Just me for this one!
Figma, Miro, Canva
End to end product designer &user researcher.
User research, concept ideation, interaction design, prototyping, user testing
60 responses | Age 18 - 25
To make sense of my research findings, I organized them into an affinity diagram, grouping similar themes and patterns. As I sorted through user frustrations, behavioral tendencies, and current student responses to catastrophisation, clear categories began to emerge: sers struggled with overwhelming content, rigid structures, and a lack of real-time support when they needed it most, but were generally to try new i. This process helped me identify the core pain points that tot address—designing an intervention that was intuitive, quick, and emotionally supportive rather than another task on a to-do list.
Below is a synthesised version of the affinity diagram after grouping common bottom level insights into common points (there were originally 100+ bottom level insights that I summarised into a few key points here).
I established 4 main themes:
RNT was typically triggered by concerns around exams, work and relationships - and were more common around stressful periods like exam or internship season.
My interviewees had trouble being motivated to change their attitudes or behaviour whilst in the RNT cycle as they did not realise they were engaging in RNT.
My interviewees were generally very open to meditation and CBT as interventions. Most participants did not understand what RNT was and expressed a desire to learn more, but only if it was easy to understand.
Participants were more likely to engage in interventions when they recognised their thoughts as unhelpful and when there was external pressure - i.e. when they had a prior commitment.
So in summary - students were open to mobile methods of targeting their RNT, but found it difficult to remain open to doing so when actually ruminating/ worrying, which mostly happened during stressful periods. The most effective experiences of snapping out of a RNT cycle were when they had extrinsic motivation to stop ruminating/ worrying. These insights led me to refine my problem statement, which would inform the rest of my processes:
Refined Problem statement 🪄
Headspace is not directed toward students in an already negative spiral of emotions. My solution will focus on engaging this audience despite their lack of motivation when in a 'spiral'.
This Way Up offers detailed modules that can take a long time to complete and seem overwhelming. This app will attempt to put learning into a context where users will understand why it is relevant.
Calm's modules can be overwhelming as they are lengthy and offer a more comprehensive form of meditation. This solution will focus on offering bite sized meditative and mindfulness solutions for time pressured students.
To generate a diverse range of potential solutions for my project, I first engaged in Reverse Thinking. I asked myself what ideas would be the most 'cringe' to students in a bad mood, what measures would not be encouraging to use, and what solutions would make someone who is catastrophising feel worse.
I then engaged in Crazy 8s to brainstorm eight different concepts in eight minutes, focusing on ways to help users escape catastrophization cycles. The goal was to explore unconventional ideas without overanalyzing feasibility too early. After reviewing the ideas alongside my Reverse Thinking, I narrowed them down to three promising directions, below.
I then evaluated each idea using a decision matrix, scoring them across multiple criteria to determine the most practical and impactful solution. This exercise highlighted potential challenges—such as accessibility issues, high production costs, and engagement concerns—which helped me improve and refine each concept before making a final decision:
OPTION 1
A digital experience that turns cognitive reframing into an engaging, interactive process. Instead of traditional journaling or therapy-style modules, users navigate challenges, unlock insights, and reframe their anxious thoughts through guided, bite-sized tasks.
OPTION 2
A virtual space where users can physically "walk through" their thoughts, combining mindfulness with light movement exercises. This immersive experience could help users externalize their anxieties and gain perspective in a fully controlled, distraction-free environment.
OPTION 3
A tangible, interactive plush companion that responds to user input. It could guide breathing exercises, provide gentle vibrations for grounding, and offer simple, comforting phrases to help disrupt anxious spirals
✦ An app offering a streamlined journey for users to follow, specifically tailored towards when users are feeling lethargic, upset and unmotivated. It has gamified elements to encourage use.
✦ At stage 1, they are offered a chance to relax → At stage 2, they are prompted to reflect on their thoughts → At stage 3, they are given an actionable item to distract themselves with a hobby → At stage 4, they are given a short learning module to better understand mental health to reconsider what happened this time and what will happen next time.
✦ But I liked the fun, interactive and actionable elements of the VR exercise room and the personalised vision of the Wellness Plushie. So I integrated these features into the journey offered by Dwelling, particularly stage 3 and the gamification elements.
Now that I'd clearly defined the issue and a possible solution, I wanted to ensure my possible end solution would reflect the needs of those who would actually use it. To this end, I analysed the experiences and demographic data of my interviewees and translated them into three personas characterised by how succeptible they are to RNT.
Sometimes I get myself down, like I'll just think about something too much and it becomes such a problem when it's not, you know, not really that deep.
2nd Year • BArts • 19
I don't know. All the meditation stuff makes sense and seems obvious in theory but then doesn't really make sense when you try it yourself.
4th Year • LLB • 21
I get through stressful periods ok, but not... effectively? I just have to kind of push through my stress and it's not fun but I always make it out alive somehow.
3rd Year • BEng • 22
Borne from my personas, I created journey maps. In these, I could better understand their goals, motivations, and frustrations. This holistic perspective ensured that every decision I made was aligned with user needs. Here is one for 'Anxious Ariana':
Creating these personas helped ensure that my app addresses real user needs, making cognitive reframing feel easy to integrate into everyday life (as the main response to my problem question). The three principles extracted from my personas below governed my design process, and I constantly returned back to them when designing my wireframes, lo - fi and hi - fi prototypes.
Refined Development Principles 🪄
Users may not feel open to helping themselves when upset, so the prompts must be short, structured and fit easily into daily life. They must offer some features that interact with users' lives and actions outside the app itself.
