Ben Lang, Artist and Interaction Designer

THE BRIEF

Design a technological solution to de-stigmatise depression and anxiety. The project was completed as part of the Master of Interaction Design and Electronic Arts course at University of Sydney. Research, analysis and ideation was conducted individually at first, before forming a team with Georgia Saich and Michael Huang for further research, discussion, ideation, iterative prototyping and user testing.

THE PROBLEM

Unlike illnesses with obvious physical symptoms, mental health issues are ‘invisible’ to many. The stigma surrounding depression and anxiety amounts to a lack of empathy, knowledge and understanding. Many assume that one’s behaviours and mindset are within their control to change, however for some sufferers this does not reflect their lived experience. It is these attitudes that continue to make them feel inadequate and prevent them from seeking help when they really need it.

We found that youth are the least likely to seek professional help. A major barrier is not knowing the difference between everyday feelings, and a problem requiring intervention. There may also be a lack of faith in support services. Our solution aims to address these key findings.

UX RESEARCH

Key to the design project was developing a deep understanding of the problem, requiring qualitative data analysis.

	Online survey with over 100 responses
	3 in-depth aural interviews, including a professional psychologist
	Online forums and social media such as Reddit and Twitter
	Reports and initiatives by beyondblue, ReachOut and Black Dog Institute
	Interviews and discussion in relevant All in the Mind RN podcasts
	Analysis of YikYak – a local anonymous chatting app that became very popular but was shut down due to bullying and harassment.

DATA ANALYSIS AND DESIGN THINKING

	Brainstorming
	Affinity diagramming
	‘5 whys’ root-cause identification technique

THE SOLUTION

Target audience

Young people, as research has shown they are least likely to seek professional help.

Focus areas

	Self-stigma (feeling that one does not need help, or cannot be helped)
	Perceived stigma (feeling that others hold more strongly stigmatising views than they actually do)

Key user need addressed

A measuring stick to assess one’s own mental health. A major cause of stigma is due to not being able to distinguish ‘normal’ negative emotions from those that have become a mental health problem requiring help.

Features

	Day-to-day input of mood on a sliding scale, compared with yesterday
	Log thoughts and feelings for personalised advice and stories from similar sufferers
	Review of progress and coping strategies
	Anonomised chat with matched peers from local area or similar social circles
	Personalised recommendation of when and where to seek professional help if required

Aims

	To provide a threshold or ‘yardstick’ to aid recognition of when to seek professional help – monitoring mood over time can determine if the user is feeling consistently or more often bad than good.
	To reveal commonality, emphasising the sufferer is not alone – feedback is provided through statistics of similar thoughts or emotions experienced by similar individuals
	Find relevant advice through relatable stories
	Encourage helpful and supportive communities
	Provide an accessible and unintimidating platform for seeking help, especially for those who might feel paralysed to take the first step or talk with someone face-to-face.
	Provide opportunities to re-frame negatives into positives – for example, stress into motivation to achieve.

Issue avoidance measures

	Anonymity amongst users, but requires initial sign-in through Facebook to verify identity
	Reputation scores are accumulated through ‘up votes’ of useful advice, assisting in the matching algorithm
	Trained moderators help identify potentially risky interactions
	Opportunity to report inappropriate advice and to block users

Process and Evaluation

	Paper prototypes and wireframes
	User-flows
	Persona walkthroughs
	User testing – think aloud and focus group discussion

REFERENCES