Recovery has rapidly evolved from a niche athletic practice into a mainstream wellness ritual. In parallel with growing awareness of its physical and mental health benefits, cold water immersion, commonly experienced through ice baths, has seen significant adoption worldwide. The global cold plunge market is projected to grow at ~5–8% annually, with market size expected to nearly double over the next decade, driven by increasing demand from both athletes and everyday users seeking performance, recovery, and stress regulation.
At the same time, sauna use is experiencing a similar surge. The global sauna market is expected to grow at ~5–7% annually, while in the U.S. alone, over 1.5 million households now own a sauna, with adoption continuing to rise each year. More broadly, combined sauna and ice bath experiences, often offered through boutique studios and wellness spaces, are expanding even faster, with the category projected to grow at ~13.5% annually through 2033. As these practices scale from niche experiences to structured routines, a new ecosystem of businesses, products, and services is rapidly emerging, yet the digital tools supporting them have not kept pace.
As recovery becomes embedded in daily routines, most digital tools fail to support long-term engagement beyond basic tracking.
WLNS Club saw an opportunity to change this, inviting us to design a system that connects sessions, reinforces habits, and drives sustained user retention.
We aimed to turn recovery into a structured, ongoing journey rather than a series of disconnected sessions.
The result is a unified digital experience that connects flows, progress, and behavior—driving long-term user retention for WLNS Club.
To better understand how users engage with recovery practices, we explored how people approach routines like sauna, ice baths, and circulation therapies. While interest in these methods is growing, our research showed that most users lack clear structure or guidance on how to sequence and sustain them over time.
We asked: How might we guide users through recovery in a way that feels intuitive, unobtrusive, and repeatable?
Research shows that regular sauna use (4–7 times per week) is associated with up to a 77% lower risk of cardiovascular-related death, highlighting the long-term value of consistent recovery rituals.
At the same time, studies on cold-water immersion involving over 3,000 participants found that ice baths can reduce stress levels and improve perceived well-being, though effects depend on consistency and timing.
It provides clear, step-by-step guidance, helping users move confidently through each stage—from body rolling to ice bath to sauna
It enables a hands-free experience, allowing users to stay fully immersed while receiving cues and timing throughout their session
It helps users track progress over time, turning individual sessions into measurable improvement
We looked into the behavioral psychology behind goal setting.
WLNS Club is designed to help users turn recovery into a consistent, repeatable practice. Rather than approaching sessions as isolated experiences, the app guides users through structured flows that encourage continuity over time.
Behavioral insights showed that users are more likely to stay engaged when experiences feel achievable, guided, and progressively familiar. By breaking recovery into clear stages (body rolling, circulation, cold exposure, and heat) the process becomes easier to follow and repeat.
Subtle cues and hands-free guidance reduce friction during sessions, allowing users to stay immersed while building confidence in the routine. Over time, this structure reinforces habit formation, helping users return regularly and integrate recovery into their everyday lives.
Early concept validation revealed that focusing solely on guiding users through recovery sessions was not enough to ensure long-term engagement. While the structured flows were effective in-session, they did not fully address how users would return consistently over time.
This led us to revisit the system with a focus on habit formation and retention. We redesigned the experience around reducing friction, increasing clarity, and making recovery easier to repeat as part of a regular routine.
By structuring WLNS Club around progressive, clearly defined flows, users are able to build familiarity with each stage over time, reinforcing consistency through repetition rather than motivation alone.
To support this, we emphasized hands-free interaction and subtle in-session guidance, ensuring users remain immersed without cognitive overload. Together, these design decisions help transform WLNS Club from a one-time experience into a long-term recovery habit.
Positive habit formation was reinforced by drawing upon user’s innate curiosity and spirit of competition.
Behavior motivators, like feedback on user’s performance, help increase user engagement.
Social motivators based on a sense of achievement, recognition and acquisition were integrated into the designs.
WLNS Club reflects a shift in how wellness experiences are being designed—moving from fragmented tools toward structured, experience-led systems that support behavior over time.
By prioritizing clarity, immersion, and continuity, the project explores how digital products can better align with physical recovery practices and the realities of in-the-moment use.
At its core, WLNS Club demonstrates how intentional system design can shape not just interaction, but the conditions for lasting engagement.
