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Designing an Innovative Mental Health App — A UX/UI Case Study
This has undoubtedly been the most enjoyable project so far! With robust survey results, user interviews, testing, prototyping, and the development of an innovative app idea, this project stands out as one of the most comprehensive we’ve undertaken to date!
Overview
In this case study, I will report on important and interesting events during the development of an app focused on mental health. In order to develop it and find an innovative solution in the market, we conducted extensive research, from which we obtained many enlightening and powerful results. Despite highlighting significant shortcomings in this area, the research also indicated substantial opportunities for improvements and changes that could indeed assist people seeking to enhance their mental health.
In this project, I collaborated with Reyes Ruiz, and we had a 4-week timeframe to deliver a high-fidelity prototype containing the user profile, user goals, and the main user flow, presenting the app’s key features.
Moreover, by the end of the 4th week, we were tasked with presenting the comprehensive process of our work, in conjunction with the prototype.
The Client
The Daily Health Conference, a non-profit organization focusing on health and wellness, aims to enhance its impact by incorporating technology. Despite years of experience, a decline in membership prompted the organization to revamp its approach. The plan involves introducing digital wellness apps at their flagship conference, seeking innovative ways to encourage individuals to embrace and maintain healthier lifestyles.
For this project, our task was to design an app capable of addressing aspects of personal well-being, such as medicine, fitness, mental health, meditation or time management. The app should also be able to monitor users’ progress.
Key features include GDPR-compliant data control, the ability to establish profiles with goal-related information, setting and tracking goals, editing and sharing data, informed consent on data usage and feedback mechanisms.
The following elements were out of the scope of this project: login, sign-up, onboarding, account/user management, registration consent and cookies.
Understanding the Market
As we began the project, the first thing we did was to conduct a secondary research to gain a better understanding of the mental health app market. We aimed to identify needs, considering what was scarce, what was missing, and what was already saturated.
The second step was to determine our development focus, considering whether it should be an app for meditation, time management, or other options. We opted for mental health, particularly in professional research, with a belief in creating an innovative solution genuinely beneficial for users. We continued the research, aiming to understand how users felt about utilizing an app to find professionals.
Through secondary research, we gained valuable insights. For instance, people highlight the significance of establishing a strong connection with mental health specialists. However, the current process to find one is often lengthy, repetitive, and frustrating. Furthermore, despite the availability of apps to assist, many lack transparency concerning security features and privacy policies.
Users and Audience
Online Survey
After planning the stages and organizing the days and weeks through a roadmap, we decided to use the Lean Survey Canvas to initiate survey development. This tool prioritizes questions, fostering a user-centric approach to effectively address respondents’ needs.
We began by clarifying survey goals and the target audience. We focused on those who sought mental health professionals, excluding professionals for unbiased results. Our selection criteria included individuals valuing mental health and engaging with digital platforms.
We initially crafted the introduction, explanations, and gratitude messages (for those who completed and those who didn’t due to not fitting the profile). We then proceeded to formulate some questions to include in the screener to narrow down the responses to the specific audience we selected. We created a range of questions from demographic inquiries to those directly related to the topic.
After the screener, our focus shifted to crafting specific, closed-ended questions, with open-ended space for participants to share comments.
We shared the survey through different channels, obtaining a total of 80 responses, however, only 52 individuals completed the survey as they fit the profile. We received impressive and content-rich responses, the participants were willing to provide comments and share a wealth of information.
My fantastic teammate, Reyes, came up with an excellent idea to include an email-sharing option in case participants wanted more information about the research, and, to be honest, we were pleasantly surprised because we weren’t expecting much. However, we received a significant number of answers, which was truly amazing in the end, because this approach helped us connect with some of the individuals we later interviewed.
From the results, we found that the majority (61.5%) rely on recommendations from friends or family when seeking health professionals. Additionally, a segment (25%) starts their search by reviewing online feedback about these professionals.
These individuals primarily seek professionals with good cost-effectiveness, who also have specialization or experience in a particular area and possess a good reputation with positive reviews from previous clients. Yet, 50% of the survey respondents have had to search for more than one health professional to help address the same issue.
Survey findings show that over 50% of participants identified cost as the primary concern during service use or mental health professional searches. Difficulty in finding a suitable professional closely followed. However, when asked about switching specialists, only 1 out of 21 respondents mentioned cost as a factor, indicating diverse reasons for the change.
When also asked about the reasons for continuing with therapy, the relationship with cost was one of the least cited. As it wasn’t very clear from the survey, we wanted to delve deeper into these cost concerns during the user interviews.
