Can a smartphone app actually turn medical science into sustainable daily habits? Today, I’ll be reviewing a brand-new health tech app built by a friend of mine.

Cindy Do, of Ikigai Studios Inc. is a Canadian web-developer, with over 4 years of industry experience, working for various start-ups and small businesses. Whilst she primarily focuses on front-end development, she has full-stack experience too.


Cindy began developing MedZen, an all-in-one health and wellness mobile application for iOS and Android, in 2025. It is built with React Native and is in active development. 

When asked what specific pain point convinced her this app needed to exist, Cindy explained, “At the time, I was looking for a good symptom tracking app and couldn’t find anything on the app store. There seems to be a lot of apps targeted towards healthy individuals, like steps and calorie tracker apps, but nothing specifically for people living with chronic illnesses. I wanted an all-in-one solution to help me better manage my health and keep me organized”.


First Impressions & Design

In health tech, aesthetics mean nothing if the user experience (UX) gets in the way of building healthy habits; an intuitive design is what turns a well-researched concept into a practical daily companion rather than another digital distraction.

My initial impression of the app design was that it successfully strikes a balance between sleek and functional. Its clean, minimal layout uses a calm lilac and grey palette, thoughtfully employing indicator colors to highlight important metrics without causing digital fatigue.

Additionally, the app uses an elegant serif font for primary headers, creating a human-centric feel rather than a hyper-clinical one. Also, the functional text, dates, menu labels, and event descriptions utilize a clean, legible sans-serif font.

The app works under a freemium model. The main app is free to download but features premium themes for those who want to further personalize their experience (and explore unlimited analytics). Even with the fun thematic variety, the app keeps its design cohesion intact. The themes maintain a soft, illustrative style. Offering options like "Flower," "Space," and "Cats" adds a playful, human touch.

Cindy shared, “Actually, the whole theme idea was directly from one of our beta testers. She felt that a lot of health tracking apps were too cold and clinical, so why not make health tracking more fun and personal? We make it our mission to listen to our users and learn more about their pain points”.

Functionality & Usability

While the app’s overall workflow is promising, early-stage software inevitably comes with some friction. Since this is a new application, encountering minor bugs is a normal part of the early software lifecycle, for example one bug I personally encountered was when I tried to mark a single medication dose as ‘taken’, this then triggered a global check-off, inadvertently marking all scheduled doses for that medication as completed for the entire day. I have mentioned this bug to Cindy and she is actively working on resolving the issue. 

When asked if she could add one 'dream feature' to the next major update - unconstrained by time or current tech - what would it be, Cindy said, “One ‘dream feature’ would be to add voice functionality to the app, where you can just track and manage your health just by talking. It’s entirely possible with the current tech, it’s just a matter of implementing it and having the right expertise, as we are a small development studio”.

Privacy Transparency & Data Ethics

Now that we've explored the design and usability, let's look at the backbone of any health tool: how it safeguards personal data.

On the App Store, MedZen is described as a ‘privacy-first app’. So, I asked Cindy what specific measures she implemented to ensure user privacy and maintain ethical standards, she reassures, “Privacy is very important to us, so since day one MedZen has been built with privacy in mind. All data is stored locally on the device, so we never have access to it. There are no logins required and your data is all yours”.

Closing Thoughts

Navigating your personal health shouldn't cause digital fatigue. By blending thoughtful, low-stress aesthetics with a solid structural foundation, Ikigai Studios Inc. proves that wellness tech can be genuinely pleasant to use every day.

Want to try the app? Download here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ikigaistudios.medzen or visit https://medzen.app/ for more information!