Ikigai, 2022
Branding
Logo Design
Mobile Design
User Research
UI Design
Prototyping & Testing
Ikigai is an app that helps users manage their anxiety and panic attacks. It also educates people on mental health issues to help further break the mental health stigma.
The Problem
How can we use an app to help people manage their panic attacks while educating people on mental health issues?
Discover
In the discover phase, I conducted the following research:
Secondary Research — researched the mental health industry
Competitor Analysis — analyzed direct competitors to know their strengths and weaknesses, define any gaps in the market, and identify advantages/disadvantages of my product
User Interviews — conducted user interviews to understand users and their motivations, desires, needs, and pain points
I researched the mental health industry to gain a better understanding of how the mental health industry works and how mental health is viewed as a whole. Some interesting findings were that:
Mental health is a highly stigmatized issue not only in the US, but globally as well
Lack of awareness/education and social stigma plays a large role in seeking help for mental health issues
Cultural differences affect certain demographic groups from seeking or not seeking help for their mental health issues
Criminalization of mental illness in the US is highly prevalent
Limited access to mental health treatment due to lack of financial support, social stigma, lack of awareness/education and geographical accessibility, and scarcity of services
There are huge opportunities in the sector of mental health within the healthcare ecosystem
We have a long way ahead of us to make vast improvements in helping people find the right and best care that they need
In order to get a solid understanding of how our competitors are doing in the market and to lay out a solid foundation, I did a competitor analysis which consisted of direct and indirect competitors.
I found that most mental health apps require a subscription and rarely free. MindShift CBT was one app that I found that was not only free, but offered a variety of features. However, it was a bit confusing to navigate and difficult to easily access its features.
There is a strong mental health stigma and it doesn’t help users to feel better or supported.
Many people are generally unaware and uneducated on mental health issues and do not recognize its importance.
Because mental health is a taboo topic, it is not talked about much and thus makes users feel more alone in their struggles.
There are coping mechanisms and tools available that can help users manage and alleviate their anxiety/panic attacks.
Define
In the define phase, I created the following deliverables:
I created an empathy map to synthesize user research and better understand users to gain a deeper user-centric mindset.
Creating user personas helped me to better understand users & make better design decisions to create a product that will meet their goals & needs.
I also made a storyboard to better understand the user’s experience and context during their panic attacks. It also helps us to focus on what the priorities are for Ikigai’s users.
Ideate
In the ideate phase, I created the following deliverables and worked with my mentor to receive feedback and iterate.
Feedback & Testing
To test the prototype, I conducted usability testing with 4 participants to test the four main tasks:
Onboarding flow: Sign back into IKIGAI & learn more about its features
Home flow: Select your mood & check off your morning routine tasks for the day
Help flow: Complete the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Exercise
Learn flow: Find an article on how you can help your friend through their depression. Favorite the article & leave a comment!
Difficulty remembering to use the app during an anxiety/panic attack
Notification reminders
SOS widget on home screen for easy access
Misclicks when checking off morning routine tasks on home screen
Increase size of check-off button
Change check-off button color for design consistency and user memorability
Remove icons next to each task
Unfamiliar prototyping tool
Clearer instruction before user tests prototype
More minimal, simple wording
Giving only one task to complete at a time
Original Home Screen Prototype
Final Home Screen Prototype (after iterations)
Metrics
In the future, further testing should be conducted to collect more quantitative and qualitative metrics. Post-launch metrics could also be analyzed to measure business outcomes.
Ways to measure user experience success
User Satisfaction — conducting qualitative interviews to determine user’s delight
Task Completion Rate — conducting more usability tests to measure efficiency
Ways to measure positive business outcomes
Downloads — measure how many new users install the Ikigai app
Retention — measure how satisfied users are with the Ikigai experience through positive reviews
Engagement — measure user frequency & inviting new users to engage with Ikigai app
Takeaways
Mental health has been a growing topic in culture, but it is still far from where it needs to be. There is still a strong taboo/stigma around mental health that must be broken. Experiencing mental health issues like anxiety or panic attacks is a very personal and body-mind focused, vulnerable experience.
Perhaps if there is a way to break or lessen the stigma around mental health, more people would feel comfortable with sharing their experiences with others and there would more accessibility/resources for people who need help with mental health issues. This is why I designed an app focused on helping people overcome their anxiety and panic attacks by offering support in the moment, but also educating people on mental health to recognize its importance and normalize mental health in society. Everybody who has a brain and a body experiences mental health, so it should be prioritized.
This was the first time I had to create an App MVP and had little direction in how to approach the project. Also, I had some personal life circumstances going on that set me back, so I had to get back on track and re-organize my timeline to complete the project. Thankfully, using Notion to organize and manage my project really helped me to keep things in order.
This project helped me to learn more about the process of designing an App MVP. It also helped me to dive deeper into how technology can be used in the healthcare industry. Although it is further advanced than before, there are still so many opportunities in the mental health industry to design products to help people improve their quality of life. Also, user interviews are always somewhat intimidating to do, but the interviews I conducted this time really opened my eyes to see how willing people are to share about their experiences if it’s for the greater good (in this case, to break the mental health stigma).