Awaken
A site promoting and supporting mental well-being
UX/UI Design
Prototyping
Information architecture
Social good
Project Overview
A well-being app designed for working professionals that offers personalised stress relief tools and a seamless user experience, promoting work-life harmony in high-pressure environments. The target demographic are working professionals aged 25 - 40 years in high-pressure roles seeking immediate well-being support to manage stress and achieve a healthier work-life balance.
Roles
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UX/UI Design
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Information Architecture
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Researcher
Tools
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Figma
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Typeform
Project Length
March 2024
Time to get to know our users and the market
Market Research
During the exploration phase, gathering extensive insights about the business is paramount. I aimed to break down the hurdles encountered by both the client and their users. I probed into the operational difficulties, identified the obstacles experienced, and tried to uncover the frustrations that users may face.
Competitive Audit
My competitive audit goal was - To compare the user experience of adults working in high-stress environments seeking immediate help or resources for improving mental well-being in a stressed state or situation. My analysis focuses on identifying key features, functionalities, and user experiences offered by competitors to understand how our app can differentiate itself and better meet users' needs. Some high-level observations are noted below:
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Community Engagement: Many competitors lack robust community engagement features, presenting an opportunity for us to create a supportive user community through forums and group activities.
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Role-Specific Resources: Several competitors overlook the importance of role-specific resources, leaving room for YoungMinds to offer tailored content catering to various professional backgrounds.
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Specialized Well-being Plans: Some competitors offer personalised well-being plans tailored to individual needs
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Progress Tracking: Some platforms provide comprehensive progress tracking features, allowing users to monitor their well-being journey with detailed insights and analytics.
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Varied Landscape: The competitive landscape shows a diverse range of strengths and weaknesses among platforms, with YoungMinds well-positioned to capitalise on its innovative features and user-centric design to stand out in the market.
Let's kick off our user research
The user research methodology employed incorporated primary research with a qualitative approach. I focused my attention on conducting face-to-face interviews, either in-person or via video conferencing platforms such as Zoom or Teams.
My research sample comprises:
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5 Adults ranging in age from 21 - 60 years that work in a high-stress environment
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of which two users are from a historically marginalised group
A brief research summary
User research conducted with professionals revealed a common thread of challenges in maintaining work-life balance and managing stress. Interviews highlighted the frustration with current well-being initiatives, which lack specificity and immediate relevance to the unique demands of high-pressure roles. Respondents expressed a need for accessible, role-specific tools that can offer real-time support during peak stress periods.
Let's synthesise our findings
Insights
Having completed my initial interviews and research, I identified some high-level common themes among our participants. I've defined them as follows:
Our pain points
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Lack of immediate well-being support - Many users expressed frustration with the lack of immediate and relevant well-being support in the workplace, highlighting the need for accessible resources
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Community - Users noted a sense of feeling alone and wanting to connect with others who are going through similar experiences
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Ability to effectively track progress - Some respondents experienced difficulty monitoring their personal well-being journey, highlighting the desire for clear and easy-to-use tools to track and measure progress towards well-being goals.
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Role-specific resources - Users shared the frustration of not finding resources or content tailored to their specific profession or background, highlighting the need for specialised support
So who is our user?
The user persona is really important because it helps us understand who our main users are and makes it easier to understand and feel for the problems they deal with every day. From what I found in my research, Lucy's persona came to life.
From my research, I was better able to understand the pain points and frustrations that Lucy experiences. With this in hand, I was able to map out Lucy's user journey. While I was mapping her journey, the insights gathered indicated there is a need to create an app/site, that would provide users with resources that are specific to their profession and not generic in nature.
I think I've found the problem
Having analysed Lucy's journey map, I identified the frustrations she faces when trying to complete the tasks outlined in her user journey.
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The problem statement - Lucy is a 30-year-old marketing specialist who needs immediate, role-specific well-being tools because the current resources lack relevance, causing heightened stress and impacting her work-life balance
How might we...
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enhance the availability of immediate support features to help Lucy manage stress and maintain well-being in real-time?
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personalise Lucy's onboarding experience to better align with her profession and well-being goals?
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highlight key features within the app/site to help Lucy discover and engage with them more easily?
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encourage Lucy to provide feedback more actively and consistently throughout her user journey?
Now, let's play around with some ideas...
Figuring out the possible solutions
The MoSCoW method is a very helpful tool to help categorize the core feature ideas. I arranged it according to their priority starting from crucial to less critical. My data analysis and research findings helped me to get this structure together.
Let's plot our user flow
I used a user flow chart to organise and show how Lucy could navigate the website. Once I figured out the flow of the ideal scenario, I should be able to create some sketches.
Let's get the information architecture out of the way
Information architecture entails organising and labelling content for easy user navigation and access. It ensures intuitive pathways and efficient interaction within systems or websites, enhancing the overall user experience. See the architecture map below.
