Business

The Calm Take Over

Hannah King

30 Sep 2025 — 1 min read

In the wellness app world, one app has blown a calming breeze over the competition. The app Calm has grown quickly and now has millions of users. In an article from Medium, they discuss that many ways that this app built it's success.

Building Trust Through Authenticity

" Calm’s PR efforts also build trust by showcasing the credentials of its meditation experts, guided sleep stories, and mindfulness coaches. By positioning itself as a brand that collaborates with renowned therapists, sleep scientists, and wellness professionals, Calm creates credibility and authenticity — key factors in attracting customers who may be skeptical of digital wellness solutions. These efforts have been critical in converting first-time users into loyal customers." (Torossian, 2025)

The above quote highlights the efforts of the company to validate the app and the meditative practices in everyday life. Calm has quickly become a popular app for meditation and stories to fall asleep to. The app has even made partnerships, like that of the Calm x Lincoln partnership, to continue to spread in the market. This leads me to ponder the potential of other integrated meditation or wellness apps into cars. Specifically in this capstone effort with Honda, would the move be to design a whole new interface of meditation, or propose a partnership with specific additional features? Would kids use any of the meditation apps on the market, or is there a potential for youth focused meditation/ wellness apps to be developed?

References

Torossian, R. (2025, January 30). How Calm disrupted the wellness industry with a smart app marketing strategy. Medium. https://ronntorossian.medium.com/how-calm-disrupted-the-wellness-industry-with-a-smart-app-marketing-strategy-2063bca3f203

Unknown author. (n.d.). Untitled image [Image]. iTunes / Apple. https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/PurpleSource221/v4/7d/45/2b/7d452bce-6fba-dfd7-28a2-77254797ebf0/997d7190-8196-4849-96e6-292e63c872e2_iPad_01.png/643x0w.jpg

Survey

Distributed to parents in the Mamaroneck School District, specifically families of students at Central Elementary School. The school has approximately 550 students, and the survey was designed to reach the parents of those children. Parents were instructed to complete the survey with all of their children in mind, considering differences

WonderView

Wonder View is an immersive light experience designed to keep children in the backseat visually and educationally engaged. Built-in tablets on the back of the front seats allow children to interact by choosing from categories such as stargazing, cloud watching, and plane viewing. Once a category is selected, a colorful

Ambient Drive Control

Ambient Drive Control is a family-friendly feature designed to enhance every car ride by shaping the atmosphere around passengers’ needs. Inspired by research into how lighting, color, acoustics, textures, and subtle scents can profoundly influence human experience, this feature allows users to select from curated moods, including: Sleepy, Energized, Chatty,

Sensory Seam

Sensory Seam is a tactile haven for children, designed to help them relieve tension, regulate emotions, or simply stay mentally stimulated. By interacting with built-in fidgets or tracing their fingers across textured surfaces, children can engage their sensory needs in calming and playful ways. My initial research at the Wexner

References

Read more

Survey

WonderView

Ambient Drive Control

Sensory Seam