Notes from Home

Design process: We knew that we wanted make something that replicated the experience of physical connection with loved ones. We explored third spaces, digital cafés, personalized digital cassettes, among other ideas.

Idea: We realized that if we wanted to create an app based on connection, we needed to focus on a user group who didn’t have easy access to it for our idea to be high impact.

We turned our focus to people suffering from severe depression, when it becomes difficult to even get out of bed and near impossible to take care of their health and responsibilities. Depression also tends to isolate patients from their support systems when that’s the thing they need most. For these users, connection isn’t just a benefit–it’s an essential tool for recovery.

Solution: With scientific evidence suggesting that caregiver support may be essential for recovery from mental illness, we realized the potential impact of an app that connects people struggling alone with people who care about them. Though they may be separated physically, we could bridge the distance through the digital recreation of note writing and recieiving.

Notes from Home replicates the tangible nostalgia-filled experience of receiving encouraging handwritten messages from your caregiver to help patients of depression start on the path to recovery.

Every time a patient takes a picture of them completing a healthy habit, they are rewarded with an encouraging digital Post-It message from their caregiver. The Post-It appears in AR, which makes it seem like the Post-It exists in their physical space.

Through this cycle of positive reinforcement, the patient slowly rebuilds their confidence and gets ready to return to the world with renewed faith in themselves and a deeper connection to their loved one.

Built With

• figma