Next, I'll get some drawings together
The need to have all the features immediately clear and available was paramount. Users needed to be able to find what they were looking for without searching excessively. In times of stress and professional anxiety, the solutions need to be at the fingertips of the users.
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It is with this notion in the forefront that I decided on the look and feel of the UI. I've made use of iconography to create a light-hearted feel, and to help detract from the seriousness of the situation that user finds themselves in.
Let the user testing begin!
After finishing the first iteration, I took my low-fidelity wireframes up a notch to prepare them for my usability study. I undertook an unmoderated usability study within the following framework.
Location: France, remote (each participant will complete the study from home)
Length: Each session will last approximately 10 minutes with a list of tasks and a short questionnaire.
Demographic: 5 Adults ranging from 21 - 60 years of age of which at least one is a non-native English speaker
Requirements: Respondents should be full-time employed in a position of high stress or working in a highly pressured environment and have experienced or are experiencing challenges regarding their mental well-being within the workplace.
Our user flow
Log in from homepage
Complete onboarding process
Personalise profile and requirements
Homepage after sign up completed
For immediate relief, navigate to Quick Calm Hub
View role-specific resources
View and join community
View wellness challenges
Proceed to wellness assessment
View the progress tracker
Summary of my findings
Users appreciated the clean and intuitive design, noting that it contributed to a calming and positive user experience. Some users highlighted the straightforward navigation, stating that it was easy to find and access various features on the site. Some participants suggested minor cosmetic or placement changes.
While respondents were able to complete the user flow without hindrance, some improvement opportunities did arise. The opportunities that stood out:
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Progress tracker: While the tracker was nested in the dropdown nav menu, it was not easy to find unless you knew where it was or clicked to open all the drop-down menus. This was addressed by adding it to the homepage directly.
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Ability to go back from the login page: Respondents noted that it was impossible to go back to the home page from the login page if you chose to simply browse and not create a profile or log in.
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Profile personalisation: It was not possible if a user didn't want to set up their profile during the onboarding stage and rather do it at a later stage.
Let's improve our user's experience
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Progress tracker: This was added to the homepage directly for easier visibility.
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Log-in page: I added a logo with a "back" functionality to enable users to navigate back to the home page
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Complete profile later: Users now have the ability to complete their profile set up at a later stage other than during onboarding
We'll do another round of testing
After incorporating the design changes, users encountered no obstacles while navigating through the main user flow. They found the interface intuitive and easy to use, with information readily accessible.
However, some issues were raised that were not part of the user flow I tested. Due to time constraints and project scope, I chose not to include them in the high-fidelity prototype but only to highlight them as features. These issues are as follows:
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Progress tracker: Users wanted to experience the tracker and what reports it could generate and metrics it could measure.
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Wellness assessments: Respondents wanted to know what these assessments would entail.
Our user flow
Log in from homepage
Complete onboarding process
Personalise profile and requirements
Homepage after sign up completed
For immediate relief, navigate to Quick Calm Hub
View role-specific resources
View and join community
View wellness challenges
Proceed to wellness assessment
View the progress tracker
It's time to go high-fidelity
After completing the second round of usability studies and integrating the design changes, I believed I had gathered sufficient information to begin crafting a high-fidelity prototype for Awaken. However, before diving into that, let's develop our design system first.
Let's see our final product
I went with a soft pastel yellow background for simplicity as my primary colour. In keeping with the 60-30-10 rule, I used a shade of cyan called Pantone as my secondary colour and a mixture of soft pastel yellow and green as complimentary colours.
With accessibility in mind, I decided on a sans-serif type which would improve the readability of the text, especially on a mobile device. Have a look below to experience the high-fidelity prototype.
Our user flow
Log in from homepage
Complete onboarding process
Personalise profile and requirements
Homepage after sign up completed
For immediate relief, navigate to Quick Calm Hub
View role-specific resources
View and join community
View wellness challenges
Proceed to wellness assessment
View the progress tracker
Some key takeaways from the completion of this project
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Impact: Through an in-depth exploration of user pain points and the specific needs of personas like Lucy, the well-being app project emphasises the critical importance of role-specific and immediate support features. By prioritising personalisation, real-time assistance, and tailored resources, the site aims to provide a holistic solution for users navigating high-pressure work environments. Resultantly, this contributes to a healthier work-life balance and enhanced overall well-being.
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What I learned: I learned that the key to designing an effective well-being app lies in understanding and addressing the role-specific challenges of users, such as Lucy, through personalised, immediate, and targeted solutions. User-centric features and continuous feedback mechanisms are crucial for creating a meaningful and impactful tool for managing stress and promoting well-being in the workplace.
What are the next steps?
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User testing and iteration: Conduct thorough user testing to gather feedback on the site's usability and effectiveness, iterating based on user insights
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Launch with a pilot group: Roll out the app with a pilot group, specifically targeting marketing professionals, to further refine features and assess real-world impact.
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Continuous feedback loop: Establish a continuous feedback loop with users, ensuring ongoing improvements and updates based on evolving user needs and experiences