2025
Breath is a community-based app designed to support people living in areas affected by poor air quality. In a time of overlapping environmental and social crises, Breath helps neighbors connect, offer support, and build resilience together.
Category: Product Design, UI/UX Design
Role: Product Designer (End-to-End)
Skills: User research, UX strategy, information architecture, Interaction design, Data visualization, Wireframing & high-fidelity prototyping
Tools: Figma, Miro, Adobe Illustrator, After Effects
As wildfires increasingly degrade air quality in South Brooklyn, residents in low-lying neighborhoods are frequently advised to stay indoors, sometimes for days at a time. This prolonged confinement disproportionately affects vulnerable groups such as the elderly, first responders, and international students, intensifying isolation, uncertainty, and loss of community support. Existing communication tools fail to provide neighborhood-specific updates or facilitate timely, mutual aid. As a result, residents lack a reliable way to stay informed, connected, and supported, precisely when community coordination is most critical.
Current market analysis reveals a gap in applications that combine real-time air quality monitoring with features that promote community engagement and support local health and well-being. While several apps address either environmental data or social interaction, none offer an integrated experience that serves both purposes simultaneously
Existing apps can be broadly categorized into two groups:
1. Air Quality Monitoring & Weather Apps
Focus primarily on delivering real-time data such as AQI, pollen levels, and pollution forecasts.
Typically lack interactive or social features, limiting user-to-user communication or mutual aid functionality.
2. Community Engagement & Support Apps
Facilitate neighborhood level communication through posts, messaging, and event coordination.
Do not integrate environmental health data or provide alerts related to air quality conditions.
- Rising Demand for Environmental Awareness: Increasing public concern over climate change, wildfires, and pollution is driving the need for platforms that provide real-time environmental insights.
- Health-Focused Digital Tools: Users are shifting toward apps that offer personalized, actionable recommendations based on environmental conditions, especially for vulnerable groups.
- Hyperlocal Relevance: There is growing interest in location-specific data and services, enabling people to make informed decisions about their immediate surroundings.
- Mutual Aid in Crisis Conditions: During periods of poor air quality, many seek community-based support, such as assistance with errands, child or pet care—demonstrating the need for tools that merge environmental alertswith social utility.
The home page uses a dynamic color system driven by real-time AQI data. When air quality is good, the interface turns Green, when conditions are unhealthy, it shifts to Gray.
This color system indication provides an immediate, intuitive understanding of environmental conditions and helping users plan their day at a glance. This page also serves as the main community hub, where users can post what they need, offer help, or share local environmental updates. Each post is color-coded by urgency level, allowing users to quickly prioritize responses. Action buttons on individual posts enable users to offer help or request assistance with a single tap, opening a message thread without requiring a written introduction, reducing friction, saving time during crises, and supporting users who may feel hesitant to initiate conversations.
The Messages page allows users to communicate directly and efficiently with their neighbors. Conversations are initiated through quick actions on posts, enabling fast, focused exchanges without unnecessary steps ensuring help and information can be shared when time and clarity matter most.
This screen flow guides users through creating a post in a clear and structured way. Users can select urgency levels, describe their needs or offers, and publish updates quickly, ensuring critical information is shared with the community in an efficient and accessible manner.
The User Profile page allows users to display their needs during periods of poor air quality through predefined, selectable options. This passive system enables users to express emotional or physical support needs without creating a post, helping neighbors identify ways to assist while fostering connection among users with similar experiences.
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