A library of reliable and easily accessible information on mental health and self-awareness along with streamlined services and alternatives for therapy and self-care.

MY ROLE: UX Researcher, UX/UI designer, designing the app from conception to testing.​

I chose to work on this issue as it has become an even major concern as COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated it and has had severe adverse effects on people’s mental health.

56 million — Indians suffer from depression

38 million — Indians suffer from anxiety disorders

PROBLEMS -​​

Stigmatisation, specially in India has been a major reason for lack of awareness of such issues.

Limited number of apps that focus solely on mental health assistance (above that they have paid subscriptions).

Reaching out to the right counsellor/ therapist is a very challenging process.

Expensive services for any kind of therapy.

A single platform for reliable and easily accessible information on mental health and self-awareness along with streamlined services and alternatives for therapy and self-care.

A service that users could trust in their times of stress, sadness, and affliction for any solution they might need.

Finding out problems encountered by people and how is their approach to it.

Understand the type of methods people use to solve their problems and how effective it is.

To evaluate the existing options of psychological support systems, their accessibility and success.

To start with my research I started off with gathering some already existing data, so I read articles, surveys and research papers by institutes and NGOs such as WHO, TLLLF and some of the key insights I found from the research conducted are:

566% - Demand increase for Mental health apps, demand for online prescriptions has doubled in past four years👇

This not only solidified my hypothesis for a need of mental health app but also helped me understand the problems and setbacks faced by people for reaching out.

For further research I conducted a survey to help me understand the level of awareness people have and to explore their attitudes towards mental health issues. This survey was done by 30 people mostly between ages 20 to 55 and dealt with basic questions like:​​

How has the pandemic affected their mental well being?

What is mental illness according to them?

How should a person with mental issues be treated?

How can they know if a person is going through mental illness and how do they help them?

Later I conducted user interviews for which I shortlisted 5 candidates, who had sought therapy/considered it or have issues like anxiety and depression.​​

“I would want to go but not sure if the doctors are good and qualified.”

“Good therapists charge too much for their services.”

“Before starting the sessions, I would first want to know my compatibility with the therapist.”

“The items present on internet are very generic, I would want to get a more specific articles and sessions.”

“I would check the cost, specializations, ratings before considering a therapist”​

At this stage, I searched for other mental health apps having similar value proposition as Balance. The various features present in the apps were noted and drafted in a digestible tabular structure as below.

Lo-Fi Prototype link here 👈

Unmoderated usability study.

Location: INDIA, remote.

Length: Each session — 5 to 10 minutes, based on a list of tasks.

Users were asked to place order on a low-fidelity prototype.

5 participants

Two male, three female users between ages 20 and 60.

Participants have either sought therapy, considered it or are dealing with stress/depression.

Participants use stress management apps online or have done consultations with it’s help.

Are users able to find mental health assistance techniques?

Where do users get stuck?

Does user think the app is easy or difficult to use? Why?

Are users able to find a professional and schedule a session?

How long does it take the user to schedule sessions?

The awareness logo and page name needs to be more intuitive. Users didn’t understand the page’s need and were confused about it.

Slot booking CTA was not user friendly and needed better interaction.​

Users wanted the app to provide personalised information. A page for personalisation needs to be added while registering in the app.​

Some users wanted to contact remotely via chat to therapist. Chat feature needs to be introduced.

Added some features like:​

A page for personalization of the app according to user needs while registering in the app.

A video introduction of the professionals, so users can get a better insight and make informed decisions about choosing their therapists.

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