IVORY
BRINGING AWARENESS TO MENTAL HEALTH
Role
UX UI Designer / UX Researcher
Methods
Screener Survey, User Interviews, Research Synthesis, Persona, Competitive Matrix, Competitive/Comparative Feature Analysis, User Flow, Sketches, Wireframes, Mid-Fi Prototype, Usability Tests, Hi- Fi Prototype
EMPATHIZE
RESEARCH
IDEATE
PROTOTYPE
TEST
ITERATE
EVALUATE
PROJECT
Additional resources to aid people with covid induced stress, anxiety and depression.
CHALLENGE
To find an opportunity to increase society's awareness around mental health thus making it less stigmatizing for anyone to reach out for help.
SOLUTION
To build awareness we wanted to give users the option to record and share their "Live Talks" to build community and compassion for those sufering from mental heath
TIME LINE
3 Weeks
OVERVIEW | RESEARCH
According to uniteforsight.org, “the treatment gap (the percentage of individuals who need mental health care but do not receive treatment) ranges from 44% to 70%. Common barriers to mental health care access include limited availability and affordability of mental health care services, insufficient mental health care policies, lack of education about mental illness, and stigma.”
“Multiple studies have found that stigma associated with mental illnessoften prevents patients from seeking and adhering to treatment, as patients may “attempt to distance themselves from the labels that mark them for social exclusion.”
OVERVIEW | TARGET MARKET
Ivory is a native app, that will provide a way for you to share your mental health experiences though live conversation. This comes from the thought that it might be your story that helps someone through theirs; at the same time, providing awareness and openness surrounding the often stigmatized topic of mental health.
We aim to provide this app to anyone in need, especially focusing on the people who face the economic barrier to entry. We are firm believers that mental health tools should be accessible to all and not limited by your current income bracket.
Participant 1
THE IRONY IS I AM NOT OK, BUT YET I AM ASHAMED TO ADMIT THAT BECAUSE I AM A MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL.
Participant 2
MY FAMILY DOESN'T BELIEVE THAT MENTAL HEALTH IS A REAL THING.
I DON'T FEEL COMFORTABLE REACHING OUT FOR SUPPORT DUE TO THE SURROUNDING STIGMAS.
Participant 3
SPEAKING OUT LOUD IS A GREAT STEP IN OWNING WHERE I AM MENTALLY.
Participant 4
SPEAKING OUT LOUD IS A GREAT STEP IN OWNING WHERE I AM MENTALLY.
SYNTHESIZING INTERVIEW | MIRO BOARD
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We surveyed potential users to interview about their experiences with mental health. We developed a guide to understand what pain points users had around mental heath and interviewed 4 participants that met our screener criteria. Here are the insights from the user interviews:
INSIGHTS | TARGET MARKET INTERVIEWS
There is no one tool that meets the users needs and keeps them engaged
Users know what triggers their emotions but they do not know how to overcome them.
Users tend to turn to self-coping methods that have been successful for them before utilizing outside sources
Users hesitate to reach out to people for help due to fear of judgement and not wanting to be a burden.
Users are self-aware enough to recognize what they are feeling and how it affects their life
Users feel that the world still has a stigma around mental health due to lack of overall knowledge.
With our users insights, we were able to identity a theme that would weave into a user persona to help guide our problem and potential solution statements.
PERSONA| THE VOICE OF OUR USER
ANXIOUS ANI
Anxious Ani is a Psychiatrist, who is overworked and mentally exhausted from helping a lot of people through COVID. She often finds that there is a bias around mental health professionals who seek help, as she has experienced that other people expect her to have it all together. Ani is not only looking for ways to decompress from her day, but is also seeking ways to increase society's awareness around mental heath thus making it less stigmatizing for anyone to reach out for help.
There is an unconscious bias when talking about mental health.
GOAL
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To find an opportunity to ease her anxiety and to build awareness around mental health in society
PAIN POINTS
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Work and personal life boundaries are blurred, due to working from home
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Because of Covid, she doesn't have an outlet, always overwhelmed
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There is lack of awareness in the society about mental health
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Finds most of the online support tools don't have an easy onboarding process
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She feels anxious and irritated because lack of support from friends and family
PROBLEM?
People need support with their mental health struggles but because they are met with societal stigmas and judgment when they try to open up to friends and family, they find themselves dealing with anxiety, stress and even depression alone.
HOW MIGHT WE?
How might we build a community that makes people feel heard and comfortable?
WHERE WE BEGAN | Design Studio
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Design Decision
After conducting our competitive analysis, we decided on some of the key features that would be essential to help users share mental health experiences:
● A place where they can come and talk about their feelings
● A place where they feels safe and are not being judged
● A place, that doesn't need insurance
These insights led us to put some ideas on how to solve some of the pain points of our users. We sketched out possible solutions and features that would help to spread awareness about mental health and a place to give users the option to record and share their Live Talks.
IDEATION | Sketches to Prototypes
"THE DASHBOARD FEELS CLUTTERED"
"IT SEEMS A LITTLE BUSY FOR
SOMETHING THAT’S SUPPOSED
TO BE SIMPLE"
Mid-Fidelity Prototype
As we learned more, we refined that idea and we wanted to learn more about user expectations and improve user experience. So, we conducted several usability testings and iterated the process of receiving feedback and updating. Here's where we landed.
Mid-Fidelity | Prototype used for Usability Testing
Hi-Fidelity | Prototype Changes After Usability Test
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From our Mid-fi usability findings, we went ahead and refined our iterations further. We conducted another round of usability tests and here's what we found:
Hi-Fidelity Prototype | Finished Prototype after Pivots
Outcomes | Concept Validation
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Users felt that this design helps to build community and bring awareness
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A place where they feel comfortable to reach out for help
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A place where they feel they are being heard. Thus, validating the concept
Iterations | Elevating the Design
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Taking iOS Guidelines into consideration, we went ahead refined our ideas and design.
First thing we learned and agreed with is the branding choices such as the logo and colors did not work, it was not modern did not feel up to date and the colors just were not user friendly. So I suggested an entirely new color palette and simplified the logo
The way we positioned menu options on the screens was something that did not read well for users. We worked back and forth tweaking this page till we finalized this new layout, which we learned was simple and users quickly understood
This "Live" screen was imaginative and a great starting point to build from, I conducted a competitive an comparative analysis with apps like Instagram, Clubhouse, and Facebook to see how their "Live" screens are laid out, to be sure we had little to no learning curve with our live screen
UI Brand Guide | Time To Solidify A Few Things
There is a calmness to this look, it even in a way has an easiness to it but also refined which makes me take it serious
Prototype| Hi-Fidelity
CONCLUSION
During this project I learnt that often times when people suffer from mental health, rather it's anxiety, depression, or even a mental health issue as big as schizophrenia, the stigma of admitting their suffering can create even more pain and isolation then the health issue. People want to feel seen, validated, and cared for, especially when you can not choose to NOT have mental health issues.
Ivory would bring the community these people need to feel supported. It was great to work on a project that could help so many people.
We want to conduct additional testing on the final product and build out additional features. Working on this project allowed us to really take advantage of the UX process from start to finish and to really focus on user needs. There were many directions for us to go in the problem space but we focused on the primary needs to deliver a viable product that fills an existing opportunity space.