Prototype mental health app
Mindful moment is a journaling app to help improve the mental health of college students.
Research
Student mental health is a serious problem at New York University. According to the school’s wellness webpage, 22.5 percent of NYU students reported that anxiety had impacted their academic performance within the past year. Nearly sixty percent of students reporting symptoms of depression said it was more difficult to complete schoolwork and get along with people. NYU offers myriad of resources to help students with their mental health issues and sends out occasional emails reminding students to get outside or go workout. However, many students to do not take advantage of the resources that are available to them. According to a study from Inside Higher Ed, only 15 percent of students engaged in college-offered counseling in the past year. Possible explanations include busy student schedules, the stigma around mental health, and students spending too much time in front of screens. According to a study conducted in 2014, students reported spending 8-10 hours per day on their mobile devices.
User Personas
Current State Journey Map
Solution
Journaling has been shown to be an effective way to increase happiness levels. However, a common pain point of journaling is the time commitment. College students tend to be busy and may find it difficult to allot time to sit down and write. People I talked to mentioned that they tried to start journaling but quickly fell out of habit due to how long it can take to write all about your day. Having an app that simplifies the journaling process would lower the barrier of entry into the practice. The app would set a low bar for success by encouraging users once a day to fill out a few simple journaling questions about their moods and goals for the day. The users would then have the option to go into more detail if they wish. During my user research, I found that one thing people liked about journaling on paper is how you are unable to undo what you have written, especially if it is in pen. A potential option for the app would disable the backspace feature to replicate that aspect of physical journaling.
User Flow
Wireframes
Final Product
