Therapup is a digital platform dedicated to mental wellness. It not only supports users in tracking and managing their mood but also actively contributes to building a hopeful future. It helps users identify patterns in their emotional well-being and encourages proactive self-management of their mental health.
Design Scope
Research, Information Architecture, User Flow, Visual Design, Prototype, Wireframes
Duration
3 months (February - April 2024)
Tools
Type
Individual
Background & Research
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that 57.8 million adults live with some form of mental illness, but only 43% received any kind of mental health care. More than 40,000 Americans die annually from suicide. In 2022, the U.S. hit a record with 49,000 people passing away as a result of suicide.
Some people who struggle with mental wellness refuse to see a therapist or drop out of sessions. I posted a question online.
What influenced your decision to stop attending therapy sessions?
“What good is talking going to do?”
“I’d feel weird talking about this stuff to a stranger.”
“I’m worried about the stigma surrounding therapy; I don’t want others to think there’s something wrong with me.”
Results from online participants and interviewees
“I don’t have time.”
“I stopped going to my therapy sessions because my therapist isn’t always available when I need to talk. I understand it’s a difficult issue to address, but it’s the main reason I decided to quit.”
“I stopped going to my therapy sessions because my therapist isn't always available when I need to talk. I understand it's a difficult issue to address, but it's the main reason I decided to quit.”
This answer drags me in particular. For patients struggling to get timely appointments with their therapists for mental health treatment. What do they do? And what can they do to help themselves?
Our emotional and mental states play an equally pivotal role.
During the talk with my Subject Matter Expert — Therapist, Jamie Kao, she points out the belief that “Everyone’s mental health journey deserves support.”
Informed by the interviewee’s response and Jamie Kao’s insight, I probed into self-coping strategies, specifically examining how individuals might navigate their mental health and recover from nightmares in the periods between psychotherapy sessions.
To enrich the understanding of the healing potential, consider the guides from Psychotherapist Terry Levy, let users feel safe, build a positive view of themselves and create trusting and secure relationships with them. A sense of hope is the basic part of this process.
Wireframe & Iteration
After completing the first high-fidelity prototype, I conducted usability testing to gather valuable user feedback. Based on the insights from this testing, I made the following key updates to enhance the design and user experience:
Color Palette Update: The original color palette was replaced to improve the overall visual effect, ensuring a more cohesive and appealing aesthetic that aligns with user preferences and accessibility standards.
"Journey" Page Refinement: To enhance clarity and usability, I redesigned the "Journey" page to make its functionality more straightforward and intuitive. This ensures users can access and navigate the page’s features with ease.
These iterative improvements demonstrate my commitment to refining the design based on user-centered principles, ultimately delivering a more effective and user-friendly interface.
Outcome
Therapup, a digital platform dedicated to mental wellness.
Therapup not only supports users in tracking and managing their mood but also actively contributes to building that vision of a hopeful future, helps users identify patterns in their emotional well-being, and encourages proactive self-management of their mental health.
Journey Achievements
Therapup offers a unique approach to emotional well-being by providing a virtual companion that resonates with your feelings. With tailored motivational messages from your virtual ‘pup’, you can find encouragement in moments of joy or sorrow. The feature to share activity photos fosters a sense of connection and support, allowing you to express yourself freely without the concern of imposing on friends or family. Embrace the experience of having a non-judgmental presence that understands and responds to your emotional landscape.
Therapup offers grounding skill-building games employ techniques such as color identification and sound recording to help users control their symptoms by turning attention away from thoughts, memories, or worries, and refocusing on the present moment. Therapup makes the process of grounding skills not just therapeutic but also engaging and interactive.
For those who needing more direct support
Connect Therapist
View the stamp details of how you and your pup achieve this as self-motivation.
Disconnect Intervention
Therapup facilitates connections to professional therapists. The platform ensures a respectful and supportive therapist connection by recommending that changes in therapists only be considered after at least three sessions.
Connect Approved
Give Support and Get Support
To foster a sense of community and ongoing support, Therapup offers user attending community events to share their experiences, reinforcing no one is alone in their mental health journey.
Community