PeersArena - Mental wellness platform (Development stage)
A Behavioral Technology Platform Designed for Scalable Success
Role: Lead UIUX designer, Research, User Flow, User Persona
Year: Jan 2023 -Jul 2023
Overview
PeersArena is a groundbreaking tech-enabled platform that is revolutionizing mental wellness support in Nigeria. The platform is a safe and private space for individuals to connect, share personal experiences, and gain valuable insights into mental wellness and life struggles. This case study will delve into the design process and key elements of the PeersArena platform, showcasing how our design decisions contribute to an empathetic, user-friendly, and effective mental wellness support system.
What really is the challenge?
PeersArena aims to provide a user-friendly, safe, empathetic, and accessible platform that helps individuals access emotional peer support while maintaining privacy and security. The platform is unique in its target audience, context, and cultural sensitivities, which posed a variety of design challenges.
What could the solution be?
As a UX designer, I focused on creating a seamless, user-centric experience for PeersArena's mental health support platform by integrating key features that cater to users' specific needs:
Preference-Driven Group Matching: Personalized matching connects users to peer groups that align with their needs and preferences, fostering deeper connections and more relevant support.
Group Sessions: Weekly audio meetings, facilitated by professionals, provide a flexible, safe space for sharing and healing, driving meaningful outcomes.
Milestones: Progress tracking and outcomes visualization celebrate user achievements, offering an iterative, motivating experience.
Maintenance: Daily mood tracking empowers users to monitor their mental well-being, while scalable care management ensures consistent, high-quality support.
Audio Drop-In: This feature allows users to join virtual support group meetings on demand, offering immediate access to peer support when needed.
This design prioritizes accessibility, personalization, and continuous engagement, creating a supportive and dynamic environment for mental health and growth.
Target Audience
The target audience for PeersArena includes individuals seeking mental health support through a community-driven platform. This primarily includes:
Young Adults (18-35): Facing life transitions, academic stress, career challenges, and relationship dynamics.
Middle-aged Adults (36-55): Dealing with career pressures, family responsibilities, and personal well-being.
Individuals Open to Peer Support: Those who value community-based mental health support, prefer intimate group settings, and are comfortable engaging in online environments.
Professionals in Mental Health: Therapists and counselors looking for a platform to connect with and support their clients in a structured, yet flexible, environment.
This audience values privacy, personalized support, and the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations that foster growth and well-being.
Research & Design Process
Research
To create a platform that truly meets the needs of PeersArena's target audience, I conducted thorough research focused on understanding the mental health landscape and the specific requirements of our users:
User Interviews & Surveys:
- Objective: To gain insights into the experiences, challenges, and preferences of individuals seeking mental health support.
- Method: Conducted interviews with potential users and distributed surveys to a broader audience. Questions centered around current support mechanisms, desired features, and barriers to seeking help.
- Findings: Users emphasized the need for personalized, confidential support within a community setting. Many expressed a preference for flexible, non-intrusive interaction methods, such as audio-based group meetings.
Competitive Analysis:
- Objective: To understand the strengths and weaknesses of existing mental health platforms.
- Method: Analyzed popular mental health and peer support platforms to identify gaps in their offerings and areas where PeersArena could differentiate itself.
- Findings: Many platforms lacked personalized group matching and milestone tracking, which presented an opportunity for PeersArena to stand out by offering tailored support and progress visualization.
Persona Development:
- Objective: To create representative personas that embody the target audience’s needs and goals.
- Method: Synthesized data from interviews, surveys, and demographic research to develop detailed personas.
- Findings: Personas highlighted the diversity within the target audience, including differences in age, digital comfort, and specific mental health needs, guiding the platform’s design to be inclusive and adaptable.
Behavioral Analysis:
- Objective: To understand user behavior and preferences regarding digital mental health tools.
- Method: Reviewed studies and reports on digital mental health tool usage, focusing on engagement levels, preferred features, and common drop-off points.
- Findings: Users value easy access, anonymity, and the ability to track progress. Regular engagement was often tied to the platform’s ability to offer personalized, evolving support.
Contextual Inquiry:
- Objective: To observe how users interact with mental health resources in real-life scenarios.
- Method: Conducted contextual inquiries by observing users as they navigated existing platforms or managed their mental health needs independently.
- Findings: Users often struggled with finding the right group or resource, reinforcing the need for PeersArena’s preference-driven group matching and intuitive interface.
Through this research, I gained a comprehensive understanding of the target audience’s needs, behaviors, and pain points, which directly informed the design decisions for PeersArena. The findings emphasized the importance of personalization, community, and continuous engagement in creating a supportive mental health platform.
