The good news bears: Inside the adorably unorthodox design of Bears Gratitude

Bears Gratitude is a journaling app developed by Australian husband-and-wife team Isuru Wanasinghe and Nayomi Hettiarachchi, which won an Apple Design Award. The app encourages users to celebrate accomplishments, foster introspection, and build gratitude through prompts and hand-drawn mascots. Wanasinghe is a programmer, and Hettiarachchi is an illustrator who created the app's art during the Covid-19 lockdown. The art is the heart of the app, and it drives everything they do. The couple initially created an app called Bears Countdown, which helped people look ahead to special events, but then they thought about creating an app for reflecting on the day. Gratitude is a different app that keeps the same cuddly characters but has a unique design approach. The app was designed in a linear manner, without mapping it out, and it doesn't have a sign-in screen, allowing users to start writing immediately. The prompts are written in the user's voice to make the app more relatable, and the bears serve as a design anchor for the creators. Bears Gratitude isn't a mindfulness app, but it has brought comfort to users who visit it daily. The app has allowed the creators to share their art in a meaningful way, and they're grateful for the impact it has had on people's lives.