-Brain health application for Anxiety, Insomnia & Depression
As the world grapples with the growing
mental health concerns of people from all walks of
life, mental health technology and digital mental health services have become pivotal
in the contemporary era. Marbles Health developed 2 major mental health products – Marbles
Health mobile application and EASE (neuro-modulation device for depression). The Marbles
mobile application is a holistic brain wellness platform that aims to provide
comprehensive mental health care by combining modern psychology and Indic practices such as
yoga and meditation, focusing on Anxiety, Insomnia and Depression (AID).
Duration: November 2022- July 2023
Application should focus on 3 major mental health conditions i.e., anxiety, insomnia and depression
Our application should combine modern psychology and Indic practices
Make the application customised to individual’s needs and journey
I headed the team of UI designers, psychologists, developers as well as content creators. As the company operated in a start-up set-up, I worked closely with the CEO and Founders of our company. I also headed the branding team, where my role was instrumental for the company in making important decisions related to brand personality, the logo, branding etc. As branding and application design were happening simultaneously, I kept my approach extremely flexible as it involved multiple and continuous iterations. There was constant learning and relearning for me as a UX Design Lead as I had to wear multiple hats and steer the teams I led, accordingly. The entire process was a great opportunity for me to nurture the application and the brand from scratch!
Competitive Analysis
I conducted a competitive analysis of mental health apps to identify gaps and opportunities, and to spot unique value that my team could produce by designing the app for my end users. There are more than 100 mental health apps available in the market today. Therefore, I optimised the analysis by focusing on a select few apps based on keyword search: mental health apps, yoga for AID; apps using CBT; meditation for AID; and best mental health apps. I also included those apps that came up in the user interview.
Research Goals
Understand how people identify with anxiety, depression, insomnia (AID)
Be familiar with the stage at which people seek help in case of AID
Identify the aids/therapies/medication that they look for in case of AID
Know what motivates users to look for help if they resonate with AID
Analyze how people will come to our platform as users
We regulated a Google form for people to sign up for sharing their journeys with AID with us. Additionally we approached our contacts personally to find users willing to participate. Interviews were conducted online, spanning ~60 minutes with 35 potential users. For more impactful outreach, we let the users answer in Hindi or English language. Even though our questionnaire was reasonably structured, we kept some scope for flexibility to suit the users’ sensibilities.
Additionally, interviews with 5 psychologists and 2 yoga practitioners helped us understand the general approach adopted by practitioners in the field to deal with AID. This entire process, therefore, gave us better insights to curate the best optimised digital solutions for varying mental health needs.
Interview Guide for Users (individuals with Anxiety, Insomnia or Depression)
Pain Points
The data gathered after the interviews added a layer of complexity owing to the highly varied information the users/interviewees provided. We created affinity diagrams to combine all the information cohesively. This helped us to focus on a few pain points that could be addressed through a digital platform that could be well- crafted and implemented, pragmatically in the given timelines.
Unable to recognise their signs
Users often find it challenging to flag their signs of anxiety or depression
Lack of guidance and information
Users understand something does not feel right, but they lack genuine and guided information about their condition
Expensive therapies
Users acknowledged their need for professional help but found therapies expensive and, hence, inaccessible
Lack of social support
Lack of social support made it difficult for users to navigate their journeys alone
Affinity Diagram: Example showing user responses (each colour represents different user)
We developed 7 personas to make an informed assessment and understand the variations we experienced. Subsequently, we developed user journeys, anticipating how our users would encounter the application, their preferred aspects, features, functionalities, etc. This deepened our understanding of the users and helped us keep our approach empathetic, inclusive, and holistic.
“My friends and family can’t understand the kind of anxieties I have in Ph.D.”
Name: Aditi Sharma
| Age: | 26 years |
| Sex: | Female |
| Education | 2nd year Ph.D. |
| Hometown: | Delhi, India |
| Family: | Parents, younger brother |
| Occupation: | Occupational Therapist |
Goals
Frustrations
Aditi is a research scholar from Delhi. She is in 2nd year Ph.D. (studying in Delhi) and usually defines herself as social and fun loving. She loves to listen to music and exercises everyday. She is having a hard time adjusting in her PhD environment where there is absence of similar social structure. She feels anxious worrying about her study results, career opportunities and financial stability. She thinks due to all the stress, she is unable to give time to her hobbies or do anything fun. All her time goes in her Ph.D. studies. There is a sense of guilt whenever she goes out with friends or ‘not work’ as such.
User Persona 1: Aditi
“I don’t understand why would she just leave me. Is there something wrong with me?”
Name: Rishab Singh
| Age: | 29 years |
| Sex: | Male |
| Education | MBA Graduate. |
| Hometown: | Delhi, India |
| Family: | Parents, younger sister |
| Annual Family Income: | 18 lac |
| Occupation: | Working in an MNC |
Goals
Frustrations
Rishab is an MBA graduate from Pune. He has been working since last 4 years and is currently working in a top MNC (in Gurugram). He usually defines himself as an introvert with few friends. His hobbies are reading and writing blogs. He is a fitness enthusiast and follows a healthy diet. Recent break up with with his 6 years old relationship has put him in a state of anxiety and depression. He is no longer able to get out of bad and his work life is getting adversely affected. He is unable to share his feelings freely with his friends as well.
User Persona 2: Rishab
User Journey Map
I facilitated multiple
brainstorming sessions for our application design with the
Founders and Psychologists. We used methods like Crazy 8, Impact-effort matrix,
MosCow
Method, SCAMPER, and Empathy Mapping to develop optimum solutions,
keeping our approach
dynamic and eclectic to meet the diverse needs reflected by our user base.
