ILLUMINATE - Exploring increased Mental Health Stressors in the time of COVID-19

 

THE CHALLENGE

The Emergency Design Collective tasked our team with researching the effect that COVID-19 was having on the mental health of the population. When the world is in limbo, we experience extreme demands on our mental resources from many directions.


How might we support adult mental well being and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic?

APPROACH & INSIGHTS

Discovery involved primary research in the field and also reviewed literature of mental health and the impact of COVID-19 on anxiety and depression. We then ideated and created potential solutions.

Prototypes were vetted in an academic review with mental health professionals and usability testing was conducted.


THE SOLUTION

We designed a responsive website application which strived to:

  • Personalize to in-the-moment needs.

  • Focus on mental stress, not illness.

  • Build for searching and sharing.

 
 
 

CONTEXT AND CHALLENGE

The Emergency Design Collective is a non-profit composed of doctors, healthcare designers, public health practitioners, and product experts who work at the intersection of health and design to reimagine life in the new normal.

Social isolation is simultaneously a necessity, a privilege, and a challenge. The very act that may save our lives and keep us physically healthy can have detrimental impacts on our mental health. 

Our provocation:
How might we support adult mental well being and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic?

 

 
 
 

DISCOVERY

PRIMARY RESEARCH

Initial research interviews consisted of interviewing adults about their daily lives, challenges, and life changes due to COVID-19. 

Participants:

We interviewed folks from all over the world: USA (California, New York, Maryland, Colorado, and Massachusetts), New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

Income ranged from “comfortable, successful” to “unsure of next paycheck” & “worried about my business”

Participants ages:

  • 50% of participants were aged between 36 -55 years old

  • 43% were 26 -35 years old

  • 7% 55 years and older

Professions included Pilates Instructor, Product Manager, Consultant, Teacher, Executive Assistant, Self-employed, Business Owner, Art Consultant, Office Manager, Hospital Social Worker, Bartender, and a Graduate Student.


Role: I worked as a UX designer and researcher. I was involved with conducting primary research, ideating solutions, iterating on the final prototypes and final presentation.

Toolkit: Stakeholder interviews, user interviews, affinity mapping, market research, design principles, wireframes, prototyping, and usability testing.

Deliverables: Research report, Figma files, All hands presentation, Medium article.

 

 
 
 
 

User Interviews

We conducted 21 in depth interviews

Competitive & Comparative Analysis

Analyzed a variety of organizations serving mental health

Literature Review

We read articles and websites on mental health and COVID-19

 

SYNTHESIS

Themes and patterns emerged through the process of affinity mapping, and our design principles became apparent. Potential solutions grew from this point.

 

We synthesized all our data points on a Miro board

 

DESIGN | OPPORTUNITY AREAS

Three Key Opportunity Areas emerged from our research:

1.Co-design protocols that can flex as public sentiment shifts

  • Dealing with the unknowns of COVID-19 and the fears it can surface means needing to remain flexible to change as new information, and new behaviors, emerge. 

  • How might we help people feel more in control of their environments?

2. Empower people to explore and iterate new ways of coping

  • Periods of transition are always opportunities to examine and create new behaviors, often leading to lasting change through the formation of habits.  

  • How might we enable people to surface, connect and share healthy coping strategies?

3. Co-design for the greatest needs first, to everyone’s benefit

  • By solving for the highest needs first, not only do you create safe conditions for the most vulnerable, you create them for all. Engaging those at-risk, to participate as they can in the co-creation of solutions, ensures relevancy. While engaging those with more resources, ensures reach. 

  • How might we help vulnerable community members be heard, seen and supported?

TARGET MARKET: Young adults

“Millennials are far more likely to address their mental health than generations prior, with seven out of 10 saying they feel comfortable seeking help”

 

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

The following design principles emerged from our research. No matter the final form, the design should strive to:

 

IDEATION

Our team explored the following concept to address the challenges people are facing:

How might we enable people to surface, connect and share healthy coping strategies?

Based on the design principles that emerged from the data synthesis of our research, our team spent some time sketching out possible solutions.

 

INITIAL PROTOTYPE

Through our prototype, we will share resources with adults around the importance of trying out and iterating on new coping strategies. This will include a curated selection of well-regarded resources with additional functionality to personalize the results based on in-the-moment needs.

Version #1: Curated explorations 

Users are given many choices to personalize each moment: They can simply browse curated content with an infinite scroll, or choose to personalize their experience by selecting criteria from the filter row. Depending on a user’s needs, resources can also be curated by their mental health need level, or by searching. 

