PeaceFul Minds
For this fictional case Study I was the UI/UX Designer and Researcher. In this case study I designed at support chat app for therapist to help user answer question they have.
About the Business:
About 25 years ago, Dr. Forest Gump and a small team of therapist started an organization in Montgomery, Alabama with the purpose of helping people at any stage of life they might be struggling with mentelly, by helping them have a more peaceful mind.
Even now as we grow out of Montgomery, and now help people all over the state of Alabama, our mission has stay the same with helping people find a more peaceful minds.
Services:
-
Personal therapy
-
Couple therapy
-
Family therapy
-
Children therapy
-
Teen Therapy
-
Addition
-
Trama
-
Grief counseling
Understanding Users:
The frist step I did was user research. To begin I did a competitive audit on other just see other therapist websites, and/or apps, in the area. I discover that a lot of therapist do not use this type of app in their website or product. In other words this designing a new product that hasn’t been seen in this field of treating mental health. I also took a look at mental health research and therapy, in which helped me build more empathy for users, and find different perspectives on how users would use the app.
During the research there were four pain point that came up: Time, Simplify, Information, and Choices. For some users Time is a pain point because they don't have time to look through the app to find the answers they are looking for, and making it Simple to insure that someone who is not comfortable using technology can use the app. Then Information is also a pain point because they might want to know the background information on the different therapist, which leads to Choices and have the ability to choose a therapist to book an appointment.
For this case study I made a persona name "Ed Bear" along with a problem statement saying:
"Ed is a joyful guy for the most part, who needs a quick way to answer questions or concerns he may have, because he wants to feel comfortable and confident with the information that has been provided to make an appointment, or to see if it is the right fit for them."
With this mind I created a journey map with a focus on just finding information on the different therapist.Along the way noted what the user has to do, what they would be feeling, and then areas for improvements and to making sure the app is accessible for as many people as possible.
Starting the Design:
I frist started with a paper wire-framing to generate some ideas.After a couple of iterations I want with the one that allow the users a couple of choices. Along with keeping it simple and quick to use to address the user pain points.
Then I made a digital wireframe that started at the home screen which has a button to the open up the app along with create a digital wireframe for each step of the journey. This process also lead to create a low-fidelity prototype that start at the home screen, which lead to opening of the app which start off with four choices: More information on the therapist, Services, Cost, and Make an Appointment. Then when the "More information on the therapist" it will ask another prompt about being Remote, In-Person or No Preference. If the user click on the the "In-Person", or the "No Preference" then it will ask about location. Which will lead to another prompt asking about services. Once a user has selected a service it will make a list of therapist that will fit what the user is looking for. The user then can select a therapist and read more information on them. Final the user has a couple of choices: exit the app, ask another question, pick another therapist, or make an appointment.
Once I complete the prototype I did a usability study. The outcome from the study was users had a hard time opening the app, and confused on where to exit. The possible solution for that was changing the icon and moving the location on the home screen, and then labeling the exit button.
Refining the Design:
With the results from the usability study I moved on to creating a mock up. In which I changes the location and the icon to access the app. Before the change it was a the top and looked like an avatar, or a place to access user profile. Now it in the bottom right corner of the screen, with an icon of a person with a headset and asking a question.
The other changes that occurred was change the exit icon, which was an 'x' to a 'home' icon with a label. The other feature I added was being able to go back a prompt.
There were other changes made as well to consider for accessibility. For example, the size of the text, and icons, making them bigger so be people with vision impairment can view the app. Along with labeling the Icons to make it easier for text-readers and first time internet users to use the app. Then final adding the back a ‘question’ button to allow users to go back if they accidentally clicked the wrong button. Below is screen video of the whole user flow and changes with the high-fidelity prototype:
Going Forward
The impact of this app is that it address a lot of the users pain point, be keeping it simply, and easy to use. Along with saving time for busy people. The next step would be building out the other pathways users can take will using this app. Then conducting more user research, like interviews or surveys, to determine if any areas need improvement. While designing this app I learned how to build on an idea to make it look great. I also learn how to build a better connection for users using empathy, which lead to a better app.
If you made it this far congrats your at the end! Thank you for time and reviewing my work on the Peaceful Minds app. If you like get in touch through the link at the footer, or go here and fill out a contact form!