Google Sites
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