Support sphere: an app created to make life easier
Sector Humber college IXD 5105
My role UX DESIGNER/ CLASS PROJECT
Project time 3 Weeks
Challenge Create an app that is beneficial to the client, and that creates a purpose to help.
DESIGN CONSIDERATION AND DECISION
Key Considerations:
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User Accessibility: We chose a simple, intuitive interface to ensure that users of all tech proficiency levels could navigate the app easily.
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Emotional Impact: Colors and imagery were carefully selected to evoke a sense of calm and safety.
Design Decisions & Features:
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Customizable Messages: Users can choose from various images and phrases to create a message that truly reflects their feelings.
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Seamless Navigation: The app’s navigation is designed to be straightforward, with easy access to resources like FAQs, action plans, and articles.
MOOD BOARD
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PROBLEM STATEMENT
We aim to provide education for those who engage with individuals experiencing mental health challenges or disabilities. Recognizing that these individuals may struggle to articulate their symptoms and behaviors to strangers, colleagues, or even loved ones, our team will develop an application to address this issue. The application will feature general information about various mental health conditions and disabilities, informative articles, a “what not to do” section, and a searchable FAQ section about these disorders. Our goal is to alleviate the stress of having to repeatedly explain their situation and to foster understanding and positive interactions in a supportive, non-triggering manner.
Aim
We provide individuals with mental health conditions the opportunity to simplify their lives
JOURNY MAP
PAIN POINTS
We identified that many users, like Huan, struggle to communicate their feelings of anxiety and stress, especially when they feel overwhelmed.
Users often feel isolated because they don't know how to reach out for help or articulate their mental state to friends and family.
We saw an opportunity to create a tool to help individuals communicate their struggles more effectively and seek support when needed.
USER PERSONAS:Diagnosed, classmate & mother
Users often feel isolated because they don't know how to reach out for help or articulate their mental state to friends and family.
Key milestones included the creation of user personas, the development of wireframes, and iterative improvements based on feedback from user testing.
SOLUTION
We conducted interviews with both our team members and college students to gather their perspectives on anxiety and mental stress, aiming to better understand their needs.
CONECTING PROBLEM TO SOLUTION
We developed "Support Sphere," an application crafted to help users articulate their mental health challenges through customizable messages and to strengthen their connections with their support network.
HOW IT WORKS
Users can select visual and textual cues that resonate with their feelings, and the app generates a personalized message that they can send/share to their friends or family.
EMPATHY WIREFRAMES: GENERAL USER
LOW FIDELITY
EMPATHY WIREFRAMES: PATIENT USER
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
USER FLOW
USER FLOW
LEGEND
Challenges & outcomes
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Challenge: One of our primary challenges was designing an interface that was both intuitive and emotionally supportive for users.
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Outcome: We addressed this challenge by conducting multiple rounds of user testing, which enabled us to refine the design and ensure it effectively met both the emotional and functional needs of the users
USER STATEMENT
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User Feedback: Users appreciated the app’s ability to help them express their feelings without needing to find the right words themselves.
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Future Opportunities: We discovered a potential to expand the app by integrating it with mental health professionals for real-time support.
ADDITIONAL FINDINGS
ADDITIONAL FINDINGS
HIGH FIDELITY PROTOTYPE: GENERAL USER
HIGH FIDELITY PROTOTYPE: PATIENT USER
