I used a design thinking approach because I needed to quickly work out possible solutions for an MVP, and then keep building, measuring, and learning from my iterations. A leaner process helped me to quickly define the most important features of the app and to clarify how they would need to work together to create a useful end product.

Discovery

Competitive Analysis

I started this project by looking at the existing market for therapy apps. I analyzed two primary competitor apps: 7 Cups and Talkspace. I created a competitor profile with SWOT analysis for each company.

Problem Statement & Hypothesis

Problem Statement: Our users need a way to connect and communicate with licensed therapists of various specialties, because they need to be able to access high-quality therapy services from anywhere.

Hypothesis: We believe a mobile app that allows users to find and connect with remote therapists will help reduce obstacles to mental health care and will translate to a more empowering experience than our competitors currently offer.

Understanding the Problem

I started planning for user interview sessions by establishing my goals:

Talking to Users

Initially, I started with 3 interviewees - two of whom had never used therapy apps and one who had. I looked for participants who had experiences with therapy themselves, or as a part of their job/studies.

• Interviewee #1: 29 years old, female, Sociology student at University of Maryland

• Interviewee #2: 35 years old, male, former social worker, currently working at a food co-op in San Fransisco

• Interviewee #3: 29 years old, female, owner of a vegan bakery, Talkspace user

After my initials interviews, I realized that my understanding of the problem with current therapy app solutions would be better illustrated if I spoke to another therapy app user, so I found Interviewee #4: 31 years old, genderqueer, hairdresser, new Talkspace user.

From the Talkspace users (interviewees 3 and 4) specifically, I learned that:

• They both have demanding jobs with erratic schedules

• They both talked about coming from a generation where talking to strangers on the internet was commonplace - they had both developed meaningful relationships behind screens using tools like AIM (AOL Instant Messenger)

• They are both very open to trying out different types of therapy methods

• They both self-identify as being “non-traditional” and are hesitant of judgmental therapists

High-level Takeaways

All four participants:

• Had experience with therapy prior to this interview - therapy is common within the key demographic 

• Expressed interest in learning about or engaging in different types of therapies 

• Took a surprisingly long time to think about question # 5 (“What are some personality traits that make you feel comfortable opening up to someone?”). It felt like the type of person they’d be talking to is very important to them

• Wanted to be engaged by their therapist - to feel listened to, challenged, and respected

• Described anonymity as being less important

Other key takeaways:

• There is an existing population that is actively excited about therapy apps 

• Time, money, and access are common barriers to accessing therapy

• There is still skepticism concerning therapy apps when it comes to having the “person-to-person” connection, though each participant had positive experiences talking on the phone with a therapist in the past

• There may not be a lot of word-of-mouth communication about therapy apps 

Personas

Marissa the Millennial represents the primary user of Mindfully - she grew up on the internet and is no stranger to communicating via a screen. This persona is based on feedback provided by current therapy-app-users that I interviewed. She is my primary persona and my guiding light.

Theo the Traditionalist has tried traditional therapy in the past but feels unsatisfied by the results - he is a great target for conversion to app-based therapy. He was created based on feedback from users who were more skeptical of therapy sessions via phone or screen.

Cara the Therapist represents the ideal therapist that each of my interviewees spoke about wanting to talk to. She is engaging, responsive, and respectful of her clients.

User Journey Mapping

User Flows

I analyzed tasks that could be completed in the app from the perspective of Marissa Millennial. I then created user flows to start fleshing out the necessary steps and screens it would take to complete basic these tasks. 

Building

Making an Information Architecture

Originally, I used Keynote to make the Information Architecture (IA) for Mindfully. My first few versions of the IA didn’t feel totally accurate, so I reorganized it a few times. After a consultation with my mentor, I decided to try Draw.io and follow a more interaction-based framework. 

Iterative Wireframes

My first ideation sketches for user flows were (very) quick and dirty, with a Sharpie and graph paper. My designs progressed in clarity and fidelity with iterative wireframes. Mindfully is ultimately a tool for easing stress, so it’s interface needed to stay minimalistic with each iteration.

Low-Fidelity Main Navigation

Iterative Main Navigation

Low-Fidelity Wireframes

As each of my user flows became more fleshed out, I started translating my basic flows to the digital space. To start, I laid out on 3 flows: messaging a new therapist, starting a plan with a therapist, and creating a user profile.

Mid- & High-Fidelity Wireframes

Validation

Putting Navigation to the A/B Test

I A/B tested the main navigation of the app to see if users prefer the “search therapists” icon in the tab navigation, or if placing a simple icon in the top right corner would be more intuitive.

I ran two different A/B tests because test #1 had changes to the icon and the location of the icon. This offered too many variables for judgement, so I ran a second test with the same search icon but in a different location. 

In total, 17 people participated in the second preference test. Option # 2 had a slightly higher success rate by one vote, which was not enough of a difference to be statistically significant. I choose to stick with the navigation of option # 1. The icon, placement, and text from option # 1 will add more clarity for new users who could benefit from having more context.

Usability Testing

With a high-fidelity prototype in-hand, I recruited 6 participants for my usability testing. Four sessions happened in-person and two were conducted remotely via Skype and Google Hangouts. I asked participants to complete direct and scenario tasks using Mindfully.

After all of the sessions were completed, I analyzed the feedback with an affinity map and a rainbow spreadsheet. Mapping the frequency of errors helped to inform a more formal test report that outlined and ranked the top issues that arose during testing and offered suggestions for possible remedies.

Iterating With Validation

I made changes to my wireframes to resolve the errors and address the negative feedback from my usability tests.

Peer Review

I invited 5 fellow UX designers to peer review Mindfully via comments in InVision. Out of 25 comments, I chose to address the top 8 that were in the scope of the project and would have the most positive impact on the usefulness and usability.

Iterating for Accessibility

Conclusion

Thank you for viewing the process behind Mindfully! Check out the current prototype in Figma.