Thrive

1. Prototype link (Please submit a link to a playable prototype, not a link to your design file) Link

2. Describe your project: Our app addresses burnout and mental health issues among undergraduate students by providing personalized access to mental health resources, including matching with professional counselors, chatting with peers struggling with similar challenges, and accessing community support. Recognizing the everyday challenges students face in seamlessly accessing and utilizing mental health resources, we designed an app that streamlines access to personalized support while fostering a sense of community. Upon arriving on the home screen, users are prompted to take a diagnostic quiz that assesses their current experiences with mental health, including causes and coping mechanisms. Based on their responses, users are matched with professional counselors tailored to provide relevant advice, as well as with other undergraduates who struggle with similar mentor health issues. By integrating personalized matching with professional counseling and community support, Thrive aims to empower college students to effectively manage their mental wellbeing with confidence.

3. Describe your research process and findings. If you conducted any surveys or interviews, please include the survey form and/or interview questions here. If you conducted secondary research by pulling from online sources, please include a link to your sources: Our research process involved a combination of user interviews and surveys to gain insights into the unique challenges faced by undergraduates regarding mental health. We conducted 4 user interviews with students from diverse backgrounds and academic disciplines. Our questions were designed to understand students’ emotional wellbeing and utilization of mental health resources on campus. We attempted to uncover patterns in how students navigate challenges like stress from their academic workload, to sadness from “not doing enough.” Our questions range from pinpointing specific stressors to coping strategies in order to explore students’ attitudes towards their university’s mental health resources. After thorough analysis, we noted that students bottle up their emotions instead of actively seeking help from others. To save time, students also want to see more online services that provide assistance outside the scope of university, such as professional counselors. Another significant insight from our interviews is the importance for users to feel they are receiving verbal support from real humans rather than reading articles or watching videos. Stemming from these findings, we tailored our survey questions to further explore undergraduates’ current pain points and needs when designing an inclusive, personalized experience. In analyzing responses from a diverse range of 10+ majors, nearly half disclosed feeling a significant impact on their overall mental health from rigorous university life. Despite the availability of mental health resources on campus, a staggering 53% of students expressed strong disagreement in using the services. 66.7% of students also expressed resistance in reaching out for help, with 40% of students admitting to retreating into themselves when facing emotional barriers. Deep diving into our more qualitative questions, we gathered information about how there were long wait times for students wanting emotional guidance as well as complicated resource navigation. Through both qualitative and quantitative questions, our research findings guided the development of Thrive, emphasizing the importance of personalized matching, professional counseling, and community support to address mental health issues in university.

Link to survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeZjrcW7nQqgwALxS3xJ9xlmjMGP9XhWLZGf040xdb2i29xtQ/viewform

Interview questions:

• What are your most typical stressors? I.e. Schoolwork, club activities, job anxiety, social pressures
• What do you do when you are stressed or frustrated?
• How often do you feel frustrated or stressed to the point that you get additional help?
• What do you do when you are feeling sad or depressed?
• How often do you feel sad or depressed to the point that you get additional help?
• How often do your mental health being significantly affected by university? I.e. stress, homesickness, sadness, anxiety
• How do these emotions affect your ability in university?
• Rate how much you agree with the following statement: I go to my friends and family when I need emotional help. (1-5)
• Rate how much you agree with the following statement: I use my university’s mental health resources when I need emotional help. (1-5)
• Why might you/might you not use university mental health resources?
• If applicable, have you encountered any barriers when trying to access mental health resources and if so, what were they?
• Rate how much you agree with the following statement: I tend to keep to myself when I need emotional help. (1-5)
• On scale of 1-10, how confident are you navigating your university’s mental health resources for yourself or others.
• What mental health resources would you expect your university to have?
• What mental health resources would you like to see?

4 - Describe your most important design decisions. What research findings and/or user testing results led you to make these decisions? Driven by insights gathered from our user research and testing, our design decisions focused on promoting resource accessibility while fostering a sense of community. After recognizing that students bottled up their emotions because they felt others would not understand them, we focused on fostering a sense of belonging by allowing users to talk to peers struggling with similar mental health issues. By doing so, we aimed to design an experience where students feel validated, understood, and empowered to openly discuss their experiences without fear of judgment. As individuals who also face challenges when opening up, we understand the significance of being included in a safe space where we can offer mutual support, be vulnerable, and be human. Moreover, empathizing with the fact that students had to wait long lines to access mental health resources, we streamlined the process of talking to advisors by directly connecting students with personalized professional counselors. By eliminating the need for in-person appointment bookings, students could chat with professionals for weekly check-ins so they feel they are getting appropriate attention for their needs. In designing the UI and overall feel of the app, our primary objective was to create a welcoming environment where users feel connected. To achieve this, we incorporated warm, minimalistic visuals and a conversational tone throughout the app. Interactive elements such as group chats, a diagnostic quiz, and peer forums help promote the green aesthetic of growing together. Overall, through user-centric features and thoughtful design, we strived to design an app that not only provides meaningful resources but also cultivates a sense of community where undergraduate students feel understood and empowered to thrive.

Built With

• figma