Sana
A responsive website focusing on improving adults' experience searching for a psychotherapist.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Sana aims to promote mental health services in North America and the UK. Sana caters to users who are seeking a therapist that match their needs, but lack the resources to access one.
THE RISE OF MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
According to WHO, there has been a 13% increase in mental health conditions in the last ten years. Global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by 25% during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. With the rise in mental health issues and the barrier of accessing essential resources, there is a larger than ever demand for psychotherapy services.
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One-third of Canadians aged 15 or older who report having a need for mental health care say those needs were not fully met. - CAMH
PROBLEM
Many post-secondary students and working adults want to find a therapist who match their mental health needs. The problem I found was that the process of finding a therapist can be difficult and strenuous. There is an overwhelming number of therapists on the internet with a lack of search filters and reviews. Affordability is also another concern as many therapists do not provide affordable pricing for their services. Moreover, there are concerns surrounding privacy issues with existing mobile apps that match users with a therapist based on a questionnaire. The process of finding a suitable therapist become overwhelming and adults feel neglected and stressed.
DESIGN CHALLENGE
"How might we provide a better user experience for busy adults seeking psychotherapy services?"
INTERVIEWS
Participant Criteria
All participants must be within the age range of 18-40 years. They need to have had experience finding a therapist online.
Insights
A primary user group identified through research were young adults seeking for an affordable therapist. The user group confirmed initial assumptions about Sana's clients, but research also revealed that affordability was not the only factor limiting students from seeking out a therapist. Other user problems included privacy concerns, difficulties with finding a therapist that addresses their issues, and usability problems with finding a therapist on the internet (e.g., lack of search filters) that make it tough to find a therapist.
PERSONA DEVELOPMENT AND USER JOURNEY MAP
With the data collected through user interviews, I combined some of the most common pain points, motivations and behaviours to form two personas. In addition, I also created a user journey map to further visualize how the persona would go about the task. This helps me outline the typical interactions and touchpoints of the user, and have a more comprehensive understanding of the experience that can lead to a more thoughtful design.
HYPOTHESIS STATEMENT
If there is an increase in accessibility to the number of available and affordable therapists, then students would be able to find a therapist with more convenience and efficiency. I will know this is true when I see an increase in therapists posting their profiles on Sana and bookings for therapy appointments.
COMPETITIVE AUDIT
BetterHelp and TalkSpace are direct competitors to Sana (my responsive website). TeenCounseling and Therapeer are indirect competitors to Sana. TeenCounseling has a different target audience where it only focuses on teens who are seeking therapy. Therapeer is not a therapy platform; instead, the app involves peer support groups.
Some gaps I’ve identified include:
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Direct competitor products don’t offer options for choosing a therapist
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Direct competitor products have expensive subscription plans
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Competitor products provide a limited amount of accessibility features
Some opportunities I identified include:
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Offer mental health resources for users who want additional support
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Offer the app in languages other than English
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Create a straightforward, transparent process in choosing a therapist
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Ensure privacy to maintain a safe space
SITEMAP
SKETCHES
I explored the early stages of the design process on paper. I sketched out a user flow with the shortest route users can take to accomplish the following task: booking a therapist based on their own personalized search.
LOW-FIDELITY WIREFRAMES
I converted my sketches into low-fidelity wireframes to show the seamless checkout process with booking a therapist.
USABILITY STUDY
As part of the design process, I conducted a moderated usability study with 5 users in order to obtain real-time feedback that can be incorporated to improve the design and provide a more optimal user experience. The participants were directed to complete the 3 tasks listed to evaluate the usability of Sana.
Task 1: Select the filter options and choose the first therapist.
Task 2: Book the therapist for a video call on Monday May 30 at 10 AM.
Task 3: Complete the checkout process.
Based on the insight that it was not easy to navigate through the “Find a Therapist” page, I made changes to improve the booking flow. Along with a page navigation bar at the top of the page, I added a page navigation bar at the bottom of the page.
Based on the insight that it felt like users were purchasing a therapist as a commodity, I made changes to make the checkout experience more engaging and humane. I removed the photo of a therapist in the appointment summary and replaced it with text and the cancellation policy to make the users feel like they are actually booking a therapist for the therapy experience.
VISUAL IDENTITY
The word "Sana" in latin means "heal", which I thought was befitting for much of the reasoning behind why people seek therapy. I chose to use blue because it is often associated with healing and health. Merriweather is the typeface for the wordmark because I wanted to portray a traditional look for the website.
Typeface: Baskerville
Brand Colours
Blue, beige, and grey were chosen as complementary colours to depict calmness and tranquility.
ACCESSIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS
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I used headings with different sized text for clear visual hierarchy.
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I carefully considered the colour combinations I chose for my designs to make sure there was accessible colour and contrast.
WHAT I LEARNED
I learned that even a small design change can have a huge impact on the user experience. The most important takeaway for me is to always focus on the real needs of the user when it comes to research, coming up with design ideas, and proposing solutions.