Breathing exercises are an accessible way to manage stress and many mental illness symptoms. Traditionally, learning breathing exercises involved in-person guidance or audio recordings. The shift to mobile devices has led to a new way of learning and engaging in breathing exercises as seen in the rise of multiple mobile applications with different breathing representations. However, limited work has been done to investigate the effectiveness of these visual representations in supporting breathing pace as measured by synchronization. We utilized a within-subjects study to evaluate four common breathing visuals to understand which is most effective in providing breathing exercise guidance. Through controlled lab studies and interviews, we identified two representations with clear advantages over the others. In addition, we found that auditory guidance was not preferred by all users. We identify potential usability issues with the representations and suggest design guidelines for future development of app-supported breathing training.
We utilized a within-subjects study to evaluate four paced breathing visuals common in mobile apps to understand which is most effective in providing breathing exercise guidance.