I conducted more app research, this time not on design but on how they work in improving mental wellbeing. I took to the Google Play store and search the term 'mental health' which responded with hundreds of results. I downloaded the two top results and explored the user interfaces for a while. The first one is called 'What's Up? - Mental Health App' and it offers to help you cope with 'Depression, Anxiety, Anger, Stress and more' (play.google.com, 2019). The functions are actually quite interesting. The same approach I have taken was present here. The implementation of a selection of emoticons ranging from amazing to horrible, plus the add your own notes section. What this app has managed to do that I haven’t is provide the user with more fine-grained options. It is really difficult to quantify a feeling into a number however, giving the user more options make it slightly easier. I’m talking about the slider seen in the second and third image below. You can select more than one emoticon whilst providing another set of information, the much they think they felt like that. Interesting.
The second app I looked at was 'Mental Health Tests' which aims to find out if you have a mental health condition through many cool features like tracking your results over time, sending them to a friend, family member or therapist. This app consists of many quizzes which do not take long at all. I ran the eating disorder test (see below) and I managed to complete it in less than a minute. I think this is something the app is doing well. I don't think people want to be stuck on their phones completing a mental health quiz what takes a really long time. But this does raise the question about whether the data presented to the user is reliable. Since it's so quick to complete, can I trust it? It's a good idea, and I may investigate ways I could incorporate something similar in Tickero.
This app is also an example of a conversational interface. Image one and two below show this however, upon further investigation, the responses were limited to whatever was displayed. It was all predetermined which, in my opinion defeats the purpose of a conversational interface. The user cannot discuss open ended responses in detail, like how they felt. This is definitely something Tickero will focus heavily on. I do understand that I don't have the actual resources to make something like this work, but this is why I have stated my project is speculative from the beginning. Furthermore, this conversational aspect is what ties to the currency and how much the user earns.
The final app I looked at is called 'Moodpath - Depression & Anxiety Test'. This is by far my favourite out of the three I have researched. It is designed well and the responses about my mental health are backed by other statistics and research.
Moodpath also uses a conversational interface, limited to certain responses. Questions asked to gain insight into the users’ feelings are followed up with options (as seen in image two). Yet again, emoticons are used as a way of expressing emotion.
In conclusion, from this research conducted I can say that my interface will incorporate some of the same elements, such as a conversational interface, picking from certain emoticons. Furthermore, my system will aim to be smarter than these, I'm talking about the A.I that powers the conversational interface. I want the user to input their own words and the system should understand from that rather than specific responses.
I will also try to think of some unique ways to request input from the user. A USP if you will. I mean, one of the main reasons someone would use Tickero rather than these apps is because of the actual reward element behind it, the TICK currency which can be used for real world benefits, discounts. I'm also considering a form of impute different from the ones I have come across in my research.
Reference list:
Play.google.com. (2019). What's Up? - Mental Health App. Available at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jacksontempra.apps.whatsup&rdid=com.jacksontempra.apps.whatsup (Accessed: 3 January 2019).
Bibliography list:
Mesibov, M. (2018). Guidelines to Designing Apps for Mental Health | UX Booth. Available at: https://www.uxbooth.com/articles/guidelines-to-designing-apps-for-mental-health/ (Accessed: 3 January 2019).
Mesibov, M. (2018) Designing Experiences To Improve Mental Health. Available at: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2018/10/designing-experiences-improving-mental-health/ (Accessed: 3 January 2019).
Play.google.com. (2019). Mental Health Tests. Available at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.minddiagnostics&rdid=org.minddiagnostics (Accessed: 3 January 2019).
Play.google.com. (2019). Moodpath - Depression & Anxiety Test. Available at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.moodpath.android&rdid=de.moodpath.android (Accessed: 3 January 2019).
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