Making Therapy More Accessible With An Easier Way To Find Therapists
Mobile UI/UX Design | UX Research | Branding
I designed an app that allows users to find therapists easily and efficiently.
raft is a mobile app that enables users to find a therapist without many of the obstacles that are normally involved in the process, shame, insurance, or scheduling.
User fills out an intake survey, listing their needs and preferences around therapy.
User reviews a specialized list of therapist options.
User books appointments and enters payment information for preferred therapist choice.
Scope
This was an open-ended project where I was tasked with creating a hypothetical company and digital product that solves a problem I’m passionate about.
My Role
The one designer responsible for research, design, prototyping, and testing.
UI/UX Designer
UX Researcher
Brand Designer
Timeline
7-month independent end-to-end student project.
Tools
Figma, Procreate, Miro, Zoom, Google Suite
1 in 5 people have some mental health illness, but only 44% of them get the help they need.
WHY IS IT SO HARD TO FIND A THERAPIST?
Problem
The journey to finding therapy is long and frustrating for many people.
Therapy seekers are generally:
Feeling isolated & hopeless
Going through a “crisis”
Annoyed with the process
Unsure what will actually help them
Met with insurance obstacles, shame, and scheduling roadblocks
I wanted to take on the challenge of making the journey to finding a therapist less painful for both newcomers to therapy and therapist-switchers.
Users (Seekers)
Since therapy was such a broad topic, I decided to focus on two primary therapy seekers that were challenged by the task of finding a therapist, newcomers and therapist-switchers.
Motivations
Feels lost, isolated, and sad
Wants to talk to someone
Can’t talk with family or friends out of fear of judgment
Goals
To find someone to talk to
Pay for sessions in any way possible to get help
Have a stable, long-term connection with the therapist
Pain Points
Doesn’t know where to start
Only knows the bare minimum about therapy
Discouraged by waitlists
Feels like calling a therapist is a “big step” that needs to be overcome
Motivations
Knows the benefits of therapy
Frustrated because their previous therapist can’t support them any longer
Goals
To work through past traumas and current stress
Pay for sessions through insurance
Have a stable, long-term connection with the therapist
Find someone that “just clicks”
Pain Points
Feels pain again when recounting their history with a new therapist
Finding a therapist is a game of trial and error that takes a lot of effort
Only sees limited options available
Knows likes and dislikes in specialties and techniques, but also knows it will come down to compatibility with the new therapist
Solution
I took ideas and elements from a dating app and weaved them into a new mobile app, named raft.
Users are individually matched to a therapist and able to book appointments quickly to help them on their mental health journey. raft takes on the task of finding the perfect therapist for the user and makes it a simplified, flexible, and customized experience.
The solution takes the user through these three features.
-
Seekers get a customized experience by taking a survey.
Each therapy seeker comes with their own set of experiences, preferences, and circumstances that raft will use to align them with the right therapist.
-
Personalized matches will lead seekers on the right path.
Many seekers don’t know which therapist will work for them. raft takes the guesswork out of the equation, and offers alternatives if the first therapist isn’t working for them.
-
Easy in-app payments help seekers avoid hang ups with insurance.
Insurance companies are still working to meet the growing demand of mental health care, so raft offers a network of therapists with out-of-pocket options, as well as insurance options.
Process
Research — Ideate — Design — Prototype — Test — Iterate
To start, I needed to understand and define the problem through research and without my own bias.
Secondary Research
I read articles, academic studies, and surveys examining current research on mental health illnesses in the United States. The research confirmed that finding a therapist is difficult for many groups, and the task is often avoided.
Biggest Obstacles To Therapy
Cost
Stigma
Lack of Availability and Knowledge
User Interviews
With the help of friends, family, and strangers, I interviewed 7 therapy seekers.
Goals of Interviews
Past experiences in searching for therapy
Motivations to go to therapy
Goals when searching for a therapist
I unpacked the information from these interviews and found some interests trends.
Main Insights From Interviews:
Users went from feeling isolated & hopeless to feeling hopeful & resilient during their search.
Most seekers only start looking with intent after an overwhelming negative trigger.
Switching therapists was still painful.
Therapist specialties and demographics were voiced as the most important factors when searching, but good therapists were indescribable.
Then, it was time to ideate.
How Might We…
Reduce the feelings of isolation during the search process?
Encourage the search for therapy before a breaking point?
Reduce the number of attempts to finding the right fit?
Reframe searching as a good thing?
Help seekers understand what they’re looking for?
