Zen Zone: A Mental Wellness App For College Students
🏆 Winner of “Best Overall Project”
My Role
Position: UX/UI Designer, Researcher
Tools: Figma, Miro, Dataminer IO
Project Type: Human Centered Computing
Timeline: 3 Months, 2023
Problem Statement
Problem: College students are struggling with mental health and don’t have easy access to resources
Solution: A free digital platform dedicated to enhancing the mental well-being of college students
Research
Pilot Contextual Inquiry
We conducted our first interviews with our classmates to learn about their experiences and feelings towards mental healthcare.
Insight: The participant described their mental healthcare experiences as confusing and inaccessible, leading us to focus on college students seeking support.
Affinity Diagram
We conducted four more contextual inquiry interviews. We then organized our findings into an affinity diagram and created personas based on our research.
Click diagram to zoom in
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Most students start with self-help (journaling, going outside, organizing routines) before seeking therapy or medication.
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Therapy and medication are often secondary strategies, used only when self-help stops working.
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Even when resources exist, access is limited by insurance, cost, or confusion around how to use them.
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Some students had tried multiple therapists or medications, often with mixed or frustrating results.
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Mental health apps were considered a last resort, often used when traditional support wasn’t available or failed.
Insight:
Personas
Data Scrape
We used dataminer.io to collect & sort through comments from four subreddits (r/anxiety, r/zoloft, r/stress, r/mental health apps) threads related to mental health apps, our personas would likely access.
Data Summary
Summary of Major Insights
"I just want reliable mental health. That’s it."
-Th3f_ in
Insight: Users want a reliable, transparent, and free source of mental health support. They’re actively seeking help but need accessible tools they can trust.
Card Sort Analysis
Each team member conducted their own individual card sort session with student participants. This approach gave us a broader range of responses and helped us identify patterns and pain points across different users.
Insight:
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Most users had never used a mental health app before, which shaped their expectations.
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Users consistently grouped medications, personal info, appointment history, and topics of interest together. Users suggested adding a “Personal Records” section.
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The app was seen as potentially overwhelming due to the variety of elements.
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There were mixed opinions about what should go on the homepage.
Define
From our preliminary research, we defined our target user’s key needs.
Students need free or low-cost support.
Users want instant support with human connection.
Users want self-help options like journaling and mindfulness.
Users want clear data policies and ethical design.
Ideation
Relevant Low-Fidelity Mockups
Sign-Up Pages
Messaging Pages
Account Page
Stats Pages
Home Page
Wizard of Oz Study
Each team member conducted usability tests on the low-fidelity prototype.
Insight: Our low-fidelity prototype lacked consistency and clarity, which confused users.
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Standardized Navigation Bar across all screens
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Redesigned Icons for clarity
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Added missing screens and task flows
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Introduced "Back" buttons for smoother navigation
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Clarified Home Screen layout and call-to-actions
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Removed the mindfulness section & added the corresponding media to the homepage.
Testing
Final Solution
Sign In
Allows returning users to log in and access their personalized mental health dashboard.
Sign Up
New users can create an account and enter basic mental health info like medications, stress triggers, and mood history.
Home Screen
Users can set their current mood, view affirmations, receive medication and appointment reminders, and explore recommended media. Entries contribute to the daily journal.
Explore Media
Users browse or search videos, articles, and guided meditations for various mental health topics. They can bookmark helpful content for later.
Group Chats
Users can join or start moderated group chats to connect with peers who share similar struggles, offering low-cost community-based support.
Chat With Health Professionals
Users can message mental health professionals (anonymously or not), browse profiles, and find someone who fits their needs.
Track Progress
Users can observe weekly and monthly progress.
Review Account Details
Profile navigation is simple and pretty.
What I Learned
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Figma Basics
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Multiple Research Methods
What I Would Do Differently
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I would create additional pages that make the medication selection process more visible and user-friendly.