hear4U
Designing and creating a mental health app
This design challenge was held by UXL (UX Laurier) at the Wilfrid Laurier University. This challenged was judged by designers from Google & CIBC, I was placed second.
The prompt:
“How might we leverage technology to promote mental health awareness and provide accessible support for students in need?”
The target market focuses on Canadian University/College students (undergraduate, graduate etc…) who would like to access to mental health services.
For this project, I used two research methods, autoethnography which used my own personal experiences (primary research) and online sources such as news articles (secondary research). Below are the insights regarding needs of users found from both research methodologies.
Through the qualitative analysis, I identified four main pain points.
Significant Wait Times
Root Causes:
Limited counseling resources & staff.
Inefficient or overloaded appointment scheduling systems.
Diversification of Resources
Root Causes:
Traditional therapy may not suit everyone's preferences or needs.
Lack of awareness about alternative resources.
Need for Anonymity
Root Causes:
Stigma surrounding mental health issues.
Privacy concerns and fear of judgment.
Lack of Support Groups
Root Causes:
Insufficient availability or promotion of support groups.
Inadequate representation and inclusivity in existing groups.
Using the insights and pain points, I created a persona to understand users goals and needs.
The identified pain points, such as significant wait times, lack of support groups, and the need for anonymity, are grounded in the experiences of individuals like Alex. The persona serves as a reference point to ensure that the proposed solutions directly tackle these issues.
To define the problem and enhance university and college mental health support systems, I created an affinity map to derive insights from my research, understand the impact and create a potential solution.
According to my affinity map, I believe that we are addressing challenges in the college/university mental health support system, including prolonged wait times, limited anonymity, a lack of diverse resources and support groups, to enhance overall accessibility and effectiveness for students seeking assistance.
Using Ohio State: Wellness App, I looked at the missing pain points that were not addressed by the designers.
1.
Community Engagement
Features that encourage community engagement, such as forums, events, or challenges that foster a sense of belonging and support among users.
2.
Counselor Connection Feature
A need dedicated feature that allows students to directly connect with counselors.
3.
Different Resources
Traditional therapy may not suit everyone's preferences or needs. Therefore other options should be presented.
These features listed below are focused on creating a user-friendly and effective application based on the user needs.
I created a possible user journey that someone might take in times when they are feeling distressed. This also helped me identify if the application has an intuitive user interface and whether the navigation is accessible.
The app ideally is developed by the government (Ministry of Education) then allowing University integration.
Technical Feasibility:
University Integration
Communication Features
App Development and Maintenance:
The cost of developing and maintaining the app, including hosting, updates, and support, needs
Emergency Services Integration:
Integrating emergency services requires coordination with health services
This project was developed in five hours therefore multiple iterations, testing and other methodologies were not utilized due to this restriction.
© Jasmine 2026