Building a Crowd-Sourced Wellness Application

For a university research project, Evan dove into the relationship between anonymous, crowdsourcing and mental wellness. He developed the idea for "Zenpals", a product combining traditional journaling, social media, and mood tracking.

Client

University Project

Deliverables

Product Design, User Flow, User Research, Prototyping, Motion-design

Overview & ProcessResearchAnalysisIdeationDesignConclusion
Overview
During a long ride home from the airport, my Uber driver shared his life story, detailing his life journey since moving to the US and reaching mid-life.
Upon reaching our destination, the driver expressed extreme gratitude for simply listening to his story, hesitant to let me go as if we should drive a couple more blocks to continue chatting, or even grab a cup of coffee.
To me, this encounter highlighted the current lack of accessible social platforms for individuals to articulate their life experiences. In an increasingly digitized world, the absence of avenues for sharing both positive and negative aspects can contribute to a sense of isolation and unheard narratives.
Research
User Polling
User Interviews
Literature Review
Analysis
Problem Statement
Journey Map
Use Cases
Solution Statement
Ideation
Use Cases
User Flow
Low-fidelity Wireframing
Design
High-fidelity Wireframing
Component Library
Motion Design
0
Process
Research
User Polling
User Interviews
Literature Review
Analysis
Problem Statement
Journey Map
Use Cases
Solution Statement
Ideation
Use Cases
User Flow
Low-fidelity Wireframing
Design
High-fidelity Wireframing
Component Library
Motion Design
1
Research

User Interviews

How often do you feel negative emotionally?
Every Day
Every Week
Every Month
Every Year
Never
How often do you post your negative emotions or hardships on public media platforms like Instagram or Twitter?
Every Day
Every Week
Every Month
Every Year
Never
How often do feel you positive emotions or senses of accomplishment?
Every Day
Every Week
Every Month
Every Year
Never
How often do you post your positive emotions or accomplishments on public media platforms like Instagram or Twitter?
Every Day
Every Week
Every Month
Every Year
Never
Outcome
Half of the participants acknowledged experiencing negative emotions at least once a month, but these feelings were shared on social platforms far less frequently. Positive emotions and achievements were also underrepresented in online posts compared to their actual occurrence. The findings suggest that social media fosters an unrealistic expectation to share only positive emotions, despite the majority of participants (87%) experiencing negative emotions monthly.
Can you recall one or more conversations with a stranger? How did that interaction influence, good or bad, your mood?
“Most of my interactions are for school where we have to do patient encounters. So a lot of the time I am getting feedback from strangers. I think this has been helping me not take criticism so harshly.”
Good, always good
I think a new interaction is always nice and refreshing. Rarely negative.
Sometimes I’ll complement a fellow woman on her outfit or something that she’s going to buy like a dress. It almost always improves my mood. Sometimes it’s a little awkward, but I like to bring happiness to people whenever I can!”
Laughing about an elevator closing on both of us. Good end to a long day at work.”

Literary Review

Brief
Panoply is a web platform designed for cognitive reappraisal to alleviate depression symptoms. Repeated use yielded significant benefits, particularly for depressed individuals and those underutilizing reappraisal. Unique features like crowd assistance and reframing activities effectively taught reappraisal skills, with higher user engagement compared to a control platform, indicating potential for long-term therapeutic benefits.
Brief
Psychologist Stephen Schueller, backed by a $680,000 grant, is creating a tech-based intervention in collaboration with Mental Health America. This project utilizes crowdsourcing to offer scalable digital support for anxiety and depression, especially targeting young individuals averse to traditional therapy. The platform connects to an online screening portal, providing evidence-based interventions to bridge the gap in mental health treatment.
Outcome
Young people are less likely to engage in professional therapy services. On the other hand, they are much more receptive to communal, digital platforms. Crowd-sourced, therapeutic practices are highly likely to have a positive impact on their mood and mental wellness, whether it is among a community of people that they are familiar with or not.
2
Analysis
Problem Statement
The void in emotional transparency among accessible social platforms has the potential to collapse avenues for sharing personal narratives, fostering feelings of isolation.

User Journey

Young adults need an environment to share both positive and negative experiences. An anonymous, intimate digital setting with a space for open conversations, for both personal growth and social connection.
3
Ideation

Use Cases

Journal on pre-written, daily prompts.
Zenpals lets users craft daily journal entries in written or audio form, either prompted or custom. These entries are shared within the user's "garden," a weekly randomized group of anonymous users who can engage with and respond to the posted content.
Discuss anonymously with a randomized, temporary group.
The group chat in the direct messaging tool links users with their current randomized group, and users can send individual and anonymous messages. If a meaningful connection is formed, users can designate each other as 'Close Pals,' revealing profile photos and first names while disabling anonymity.
Grow and customize your plant.
Fostering consistent interaction among Zenpals users is promoted through the growth and customization of their plant avatars. The plant stem expands with each journal entry, reply, and interaction. "Seeds," akin to "likes," act as currency to unlock diverse plant customizations such as patterns, colors, faces, flowers, and more.

Track mood progress on different time scales.
Following each journal entry, users rate their mood on a scale of 1 to 5. This mood information is stored and aggregated, allowing users to filter and track their wellness progress on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis.

User Flow

4
Design

Home Feed & New Entry

Direct Messaging

Profile & Avatar

Mood Tracking & Journal History

Stylization

Buttons & Text
Color
Neutral Tones
Error
Primary Accents
Secondary Accents
Global Elements & Icons
5
Conclusion
Closing Statement
The discrepancy between the frequency of negative emotions experienced and their representation on social media points to the need for more inclusive platforms. Encounters with strangers were surprisingly positive, indicating the potential for digital, crowd-sourced therapeutic practices. A dedicated, anonymous digital space for open conversations could fill the emotional transparency void, providing young adults with a supportive environment to share both positive and negative experiences, fostering personal growth and social connection.
Next Steps
Having advanced in my research on crowdsourcing and mental wellness, I seek to expand the study to larger and more diverse data pools. This extension aims to explore enduring effects, sustained connections, and additional factors beyond the project's original scope, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of the dynamics between crowdsourcing and mental well-being.
UChicago
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