Developing a Well-Being Mobile App Voted App Store Best of 2020
The client
Shine is a self-care app for practising gratitude and checking in with yourself to handle stress. Naomi Hirabayashi and Marah Lidey built it after noticing that not everyone has the friend at work they had in each other — and that well-being companies did not speak to them.
It began as a chat app delivering daily affirmations by text or Messenger, a friend in your pocket. Today it carries podcasts, meditations, in-app articles, text messages and chat, aimed at confidence, productivity, mental health and a healthier routine for the mind.
The challengeWhat the teams actually needed
As Guy Winch put it, brushing our teeth takes more of our time than looking after our mental health does — largely because of the stigma attached to mental health care.
Challenge 01Prevention, not treatment
The founders drew attention to preventing mental health problems rather than responding to them, which is what makes self-care accessible.
Challenge 02Content that resonates
Well-being products did not speak to the founders themselves, which is precisely the gap they set out to fill.
Challenge 03A partner sharing the values
Shine wanted a development partner that genuinely understood its goals and shared its business values, so a culture-first approach mattered.
What we did
From a messaging bot to an audio-led self-care product
The focus moved from delivering well-being content to building a deeper, more personal experience through audio.
Motivation and goals
Users get daily motivations, personal growth goals and articles as part of a routine rather than a one-off.
Podcasts and meditations
Meditations, challenges, sleep content and daily rituals are produced by the company’s own experts and psychologists.
Multi-day programmes
“Quiet the mind”, “Calming Work Stress”, “Gratitude” and “Embracing Change” are among the challenges that run over several days.
A partner, not a supplier
The culture-first approach was decisive in the cooperation, alongside celebrities such as Karamo Brown and MILCK supporting the mindfulness campaign.
Client testimonial
I've really appreciated the flexibility and breadth of experience we've been able to tap from the Netguru team. While most of our work together has been in React Native, at times when needed we've also very easily gotten support in QA, design, UX, iOS and Android as well.
More like thisOther places we scaled product teams for growth.
What’s next