Mental.

Mental is the name of this project and the app that is created at the end of this 20 week graduation project in my last year at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam. The project was an individual project in collaboration with Monkeyshot Antwerp (UX agency). During this project I researched the mental health care system in The Netherlands and the experiences of young adults with a non-western migration background. During the project I've been in contact with multiple people from the target group and several experts (psychologists, a psychiatrist and a social worker).

Type.

UX/UI Design, UX Research

Role.

Designer and researcher

Timeline.

20 weeks

Problem situation


There is a gap between the use of mental healthcare and the need for it within the target group. The Dutch healthcare sector is a white monoculture and this has discouraged the target group in the search of mental help, they feel like .

Design Challenge.

“How can I design a digital application that ensures that non-Western young adults who have grown up in the Netherlands and who suffer from mild to moderate mental problems, can find a suitable mental health care provider in an accessible and clear way and can be supported during the time that treatment is not yet taking place, so that they are introduced to mental care?”

Target group

Dutch young adults with non western heritage: between the ages 18 and 35.

Stakeholders

Dutch young adult with non western heritage, health care professionals, insurance companies.

Conflict

There is a gap between the use of mental health care and the need for it within the target group. The Dutch health care sector is a white monoculture and this has discouraged the target group in the search of mental help.

Research.

Within this 20 week project I kept track of all my insights, notes and feedback during every fase of the triple diamond method. The details of the research, ideation, concepting and iterations can be read in the product biography Product biography (Dutch).

The project summary can be read in the Design rationale (Dutch).

Insights.

Not knowing where to start

The young alduts are willing to look for mental care, but are not sure were to look. The seem to be a lot of options as it comes to health care practices and institutes, but not necessarily the options that speak to their needs.

Randomization

When looking for a health care professional, there is not really a way to choose a specific therapist. Usually you will get linked with a random therapist based on the therapy you need. The only therapist preference that can be meet is a gender preference.

Difficulties identifying

The target group has the feeling that they are not being understood by the therapists. Their mental problems have a underlaying or direct cause by cultural and social factors. Having to deal with biases, racism and discrimination. Therefore they end up not being able to indentify with the health care professional and system as quick, which causes difficulties identifying with the therapist and the system as a whole.

The waitlist

A big problem within the system of getting a health care professional, is the long waitlist. The target group is in need of help and is motivated to get it, but the long proces makes them doubt.

  • Picture: uneeq.com

Design solution.

An adaptive and future proof mobile app that helps the user find a health care professional. The app contains a Digital human feature or "buddy". The buddy supports the user in between therapy session and even prepares the user for future therapy conversations.


The prototype

Features.

Profile
and Prefferences

The user needs to fill in their roots and interests to complete the profile. This feature can provide a sense of belonging when a this information is shared with the future therapist of a user. Other prefferences like location, gender, having simaile roots, being a person of color or being a part of the LGBTQ+ community, can be seleted in the filter.

Recommendations
and Requests

After making a profile, the user will get health care professional recommendations based on their preferences. In the app the users can look at the profiles of the professionals to get a feel of what type of person they are and what methods and expertises they have in stall. The user can choose to send a intake request to the health care professional.

Digital buddy and logbook

The buddy is a virtual friend that supports the user in their journey to better mental health. The user can choose to self reflect, have a casual conversation or practice a therapy session with the buddy. The session will be saved into the logbook if the user wants to. The logbook can be shared with a therapist and also with a friend.

Add a friend

The app offers the possibility to add a friend that will receive logbook updates from the app. These updates are sent via email if the added friend accepts the invite. This feature was added to try to prevent isolation during hard times, that a user might have and is added because research showed that the target group is open in sharing their mental health struggles with their network.

Challenges and limitations.

The initial concept of this project was to make an app that could match the user with a therapist. This turned out to be a big challenge. Figuring out when a match is made and how, was nearly impossible to grasp. Having a good connection and matching with a therapist is a thing that depends on different factors. Factors such as the knowledge and expertise of the therapist, but also the motivation, openness and trust a patient has. During the research I noticed that therapists didn't like the idea of sharing their own personal information like their interests and religion.

So matchmaking based on patiënt/therapist compatability seemed unattainable. The app therefore doesn't have a direct matching feature, but instead it shows recommendations.

Also a big challenge was the privacy of the user. Within this project I didn't have the chance to design a way for the app to provide a well thought out privacy safe environement. I did tried to incorporate informed consent as much as I could. If the app would be implemented in the future, it needs to have a critical privacy review first.