UW Breathe
An app showing University of Washington
students spaces on campus where they can go to engage in mindful practices that help restore from stress.
Deliverables
Mobile app prototype
Context
Class project
Collaborators
40 students
My role
UX Researcher
Content Team Leader
*please note: I worked on user research and content; therefore, the visual designs above are the work of my group members who were on the visual design team. They are shown here to demonstrate the concept of the app, not to claim the work as my own.
Overview
Problem
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The mental health of students at the University of Washington is suffering. Many students feel pressure to succeed in their academics at the cost of their health. Further, students do not possess healthy habits to restore from stress. They are often unaware of resources and spaces on campus to practice healthy restoration.
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Goal
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Design an app for the UW Resilience Lab, showing students locations they can visit on campus to restore from stress.
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Outcome
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We created an interactive map that shows students places and activities on campus to restore from stress. After learning about the different ways in which students like to restore from stress, we sorted the spaces and practices included in the map using these preferences (i.e. social, time alone, being active).
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As a researcher, I interviewed users to understand their frustrations, causes of stress, and goals in relieving stress. I was also the leader of the content team. In this role, I lead my team to design the different categories of locations on the map and decide what activities and spaces to include in each category.
How might we teach students to replace their current habits for dealing with stress with more healthy resources and practices?
Final Design
Design Thinking Process
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test
Literature Review
Considerations
Does technology create a disconnection from the physical world?
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Does technology create stress?
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What does it mean to truly 'do nothing' ?
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How can one relieve stress?
Stress Reduction Theory & Attention Restoration Theory
Attention Restoration Theory
Stress Reduction Theory
Conclusion:
A demanding environment (and technology) causes stress and Directed Attention Fatigue.
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A restorative environment can restore mental capacity.
Empathize
User Interviews
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Semi-structured, in-depth interviews
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Contextual "go along" interviews, where a user took us to a spot on campus that they go to restore from stress
Goals
We sought to understand:
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The values the user holds
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The challenges they face
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Their goals
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What restoration looks like to them
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Where they go when they are stressed and what about the environment allows them to restore
We wanted to know:
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If/when/where/why students choose to take care of themselves when stressed or depleted and how our campus environment and technologies interact with that choice.
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We asked users:
1. What locations, activities, or people give you stress?
2. What do you need to relax or destress?
3. What do you currently do to relieve stress?
Insights
Academics
(exams, grades)
Social
(crowds, parties)
Personal
(parents, roommates)
Need to have
(music, nature, quiet)
Need to do
(walk, movie, sleep)
Need to go
(gym, bedroom)
Define
Problem Statement
Students at the University of Washington are stressed, overwhelmed, and anxious too often. They often do not have effective strategies available to deal with these emotions.
How might we help students realize and utilize resources for mental health and restoration at The University of Washington?
Ideation
Prototyping
2 Low-fi Prototypes to be built:
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1. Subway-style map with curated paths
2. A map sorted by type of activity (social, active, etc.)
My role
As leader of the content team, I organized and lead our team to:
1. Curate paths for a map-style prototype
2. Brainstorm themes of activities and locations for the theme-based prototype
Designing Themes
Initial Brainstorm
Final themes
Restoring Through Others (Social)
Habitual Reflection (Ritual)
Be Creative (Creativity)
Restorative Personal Visualization (Generative)
Relax and Restore (Stillness)
Wake Up Your Body (Movement)
Then, we sorted locations on campus into the themes. Example:
Be Creative
Henry Art Gallery SkySpace
image source: henryart.org
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Practices:
Turrell's work is meant to be taken in slowly, quietly, and over time.
1. Put on your favorite playlist and look up at the sky
​2. Meditate
Wake Up Your Body
Burke Gillman Trail
Practices:
1. Walking meditation
2. Noticing nature
Paper Prototypes
Storyboard
Style Guide
Prototype 1
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Low - Fi Prototypes
These were non-interactive, static prototypes that we could use to test the concept with users.
User Testing
We each tested the prototypes with one user to discover their reaction to the concepts.
Insights
With feedback from around 40 users, we noticed the following patterns:
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Users found the subway theme map confusing.
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Users are interested in the spots and locations.
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Users don't want to be overwhelmed by choices, they simply want to be told what to do.
Iteration
More appropriate visual language
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Final Design
What I've Learned
I learned how to effectively collaborate across teams and functions.
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I learned that simple, focused designed trumps features (especially when time is a constraint).
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