Mental Health and Wellbeing App.
Buddling is an Interaction Design project that heavily utilised UX Research concepts. Design methods such as surveys, interviews, storyboarding, prototyping, heuristic evaluation and more were utilised to develop the concept. To ensure the app was relevant and innovative we collected user requirements, synthesised and visualised concepts, prototyped user interfaces, e.g. in the form of mobile apps, and evaluated prototypes.
Design Intent: Create a product to help tackle Young Australians Mental Health using smart home technology.
Phase 1 Consisted of Research around ‘Smart Home Technology’ and ‘Mental Health in Young Australians’. As a team we collated information about how technology could positively influence mental health through various research papers, an online ethnography and a survey sent to a broad group of 18-25 year olds. This was a particularly poignant topic as we were in the midst of the second lockdown.
I individually then focused on the element of how technology could enhance routine, whilst my team members looked at communities effect on mental health and smart home technologies. I conducted 20 telephone/ video call interviews to identify key themes, alongside a diary study with accompanying commentary of if the day stuck to a routine and perceived mood.
‘Our design needs to: Promote self reflection, instil a sense of community, enable the sharing of personal experiences, Create synergy between online and physical worlds and foster healthy relationships with technology’.
Phase 2: consisted of identifying common themes occurring across all three research areas and ideating on the best solution for them. The most relevant and apparent insight that appeared across all three areas was that communities have a large effect on an individuals mental health both positively and negatively. After further brainstorming and thematic analysis we created a design intent and presented 3 final concepts to our peers. This process can be viewed in the final report.
Buddling
‘Buddling’ is a social at home smart pot that connects you with your friends, family and community through collaborative gardening. The plant exists both in the real world as well as inside digital communities and gardens that you choose to be a part of. The goal of this device is to get users actively
involved in their online communities while simultaneously having them physically interacting with nature and outdoor environments.
Additionally, users are able to gauge how their ‘buds’ are doing based on the status of their plants. It is likely that if a users pot plant is flagged as having issues there may be a contributing mental health factor causing it. Buddling will prompt the conversation of ‘How are you?’.
Buddling App Development
Creating App Specific Personas
User Journey Map - Buddling App
UI Specifications
Flow Diagram
Paper Prototyping
User Testing
Wireframes
Further User Testing
High Fidelity Prototype
SUS Testing
Heuristic Evaluation