User Personas
Motivations: Improve work-life balance. Build resilience and better coping mechanisms. Engage in a supportive community where he feels understood.
- Manage stress and anxiety effectively.
- Connect with others facing similar work-related pressures.
- Learn coping strategies and practical advice for managing anxiety.
- Find convenient, confidential support that fits into his busy schedule.
- Feels isolated, as his work environment is highly competitive, making it difficult to open up to colleagues.
- Confidentiality Concerns, Skeptical of online mental health platforms due to concerns about data privacy.
- Limited Coping Strategies
- Struggles to find time for traditional therapy sessions.
Motivations: Support her family while taking care of her mental health. Be part of a community where she can give and receive support. Learn and grow in a safe, non-judgmental environment.
- Manage stress related to work and family life.
- Connect with other women and mothers facing similar challenges.
- Learn new coping strategies to maintain emotional well-being.
- Feels overwhelmed by the demands of work and family.
- Finds it hard to access traditional mental health services due to time constraints and social stigma.
- Not very comfortable navigating complex digital platforms.
- Privacy Concerns
Conversation Interface
The Chat Forum is a community-driven feature that allows users to engage in anonymous discussions about their personal issues, concerns, or challenges. It provides a safe and confidential space where individuals can openly share their thoughts, seek advice, and explore potential solutions with the support of a caring community. This platform encourages open dialogue, empathy, and mutual support, fostering a sense of connection and well-being among its users.
- Utilized a chat-based interface to promote casual, comfortable conversations.
- Added features badges, and random avatars to secure the anonymity of the users, to ensure a secure user experience.
- Implemented a content reporting system with strict guidelines to ensure a safe and supportive environment.
Peer Group Section
- Designed an intuitive group discovery page that allows users to easily find, the preffered support groups.
- Simplified the categories by creating filters and designated sections of different categories
Onboarding Experience
The onboarding screen serves as a friendly introduction to the platform, guiding users through its essential aspects. Onboarding screens may encourage users to take specific actions, like signing up, customizing their profile, and engaging with the application's features. It aims to enhance the user experience and increase user retention by ensuring users feel comfortable and informed when using the app for the first time.
- Streamlined the registration process to make it quick and user-friendly.
- Incorporated emotional support resources from the start to reassure users.
Key learnings / takeaways
During the development and design of PeersArena, several important insights emerged that shaped the final product:
1. Importance of Personalization
- Insight: Users seek mental health support that feels personal and relevant to their specific needs.
- Takeaway: The implementation of preference-driven group matching was crucial. It ensures that users are connected with others who share similar experiences, creating a more meaningful and supportive environment.
2. Accessibility and Simplicity are Key
- Insight: A diverse user base with varying levels of digital literacy requires an interface that is both intuitive and accessible.
- Takeaway: Designing a simple, clean user interface was essential. By minimizing complexity, PeersArena became more inclusive, ensuring that all users could navigate the platform with ease.
3. Flexibility in Support Options
- Insight: Users appreciate the ability to choose how they engage with support, whether through structured sessions or spontaneous drop-ins.
- Takeaway: Offering both scheduled group sessions and an audio drop-in feature provided users with the flexibility to seek support on their own terms, enhancing user satisfaction and engagement.
4. Continuous Engagement is Vital
- Insight: Users are more likely to stay engaged when they can track their progress and see tangible benefits from their participation.
- Takeaway: Features like milestones and the daily mood tracker were critical in maintaining user engagement. These tools allow users to visualize their progress, fostering a sense of accomplishment and encouraging continued use of the platform.
5. Privacy and Trust Matter
- Insight: Concerns about privacy and data security are significant barriers for users considering online mental health platforms.
- Takeaway: Ensuring that PeersArena has robust privacy measures and clearly communicating these to users helped build trust, which is fundamental for users to feel safe and open within the platform.
6. Community and Professional Guidance are Complementary
- Insight: Users value the combination of peer support with professional facilitation to guide discussions and provide expert insights.
- Takeaway: Incorporating professional facilitators in group sessions added a layer of credibility and structure, making users feel more confident in the support they were receiving.
7. Iterative Design Based on Feedback
- Insight: User feedback is an invaluable tool for refining and improving the platform.
- Takeaway: Regularly gathering and implementing user feedback allowed PeersArena to evolve continuously, ensuring that the platform remains relevant and effective in meeting user needs.
These key learnings highlighted the importance of designing with empathy, focusing on user-centric solutions that prioritize personalization, simplicity, and ongoing engagement. By addressing these insights, PeersArena was able to create a platform that truly supports its users on their mental health journey.