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Welcome to Haven! This is an app to provide accessible mental health resources for young adults who cannot afford therapy.

Research

  • Understand how young adults cope with mental health without therapy.

  • Identify what makes users feel comfortable and safe using a mental health app.

  • Identify the desired features and support what users actually want from the app. 


The research Goals:

Notable findings:

  • 66.7% of users are hesitant to share their thoughts and emotions with a mental health app.

  • The majority of users want privacy and the ability to stay anonymous.

  • 88.9% of users have never used a mental health app.

A digital infographic with four points about mental health apps. The points are titled "Trust and familiarity," "Hesitation," "Unclear value/low motivation," and "Easily overwhelmed," each with a brief description underneath.
Text excerpt describing research on young adults' mental health app usage and attitudes.
Bar chart showing percentages of different data privacy features: Ability to stay anonymous (66.7%), Clear privacy policies (66.7%), No data sharing with third parties (77.8%), Professional-backed content (55.6%).
A pie chart with five segments: a large orange segment labeled 66.7%, a medium green segment labeled 11.1%, a medium blue segment labeled 11.1%, a smaller red segment labeled 11.1%, and a very small yellow segment.
Pie chart showing that 88.9% is represented by one color and 11.1% by another color.

Summary

Paint points

Diagram showing a user at the center with four labeled sections around it: 'Says' in red, 'Feels' in orange, 'Thinks' in blue, and 'Does' in green, each with descriptive text.

Empathy map

A digital graphic introducing Alex Martinez, a 22-year-old college student from Fort Worth, Texas. The graphic features a photograph of Alex smiling outdoors, and text detailing his demographics, goals for mental health support, frustrations with existing mental health apps, and a quote about the importance of privacy in mental health apps.

User persona

Text explaining that Alex is a young adult overwhelmed and stressed, hesitant to use a mental health app due to privacy concerns, seeking a simple and personalized solution for managing mental health.

Problem statement

A table titled Persona: Alex Martinez outlining steps for using a mental health app, including actions, tasks, emotions, and improvement opportunities.

User journey map

Competative Audit

Evaluate existing mental health apps to understand how they address trust, anonymity, personalization, and ease of use, and identify opportunities for improvement.

Competitors

  • Headspace

  • Calm

  • Talkspace

Objective

A presentation slide with a yellow background, titled 'Headspace'. It lists 'Type: Direct competitor'. Under 'Strengths', it mentions 'Structured programs', 'Beginner-friendly', and 'Strong brand identity'. Under 'Weaknesses', it notes 'Limited anonymity' and 'Subscription barriers'.
Blue infographic highlighting a product called 'Calm,' categorized as a direct competitor. It lists strengths such as premium visual design, sleep support, and immersive experience, and weaknesses including heavy paywall and limited personalization.
Green poster with white text describing Talkspace as a clinical competitor, listing strengths like licensed therapists, professional care, and insurance options, and weaknesses like being expensive and less approachable.
Comparison table of features for Headspace, Calm, and Talkspace mental health apps, including categories like anonymity, personalization, guided content, professional support, and accessibility.

Insights

  • Users value anonymity, but competitors rarely prioritize it.

  • Subscription models create barriers for hesitant users.

  • Most apps offer broad solutions rather than tailored support.

Current competitors excel in mindfulness, therapy, or wellness content; there is a clear opportunity to create more approachable mental health solution centered around privacy, personalization, and user trust.

Conclusion

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15ZwX7v3_8131cGoMnzA5zcdOgRVr8tUNZnsRhmcsUvs/edit?usp=sharing

Full audit

Ideation

How might we design a mental health app that feels safe, anonymous, and personalized enough for users like Alex to consistently engage with?

“How might we?” statement

Crazy 8s/Rapid sketching

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Wireframes

Before usability study

Paper wireframes

Desktop and mobile website versions

Digital wireframes

Final home page

Lo-fi prototype

Prototype link

Insights

Mockups

Before usability study

After usability study

Users appreciate the ability to stay anonymous and want more in-depth account settings. For this, for this, I added four more frames with settings and displayed a privacy policy for emphasis on the anonymity.

After usability study

Users wanted the ability to choose specific times and dates for their reminders for personalization. I added a screen to give them this ability, and I added a component to have toggles start on.

Hi-fi prototype

Hi-fi prototype link

Research summery

Total of 4 participants, 3 in a moderated in-person study and 1 in an unmoderated remote study.

Users were given 5 tasks to complete within the hi-fi prototype, and then were asked to fill out a questionnaire.

User’s answers, actions, click paths, and quotes were noted and made into insights

Insights

Accessibility considerations

What I learned and would do differently

oliviagathomps@gmail.com

(417)-706-8562

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