Interviews
Using secondary research and online survey responses, we identified essential topics and questions for user interviews. These include recent experiences, professional information, concerns, pre and post-appointment, during and after sessions, sharing experiences, privacy, and the use of digital apps.
In handling sensitive interview subjects, we emphasized the voluntary nature of answering questions. Participants had the option not to respond or decline the interview if uncomfortable. We made every effort to maintain a friendly, gentle, and comfortable atmosphere to encourage users to share information. Empathizing with them and understanding their feelings, emotions, and concerns was our top priority.
We conducted 9 interviews, and each session lasted at least 45 minutes. Here are some examples of the questions we asked during this process:
- Think about the last time you needed to find a mental health professional. Can you share that process?
- What is the first concern that comes to mind when you need to search for a mental health professional?
- Can you describe the best experience you’ve had with a mental health professional? What made the experience memorable?
- Why do you think a professional would be the most effective support among various options?
- When you find a professional, what’s the initial information you seek about them?
- What do you consider a barrier when searching for a specialist in an app?
Empathy map
After conducting interviews with users, we organized the significant findings into an empathy map. Overall, we observed that users face various challenges when seeking help. They often hear from close individuals and mental health professionals that nobody can assist them, or that there is no specific diagnosis, or multiple diagnoses exist. They feel incapable of improvement due to the relentless search and frustration. The effort they invest in seeking help appears unrewarding, leading to increased stress.
They consistently seek recommendations to find suitable professionals, but even specialists claim they are unable to help. Additionally, users explore alternative methods such as journaling, physical activity, among others. Many struggle to maintain control of appointment schedules or medications due to forgetfulness. There is also a shared frustration about having to repeat everything in a new consultation.
User Persona
With what we observed through the empathy map, combined with the results from the online survey, we crafted our user persona. Meet Marie, a disillusioned seeker exhausted by a 20-year search for a suitable mental health professional.
Marie has received diagnoses for various mental health issues from different professionals. Despite changing professionals multiple times, persistent frustration prevails as tangible results remain elusive. This fosters in her a sense of being misunderstood and casts doubt on the possibility of genuine improvement.
Now she is seeking a suitable mental health professional, and her diminishing faith in improvement highlights the necessity to observe successful diagnostic cases. Fatigued from frequent professional changes, she also requires a method to streamline interviews or establish standard questions for the initial appointment.
Problem statement
As soon as we better understood Marie’s pain points and needs, we formulated our problem statement.
Once we had a clear understanding of the problems we needed to address, it was time to contemplate how we could solve it and consider potential solutions. This led us to initiate a brainstorming session using the “How might we” methodology.
We generated a multitude of solutions, tools, and features for consideration. However, faced with the reality of development constraints, we had to discern the most crucial and essential elements to incorporate into our MVP. To guide these decisions, we opted to employ the MoScow Matrix, a feature prioritization tool.
Before delving into the Matrix, we initiated a vote to select the best ideas. The most intriguing aspect of this tool is that when evaluating the importance of features in addressing our client’s requests and users’ problems, we found that some ideas we initially deemed crucial became entirely expendable or postponable.
Uhuuu! This significantly eased our work! 😂
Through the MoSCoW Matrix, we categorized the features as: Must-Have, Could-Have, Should-Have, and Won’t-Have. We defined the following features as Must-Have:
- Information Storage
- Match with a professional
- Trackers
- Data toggle controller
These features were considered essential not only to meet user needs but also to fulfill specific client requirements for this project. They addressed the client’s demand for users to have control over data sharing and the ability to track goals or processes (something users also find important). Furthermore, in line with Marie’s preferences, these features would also offer the capability to find a suitable professional and store information, aiming to avoid repetitive processes and questions during therapy.
The chatbot, though time-consuming to develop, may not effectively address users’ mental health needs compared to professional assistance and it is also a tool available on other platforms. Incentives could be postponed and developed later, as they may not hold as much value for the MVP. Regarding recommended activities, while they could provide users with alternatives for moments outside sessions with professionals, this could also be deferred, as it may not be highly relevant for the MVP but would indeed meet users’ needs.
So, after prioritizing the tools and defining the brand’s attributes, we had our MVP: Minder! A peaceful, empathetic, and reliable brand!
Scope and Constraints
Visual Competitive Analysis
After determining functionalities, we conducted a detailed visual competitive analysis to assess if primary competitors had similar tools and if users could achieve comparable objectives. Many competitors lacked similar features, with BetterHelp being notable for having only one seemingly similar aspect.
However, upon testing, we discovered that this competitor pre-records user data, promising to match them with an outstanding professional who meets their criteria. However, after users complete a detailed questionnaire, including sensitive questions, and anticipate viewing the matched professional, they encounter a payment screen. The search is only completed upon payment for a 4-week subscription to the app, as well as only providing online consultations.
