MoodMate

Timeline

3+ Months

Team

5 UX/UI Designers

My Role

UX Design

UI Design

Overview

This case study introduces a digital mental wellness application designed specifically to support international students in managing stress and anxiety. The app offers key features such as mood tracking, private counseling access, journaling, and goal setting tools that empower students to monitor their emotional well-being and take proactive steps toward mental clarity. By promoting regular mental health check-ins, This solution aims to create a more balanced, stress-free student experience.

Research Objectives

The problem from Design Scope: Healthcare is challenging for Postsecondary students; many are living on their own for the first time, some in a completely new country or healthcare system.

Significant Problem: Mental health for international students. International students are prone to mental stress due to their new living environment, cultural differences, and academic pressure. They might not get the required diagnosis and help as they might not know where and how to seek help.

Solution Looking for: To help them regulate their mental health and let them get the required diagnosis and have a stress-free student life through Perkk check.

Research Questions

What are the common mental health challenges faced by international students while studying abroad?
How comfortable are international students seeking emotional and mental support?
What barriers prevent students from seeking mental health support or counseling services?

Research Insights

International students often experience heightened stress due to academic pressure, cultural differences, and social isolation.
There is a strong preference for mental health resources that are easily accessible, private, and culturally sensitive.
Students show interest in tracking their emotional well-being but often lack consistent methods to do so.

Empathize

Empathy Map

Proto Persona

Define

Affinity Mapping

Bull's Eye

How might we Questions

1.How might we provide self-help resources to international students to improve their self-awareness?

2. How might we help lower the concern about cultural stigma for international students to achieve better mental health?

3. How might we help with cultural adaptation after moving to a new country so that overwhelmed international students can achieve a better social life?

4. How might we help track emotions and mental health so international students know their progress?

Solution Statement

To address the prevalence of stress and anxiety among international students, our solution offers a digital mental health wellness application exclusively for the student demographic. The solution features mood tracking, confidential counseling, journalling, and goal setting, which encourages students to track their mental health regularly and helps them have a stress-free student life.

IDEATION

Crazy 8s

Balanced Break Through Model - DFV Framework

Desirability

Hypothesis: Post-secondary students need an efficient way to diagnose their mental health when experiencing stress, depression and uncertainty about seeking help.

Evidence: Many post-secondary students already try to manage their mental health on their own, dealing with long wait times and not knowing who to ask for help. Since they are comfortable using technology for many things, including health, they would likely use a reliable mental health diagnostic tool. The popularity of current mental health apps and the high demand on campus counselling services show that there's a strong need for easy-to-use, self-help mental health resources.

Feasibility

Hypothesis: This application can provide effective mental health self-assessment tools for students who experiences stress, depression and anxiety. (Digital Health Solutions for Mental Wellness: Smith & Jones, 2023).

Evidence: Current apps and online tools use proven methods to help users understand their mental health. Many people already use mental health features in apps like Headspace and Calm, showing these tools work and are popular. Advances in AI and machine learning allow these platforms to give personalized advice based on user input, making them a practical and effective way to assess mental health early on.

3.Viability

Hypothesis: Combining the application with the right partners present official health & Wellness team on campus can help reaching more users(students).

Evidence: Partnering with official health and wellness teams on campus can increase the app’s visibility and credibility among students. Many students already trust and utilize campus health services, so integrating the app with these services can encourage more students to use it.