ANNA MERRICK VINTEN
ANNA MERRICK VINTEN
GIZMO
Main Objective
For this project, students were instructed to created an interactive 2D interface to facilitate the process of completing a thought record. A thought record is a tool commonly used in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to record experiences while also noting thoughts, behaviors and outside forces as a way to change how one thinks about a specific thing or event. In short, the objective of this project was to create a mental health friendly app.
RESEARCH
First, we did research on various mental health apps and noted their strengths and weaknesses. Overall we found that a common issue with mental health related apps is that their not personalized enough to each user. Every individual has their own thoughts, experiences, so it difficult for every mental health app to fit everyone's individual needs. Another common issue is that most apps just felt like a record of their days, not really doing much more than what writing in a journal might do.
PERSONA
We developed a persona for who we would specifically be creating our mental health app for. Each group was assigned a different level for our created persona based on what level of experience they should have with mental health and therapy treatment. Our persona is based on a user who already has a lot of experience when it comes to therapy and mental health.
APP INTERFACE
The idea behind our app is an updated version of the basic record keeping aspect that many mental health apps already do. However, we decided to make it more personalized as not only can the user write down their thoughts, they can also draw, record, and personalize these records to a much higher degree. There are 3 basic recording sections to this app: canvas, feelings and emotions and physical record. In canvas, the user can draw whatever they're feeling, create stickers or use already generated stickers as a way to express themselves if they are unable to find words for how they feel.
CANVAS
In canvas, the user can draw whatever they're feeling, create stickers or use already generated stickers as a way to express themselves if they are unable to find words for how they feel.
FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS
In this section of the app, users can select their specific feeling and write or audio record about a specific event.
PHYSICAL RECORD
Users can record how they feel in specific parts of their body, or just create a self portrait as another way to express their self identity.
CALENDER
Every record is place in their gallery which is a part of a calendar, so the more they record, the more the app is personalized with their own drawings and records.
DAILY PROMPTS
Users can also do daily prompts or go back and update a previous thought record after they have had more time to think about it. The more they do small tasks such as these, Gizmo, the character who guides you through the app will change and become more "creative"
TRACKING PROGRESS
Gizmo, the character who guides you through the app will change and become more "creative". The idea is that the more a user utilizes the app, both the app and the user change in some way. Gizmo becomes an extension of the user, so when they see that he has changed shape in some way, they know they are going in the right direction. His different stages are portrayed in the video below, which is the intro a user would watch when opening the app for the very first time.
