ISSHO

MY APPROACH

By breaking it down more, I was able to complete each portion within the tight time constraint given and with a human-centered design approach.

PROBLEM

Mental health disorders in young adults are highly prevalent yet undertreated and overlooked.

Currently there are options to get help online, through counselling, anonymous phone lines, and many more. Regardless of all the options available, there are many people that may not seek out help or may not want to go head first into getting professional aid.

THE SOLUTION

Building healthy habits is key

RESEARCH

Almost 49% of young adults who suffered from mental health issues have never gone to a professional..

Starting with white paper research, I began to draw from research articles on the topic of the stigma or discrimination surrounding mental illnesses - as it presents a serious barrier, not only to diagnosis and treatment but also to acceptance in the community. While researching, I was able to pull statistics from the Center for Addiction and Mental Health and the Canadian Mental Health Association:

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

The competition did not provide many self-care alternatives

While keeping the above statistic in mind, I analyzed the 4 most popular apps surrounding the mental health & productivity space. I found that almost none of them included a multitude of different options for cognitive behavioural therapy techniques. This then became my opportunity for the solution.

USER INTERVIEWS

Although I saw from research that building healthy habits was important - I’ve conducted interviews with Canadians that are interested in bettering their mental health and lives in the city with accessible mental health aid.

I’ve asked them questions below to find trends on why they decided against seeking professional help between the ages of 19 to 29 and then organized my data through affinity mapping.

Research Questions:

THE MAIN INSIGHT

None of the previous apps and methods my interviewees used worked due to a lack of alternative activities within the app

Based on the trends in my affinity map, I’ve noticed the frustration that happens in a moment of panic - introverts tend to look for methods available for self help and grounding that could be done in solitude.

PERSONA

DESIGN

Drawbacks and a new approach to accountability

At first, I spent 2 weeks trying to play with different directions: website to create a tight knit community or an app solution. However, upon thinking about its effects I realized that on a daily basis a website may be more of a hassle than a benefit. The same effects can be achieved through a simple smartphone app, hence why I stuck to an app for my final solution platform.

TESTING + IMPROVEMENTS

Major improvements in design

After user testing and creating a design prioritization matrix, I continually iterated my design over the span of 4 weeks - with these major improvements:

THE FINAL SCREENS

THE STYLE GUIDE

CONCLUSION

Key Takeaways

Time management is essential - since this was my first UX design case study (woo hoo), I learned early on during the start of this project to plan out my time wisely and ensure that certain portions were completed within a certain time frame.

Continuously remind yourself to focus on the why. I found myself getting lost during in ideas during iterations and throughout my design process. Having to ground myself and remind myself to stick with the core of my solution was something I struggled with. This allowed me to create methods that worked for me to remind myself of what to focus on; like using sticky notes, speaking with other designers on my problem space, going over the how might we statement, etc.

Asking the right questions and testing with users outside of the industry created results that helped my product move further in terms of feedback for iterations and the final hi-fidelity wireframe that was produced. Being able to see from the perspective of a user from outside the industry, or someone that was not very familiar with tech and apps - helped with simplifying and minimizing from the initial design which was more UI heavy.

Be research - not just design-driven. As my previous experience was also in design, I tend to lean more towards visual design and have now learned to not only be design-driven, but also back up design choices with research.

Next Steps

• Themes and settings updates to allow further accessibility and personalization for end users

• Collaborate with mental healthcare professionals to expand knowledge

• Further Android exploration

• Animation walkthrough of guided meditation, walks, music, and photo functions

• Creating a forum or community to allow issho users to connect and communicate with like-minded individuals