Built for searching and sharing

This design seeks to connect users and provide chat functionality, along with the ability to upvote/ downvote resources. 

Other functionalities include:

  • Comments on resources (moderated)

  • Chat bot: feeling stuck? Ask our chat bot for ideas 

  • Share-ability: Freely share resources and save for later


 

 Version #2: Inputs Encourage a Mindful Moment

Users input emotions and body sensations to get a “read” of their current emotional state. 

Research shows that labeling one’s emotions helps decrease the intensity of them - so users are already beginning to self-regulate!

 

Diving to the Core of the Problem

Based on user inputs, we provide an analysis of their deeper emotional state. Users can write and/or select topics to help identify what may be contributing to their current mood.





Choose How to Respond to the Emotion

Based on their current needs, users get to choose the resources that are best for them. Do they want to do something that takes their mind off the emotions? Do they need immediate crisis support? Do they want to try meditation? This resource filter allows us to meet users where they are at and not proscribe solutions for them - but rather, identify solutions with them.









Academic Review

Both concepts were thoroughly vetted by various professionals working in the Mental Health Industry and feedback was collated. 

We spoke to 10 professionals including psychiatric nurse practitioners, clinical psychologists and folks working in Mental Health program administration at various hospitals.

Key insights we learned: 

  • Different mental models have diverse needs in terms of ways of coping - some folks may prefer to work through something independently (a self-check in or journal for example) while others prefer talking through an issue with someone

  • COVID might be triggering for folks who have had a previous mental health diagnosis and to include a filter in the resource section for that

  • Resources were deemed credible

Based on the feedback received, we decided to:

  • Integrate the resource page with the check in flow

  • Add the ability to save a record of a check in

  • Add “live check-in” to talk through issues with a peer



Accessibility audit

Before testing our prototype, we conducted an accessibility audit and discovered the orange used in the app’s name was not readable.




So, we decided to change it to blue to create a contrast to the highlighted orange.

 

Second iteration

Link to second iteration

Here are some key screens:

Self-reflection - independent activities were grouped together under the Self-reflection tab.

Live check-in

We added the live check-in feature that allows users to connect instantly or to schedule a session with a volunteer peer. Users can choose a volunteer who has been through a similar situation or is working on similar issues.

Resources

Users are able to filter by how they are feeling, and also by how their body is feeling.

Results are displayed in a familiar Pinterest fashion, with a brief blurb about the resource/app, links to the app along with the ability to like, review it and share it.

Testing the flow 

Feedback captured from the usability testing provided the following insights:

Likes:

  • The flow for both the resources and check in options

  • The giving back scaling option

  • Variety of ways to interact with the platform. 

  • Opportunities for independent work but also to connect with others.

  • Allows for a way to get connected with resources that others recommend. E.g. if user is looking for an app or looking for a provider and doesn’t have a friend to ask, they can use the website to do that.  

Challenges:

  • How to instill trust in folks to sign up for a live check in? 

  • Visual design colors need refining

  • Not optimized for mobile phone use 

  • Could be to allow users to check in live anonymously?  

  • How to differentiate ourselves from our competition?

    • Community drive

    • Reducing stigma - people talking to each other

  • Community driven - users can add resources

  • Various different ways to find resources for in-the-moment needs for different mental modals (check in, live check in, external resource directory, journal and mood tracking features)

  • Legal aspects/monitoring of the community page

  • Need for moderators

  • There is a lot of info, so will need to test out the “flow” of the site with users. Need to make sure the average user has a good mental map of the product.

iteration 3.0

Link to our third prototype

Revisions were made based off feedback received and we came up with our third prototype.

Feedback received during our first round of testing found users were unclear about menu options. In this iteration we separated out key menu options:

We reorganized the menu items based on their hierarchical importance determined during our initial user testing with resources being primary, followed by support buddy and community. The self-reflective flows (self check-in, journal, my log and my graphs) were determined as being of secondary importance.

Further testing is needed:

Our third iteration needs further testing to ensure the flow and visual design elements are all in place.

  • Interaction design needs further testing to ensure functionality

  • The information architecture of the site needs further testing to see if the menu items make sense

  • Visual design needs further testing

Next Steps

Once we have a viable flow and prototype ready, our next steps are:

  • Seek health care provider endorsement. Understand Provider pain points in mental health and invite the conversation to explore how we can meet their needs based on our team’s expertise and research completed

  • Prototype as inspiration. Present prototype as inspiration for possible solutions.

  • Pilot test. Find a health care provider sponsor willing to work with us on a solution and do a pilot test, ideally leveraging their tech and marketing resources.