Bearly Friends - Self help and management tool for users with Social Anxiety Disorder
Completed
August 2018
Roles and Responsibilities
User Research (Qualitative and Quantitative)
Requirement Gathering
Data Analysis and Ideation
Wireframing
Visual Design
High Fidelity Prototyping
Tools
Adobe XD
Overview
Location based social networking app for people with Social Anxiety Disorder with assistive features
Design Process
User Research and Analysis
Ideation and Wireframing
Visual Design and Microinteractions
Retrospection
User Research and Analysis
Research Goals
This was a course assignment inspired by a gameplay called The average everyday adventures of Samantha Browne. The player is required to go the kitchen and make a bowl of an oatmeal while experiencing the world and the emotions from a perspective of Samantha who is affected by Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)
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The goal of my research was to better understand SAD and brainstorm possible solutions that provides some assistance to the affected people in managing their symptoms
Research Method
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Survey
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Interviews with two licensed therapist
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Competitive Audit
Interview responses
Interviewee 1
Highly discouraged such applications as in her experience and opinion, patients are often susceptible and sensitive to misinformation and often end up incorrectly diagnosing themselves which may in turn increase their anxiety. She highly recommended meeting a therapist first.
Interviewee 2
Couldn’t really say if these mobile applications are useful because her therapy does not really involve CBT. However she highly encourages the ideations of platforms that make the rehabilitation of mental health more accessible and referred to a long waiting list in the UK where they are too many sufferers and not enough therapists to assist them.
The survey did not yield a lot of useful response as all participants did not have SAD. However the survey indicated that majority of the respondents experience anxiety in public situations where there are more strangers.
After finding the direct competitors, I reviewed the customer feedback on the app store. Furthermore, after choosing three direct competitors, I used their application and registered myself as a patient to explore the user experience of their application.
Competitive Audit
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Users connect to a licensed therapist who actively partakes in rehabilitation
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As per the user review, the therapists are not always available
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The services are paid
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After survey, users describe their feeling and a diagnosis along with a disclaimer to get in touch with a doctor is generated
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Users were able to talk to the bots as they felt that they were not wasting anyone’s time
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Can be used alongside professional treatment
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After a brief survey, user is connected to a bot and then a listener
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The licensed therapist are paid however the listeners are available for free
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The app offers no treatment
Analysis - Affiniti Mapping
Takeaways from the Affiniti Mapping
Treatment
Variations of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy seem to show promise
Gaining trust
Users can freely open up under the cover of anonymity
Situations
Public situations aggravate the anxiety
Proper Diagnosis
Proper diagnosis is needed from a professional
Accessibility
Users experience neglect when therapists aren’t available
Ideation and Wireframing
The Product
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Help users in initiating conversations virtually and anonymously to give them a sense of confidence and control
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Provide in-app journaling and mood monitoring to track progress.
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Provide professional counselling by allowing users to connect to the professional counsellors.
Low Fidelity Prototype
User flow and the wireframe
Features that this app can include
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Journaling
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Mood tracker for self evaluation
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Anonymous chat with other users affected by extreme anxiety
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Allowing the real time access of mood tracker and the journal to the therapist under the user’s discretion
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Initiating a reward system for meditation and exposure therapy exercises
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Allowing a user to set daily goals and reminders to log in their food
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Connecting the app with the native health app of Google or Apple to track a user’s health data under the user’s discretion
What to watch out for 🚨
Giving any form of diagnosis to avoid thinking traps and letting the users communicate
Visual Design and Microinteractions
User Onboarding before signup
User Onboarding after signup
Text fields and Buttons
Typography
Colors
Design components
Illustrations
Taken and modified from
undraw.co/illustrations
Retrospection
Takeaways
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This project allowed me to explore a lot of literature on SAD however a special care needs to be taken in designing solutions in a healthcare and accessibility domain.
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Collaboration with therapist and experts in necessary throughout the design process
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The onboarding and the app needs to convey a lot of trust to the users in terms of data security and anonymity
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Prospective users suffering from Social Anxiety need to be observed (in a form of remote interviews or surveys)​
The next step
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Review the prototype with licensed therapists
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Conduct a design sprint based on the feedback
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Iterate and test