With further analysis, we identified that, even after payment, the proposition of the main competitor was not the same as ours. We realized that there was a gap in the market for an app like Minder, with no other competitor offering the same functionalities.
For instance, the Minder’s payment proposition was straightforward: it would redirect users to a payment page only if they genuinely wished to schedule sessions with a professional. The charge would be based on the number of sessions desired by the user. Additionally, the platform would present results of professionals who not only conduct online consultations but also provide in-person sessions.
User Flow
At this point, we had reached the penultimate week of project development, initiating the construction of the prototype’s user flow. Adhering to the client’s request to exclude specific pages and processes from design, we curated a user flow highlighting the app’s pivotal features, incorporating some requested pages.
For the flow, after logging in and entering key information, users decide between accessing their profile or searching for professionals upon launching the app. They choose a personalized professional search, view results, check profiles, complete their personal profile, and access journaling and medication tracker features.
Style Tile
Once the user flow was defined, we began creating the Lo-fi wireframes for Minder. After refining them and incorporating new ideas, we also initiated the development of the Style Tile and Hi-fi wireframes.
We chose a lotus flower as our logo because it is a flower with the ability to bloom even beneath the mud, symbolizing beauty and resilience as it emerges above water. For colors, we selected shades of purple to blend the joy and energy of red with the calmness of blue. As for typography and icons, we opted for simple and subtle ones to complement the lightness of the application.
Usability and Desirability Tests
To assess our prototype, we carried out usability testing with users we had previously interviewed. Users praised the idea, visual design, and organization of the app. They mentioned that they had never come across anything similar and considered it an excellent search tool. Despite their excitement to use it, they also provided valuable feedback to address identified errors.
From the gathered insights, we made adjustments that were overlooked during the prototype production. Notably, feedback highlighted issues with non-functional interactions and suggested improvements, like segregating audio and written journaling instead of combining them. Users also noted the lack of a dedicated space to access previous notes.
Additionally, there was an observation about the buttons in the questions, which prevented users from returning to the previous question.
We also conducted desirability testing, where we displayed the homepage to potential users for a few seconds, followed by a sequence of adjectives. They were asked to choose the ones they believed represented the brand. The most frequently selected adjectives by users were: confident, real, smooth, friendly and honest.
Process
We then reached the last week, still needing to create responsive design for iPad, prepare the presentation, and fix some interactions and minor errors in the prototype.
In implementing responsive design, our decision was to consolidate all elements onto a single screen, eliminating the need for scrolling to access various options. Due to time constraints in the project’s final week, priority was given to fixing prototype interaction errors. Further work is needed to enhance responsiveness by adding pages and refining elements.
With the responsive design completed and the prototype fixed, we finally had our MVP ready.
As our MVP, Minder is an app designed to assist Marie and many others in need of mental health support. Unlike market competitors, Minder’s standout feature lies in its use of artificial intelligence to match experiences, allowing users to discover stories from individuals who faced very similar situations but found a professional capable of helping them. Minder also streamlines results based on professionals with more feedback and similar narratives, reducing research time, suggesting successful professionals, and enabling contact before any payment.
Among its essential features, Minder also offers users control over shared data, a secure database for storing and accessing vital information, and dedicated sections for visualizing appointments, mood records, thoughts, and emotions. Additionally, it includes a feature for tracking and monitoring medications, ensuring complete privacy and security.
This innovative idea not only stands out but also brings prominence to our client.
Seeking recommendations is crucial to avoid undesirable experiences. Matching with personalized suggestions is vital for achieving desired outcomes.
After we delivered and present the prototype, there were still some improvements and changes to be made, such as altering the initial video due to inconsistency with the brand’s style and colors, refining the design of the box with buttons for result visualization on the search page, adjusting certain added gradients, adding the footer to some pages, among other minor modifications.
As future steps, the tools selected in the feature prioritization are still pending. There is potential for developing the section focused on recommended activities and creating subscription plans as incentives for sharing experiences. Additionally, the development of the app section tailored for professionals is also an important step.
Outcomes and Lessons
I believe this project was essential for significant and valuable learnings. Dealing with such sensitive content, research and interviews became a bit challenging, as communication could be a delicate stage for some. However, it was an incredible experience to understand the importance of empathizing with users, grasping their true needs, feelings and what they have to say. I realized even more how rich communication with users can be, so many ideas, so many insights! Due to what they shared, we could identify an innovative market opportunity that could genuinely help them.
I loved being a part of every stage of this project! I am very grateful to everyone involved for the many beautiful opportunities for learning and connections!
Thank you for reading!