For instance, we classified the user interview data by mapping conditions symptom to
possible solutions. We included an activity-based application model, deep-rooted
cause-to-solution matrix, module-based approach, and mini-therapy approach. All these
inputs helped us in refining our designs.
Brainstorming Ideas
Main Features:
Along with my team, I developed some compelling features not offered on most digital mental health platforms. An amalgamation of these features added freshness to our application and made it more personal for our users!
Marbles Buddy Call- Our clinical psychologist reached out to the users through a weekly call to talk about their journey, progress, and challenges users were facing while using the application. The primary purpose was to provide some form of companionship & support to the user in their restorative journey.
Intention setting- The first activity users saw on the home screen was setting their intention on something meaningful every day. This was displayed at the top of their home screen. Later, we observed that setting even small intentions helped users cultivate direction and control over their lives and manage the anxiety and uncertainties of an open-ended day.
Find an Expert-This feature was added because, as a mental health company, we wanted to provide a platform for users to contact certified experts in the field. This feature enabled users to search for mental health experts on our platform like psychologists, psychiatrists, yoga therapists, art therapists, etc., thereby promoting greater accessibility by breaking geographical barriers. Our users could schedule sessions, make payments, and join the sessions, and the psychiatrist could also upload the prescription on the application platform.
Daily insights- Users could track their mood and energy levels and get insights based on them. This feature helped users understand their condition and any progress or derailment made so far, thus making them more self-aware and forging greater self-acceptance among them about their struggles. These insights were also shared with the Marbles Buddy to help them guide the user
“Our application will help users identify their mental health condition (anxiety, insomnia, or depression) and facilitate the process of finding holistic and unique solutions suited to their needs.”
We measured the effectiveness by:
To make a precise and lucid design delivery, we narrowed down to some promising ideas and created wireframes. As the lead designer, I ensured the process was within time constraints. Therefore, I skipped the paper prototype and conducted the usability testing with mid-fidelity prototype. Further, as the application was meant for a user base with diverse needs, our work methodology was more flexible and sensitive, involving continuous evaluation and iterations. Our application flow was thus kept more flexible. I designed the application outline based on the same. However, since the application consisted of complex features, I ensured multiple variations were created before finalising the designs.
Example: General flow for activities made by the psychologists for various mental health conditions
Example: Mid - fidelity Prototype Screens
I narrowed down on potential ideas and created mid-fidelity prototype. The usability testing was conducted with 8 users, recruited by snowball technique. For the study, I used the user flow for Anxiety condition. I made sure to be inclusive and had a user with ADHD as well as 2 users with physical disability. Users were shared the application prototype and were given some prompts. Later, we sent a system usability scale for rating.
Goals:
Primary Research Questions:
KPIs:
Onboarding Flow
Book a therapist
Insights
Findings and Iterations
Post the usability testing, we re-iterated on the application design to create a flawless user experience. By this time, we had finalised our branding so the new designs also reflected our brand design!
Key Finding 1
The journey pathway display was confusing for the users. They could not comprehend the language and terminology as well as what the journey meant. Thus, I redesigned the pathway where the goal was clearly displayed. We also added another layer where clicking on a goal expanded the description.
Key Finding 2
Originally, users were shown a score suggesting their anxiety, insomnia and depression level on one screen. 5 users felt it overwhelming and threatening. We redesigned the display where only one score was shown at a time. I added more white space on the screen to make it look light and less provoking.
Key Finding 3
Originally, users had to purchase subscription to user any feature inside the app. However, user wanted to explore more content before purchasing the module for the goal they want to work on. After many rounds of iterations, we added a few free application features such as journal writing, daily motivation quote and mood tracking. 3 day free trial was also made available or each goal module and then subscribe to move forward.
Key Finding 4
Users also found the application very text heavy. The activity modules were difficult to understand and information was overwhelming. Since the activity content was out of my scope of work, I redesigned the visuals by rearranging the text space and adding more whitespace. The graphics on these screens were also made lighter.
Key Finding 5
Originally the onboarding flow followed goal selection exhaustive questionnaire, which users found redundant to answer since they didn’t want to answer for other conditions if they have already selected a goal (e.g. if I have selected anxiety goal, why am I getting scores on depression or insomnia). The onboarding process was tedious and users felt bored to answer. However, after multiple discussion with the team, we retained the original onboarding questionnaire as psychologists argued users often are not aware of their condition. However, to enhance user experience, I altered the flow where goal selection was removed from onboarding. Users completed the questionnaire and received a score on AID. Later, users could take an informed decision on their goals. They could also now explore the application with several free features.
After multiple iterations, our final design grasped on the product opportunities that were observed during my research. A weekly buddy call (psychologist call) to setting intention for the day provided some unique features for our users. We tried to cover major pain points and provide some solution for the users. We made sure to encompass our findings from the usability testing which was challenging due to the time constraints. Our final application consists of module- based content mapped to health condition. We created 20-30 day modules for each anxiety, insomnia and depression with 3 day free trial period. We also added many unique features like Marbles Buddy call to make sure users have a companion in their journey. They are not alone in this!
Intention Setting
Toolkit for Relaxation
Find an Expert
Buddy Call
Insights
Daily Check-in
Our final application provided therapeutic solutions for different mental health conditions. It was great learning experience where I honed several of my soft skills like working in strict timelines, how to turn ideas into reality and team leadership and project management. I effectively led multiple teams simultaneously and resolved conflicts whenever they arose.
For the next phase, we plan to implement more therapeutic modules for other conditions such as post partum depression, post operative care and bipolar mood disorder. Additionally, we plan to add more features such as users will be able to add and track custom goals. We will also add text-to-speech option in our modules to make it more accessible.