After lots of brainstorming, I had three main ideas. I ultimately decided on the idea that would provide the most value to seekers with the least complexity, “match with a therapist”.
Check out the thought process on each below.
-
This idea was designed to reduce feelings of isolation by making users feel more connected. However, it relied heavily on changing the user’s natural habits. Sharing is still hard for many at this stage.
I didn’t go with this option. -
Make a game out of finding a therapist or mental health wellness.
This could encourage users to search before they hit their breaking point or reframe the search as a good thing. There would be weekly challenges or points given for actions made towards improving mental health. However, this was broadening the scope to all of mental health rather than just therapy.
I didn’t go with this option to focus the scope on finding a therapist.
-
Creating a matching system that takes the pressure of finding the perfect therapist off the user.
It can reduce feelings of isolation by showing users that someone is helping them find a therapist. It can reduce the number of attempts to find the right fit by using data to match users to a therapist. Lastly, it can help users understand what they are looking for by using the information they input and producing a customized list of therapist to meet their needs.
We have a winner! I chose this option.
Moving forward with my most viable solution, I started to design and test.
I focused on two main user flows:
Matching with a therapist
Booking an appointment
Sketching, Guerilla Testing, and Wireframing
In order to get participants, I asked people in my network, coworkers, friends, and family to quickly test my sketch prototype.
It was difficult to get feedback at the sketch stage because of missing content, images, and detail. This was a learning curve for me, but I continued to iterate my sketches, and later wireframes, at higher fidelity levels to get a better sense of the usability of the app.
Test Findings
Users wanted specific questions in the intake survey.
Users didn’t understand certain options or language used in the flow.
Users were quick to go through the process.
To start I wanted to get my ideas on paper with these rough sketches, but I found out it was hard to get worthwhile feedback from this low sketch fidelity.
I made a set of mid-fidelity sketches with more detail, incorporating language and questions previous testers had commented on.
Finally after several tests, I made a set of higher quality wireframe with more photos, full copy, and detailed questions to test with users again.
I moved on to branding.
During the user interviews, a quote that really struck me was “I was really just looking for a life raft.” This idea of being in crisis mode and looking for any sort of help was a concept that many seekers could relate to; the brand, raft, was born.
Brand Mission
Provide a welcoming sense of relief and support on the journey to a better you.
Brand Attributes
Approachable
Calming
Effortless
Supportive
Using the brand and style guide elements, I created a high-fidelity mockup.
UI Design Highlights
Water-inspired illustrations to soothe users
Calming, yet vibrant, colors that ease the users and provide a sense of hope
High contrast colors that make it easy to read, but that doesn’t overwhelm the user
Icons and typeface that create an approachable brand personality
After refining the style, I made a prototype and the usability testing began.
Test Objectives
Usability
Can users complete the survey process?
Can users go from a “therapist match” to “scheduling an appointment”?
Can users book an appointment?
Impressions
How do users respond to the options given in the survey?
How do participants respond to the therapist matches?
Test Results
I received a lot of helpful feedback from this first round of testing, so I synthesized the research, prioritized feedback, iterated designs, and tested again.
After iterating on my designs, I reviewed the results.
Overall, my product solution was a success, users were more confident in finding a therapist easily. I wrote a report to assess what worked and what didn’t.
Before
What Changed?
Divided buttons into two individual tasks.
Added list of specialties that tied back to intake survey.
Added a "Top Match" indicator.
After
How Did It Help?
Encouraged users to book right away.
Fewer knowledge gaps.
More confident users.
Less confusion about how to book.
Before
What Changed?
Instead of having the payment step of booking an appointment in one flow, I divided the prototype into two different payment flows (insurance vs. out-of-pocket).
Adjusted copy to match the appropriate flow.
After
How Did It Help?
No more hang-ups with payments during the “booking an appointment” flow.
Before
What Changed?
Removed the account creation requirement.
Added the option to "proceed as a guest" when asked for a password.
After
How Did It Help?
It didn't! — Lost trust and a sense of security in the app without the account creation step
I would leave this out of future iterations.
Looking back, my goals were accomplished!
Raft helped users…
Gain confidence in a therapist selection
Reduce the number of therapists looked at before finding the right one
Help users understand what therapists can help them
Final thoughts
Getting the authentic feelings and perspectives of users during a test was difficult considering users are typically more panicked and vulnerable when actually looking for a therapist. Given more time and resources, I would love to iterate more on the user experience of this project to explore the emotional element.
Lastly, this is a user and therapist network, so this design does only focus on the user side.