Users may be skeptical of 'another easy fix to problems through a wellbeing app that doesn't work'. To combat this, I should make it clear that there is a robust scientific basis in the techniques and information this app contains.
Users may be put off by too rigid a structure, and instead need to be encouraged with a friendly, supportive tool. This app should be welcoming and approachable but get straight to the point of starting a 'journey'.
From the start, I wanted to engage in vigorous user testing to ensure I captured their needs and produced the most streamlined app possible. I created some lofi mockups and conducted research using:
Based on the results, I made several iterations to address user feedback. The response to my wireframes and lo-fi mockups alerted me to several major issues embedded in the very structure of the app, so I made the following major changes:
After making those changes, I created some mid fidelity mockups that I then tested with 4 experts (UX/UI design students) using a heuristic evaluation template.
This was to identify violations to usability standards as they allocated a severity rating & recommendation to identified usability issues. I identified that my top violated heuristics which needed to be iterated upon most were:
Violated Heuristic 1
Possible Violation: Users may not always know where they are in the 4-step process or if their progress is saved.
Fix: Use a clear progress indicator and visual cues to show completed steps. Also, provide immediate feedback after actions.
See how I implemented these changes on the 'Rethink' page iterations.
OPTION 3
Possible Violation: Users may have to navigate through multiple layers to access their desired option.
Fix: Present all relevant options clearly on the screen with intuitive navigation and group related items together.
See how I made menus clearer and features more visible in the 'Relax' page iterations below.
OPTION 3
Possible Violation: Long paragraphs or hard-to-read fonts might strain the user’s eyes, especially in reflection or educational content.
Fix: Use concise, easy-to-read text with ample white space and break longer options into various pages.
See how I did this on both the 'Relax' and 'Rethink' pages below.
I also conducted user testing with the table below, again conducting pre and post interview tests, observation, think aloud and cognitive walkthrough. I started by defining key tasks for the users to complete within the app and observed how they interacted with it. I created the below table to give myself a structured framework for evaluating both qualitative and quantitative data, making it easier to see which features were successful and which needed improvement.
Dwelling received an 88% (Excellent) SUS score from users, and a 4.8/5 on how likely anxious students would recommend it. The overall positive response from target users indicated that Dwelling would be an app students were willing to try out, and also use frequently to deal with their emotions more healthily on a situational basis. If Dwelling was to get developers involved, I'd consider these key success metrics:
This being a sprint passion project that I had to do between university assignments and the like, I felt quite rushed throughout the entire process. Next time I would definitely make some changes
I sorted my insights into a bottom up affinity diagram, which helped me to identify trends arising from the interviews, survey and online forums. Below is a synthesised version of the affinity diagram after grouping common bottom level insights into common points (there were originally 100+ bottom level insights that I summarised into a few key points here).
Through my affinity diagram, I established 4 main themes:
RNT was typically triggered by concerns around exams, work and relationships - and were more common around stressful periods like exam or internship season.
My interviewees had trouble being motivated to change their attitudes or behaviour whilst in the RNT cycle as they did not realise they were engaging in RNT.
My interviewees were generally very open to meditation and CBT as interventions. Most participants did not understand what RNT was and expressed a desire to learn more, but only if it was easy to understand.
Participants were more likely to engage in interventions when they recognised their thoughts as unhelpful and when there was external pressure - i.e. when they had a prior commitment.
So in summary - students were open to mobile methods of targeting their RNT, but found it difficult to remain open to doing so when actually ruminating/ worrying, which mostly happened during stressful periods. The most effective experiences of snapping out of a RNT cycle were when they had extrinsic motivation to stop ruminating/ worrying.
These insights led me to refine my problem statement, which would inform the rest of my processes:
Refined Problem Statement
How can I make university students feel more motivated to change their attitudes while engaging in Repetitive Negative Thinking (RNT)?
📌 Learnings - Discovery phase
What are the main ways university students study for an upcoming exam?
What are the key challenges students experience when trying to learn?
What are the key challenges students experience when trying to learn?
Using crazy 8s to rapidly generate possibilities and then reverse thinking to refine these solutions, I narrowed down my solution to 3 possible ideas, which I then analysed using a decision matrix. I ended up choosing option 1 (interactive postbox) because of its resource efficiency, permanency and customisability for people of all social comfiness.
OPTION 1
This ranked highest on accessibility, fun, feasibility and interactiveness.
OPTION 2
While this idea was fun, it was not as accessible or feasible compared to other options.
OPTION 3
This idea was the most feasible but seemed unhuman and was tone deaf to our issue.
Time - poor students who do not attend lectures or spend time on self - study perform worse in assessments and exams
Method of study may be more important than the time spent studying. Three useful study techniques include:
💡 Our Research Question
To understand the methods and frustrations of students when trying to understand and digest large amounts of course content in preparation for exams and assessments.
BEHAVIOURAL
What are the main ways university students study for an upcoming exam? How do these methods affect their experience of exams?
BEHAVIOURAL & ATTITUDIONAL
What are the key challenges students experience when trying to learn and revise new content?
ATTITUDIONAL
What are university students' perspective on using a mixture of diagrams and notes for studying?
Our research yielded some interesting results. After conducting our research, we used affinity diagramming to reach a few key insights: link to affinity diagram. We noted 3 key points from our research:
CURRENT METHODS OF STUDYING
'I study by taking notes from lectures and readings on Google Docs, Onenote or Notion' - Joanna, 21, Sydney
Students mainly study using note - taking, writing notes in their own words, copying slides and teaching others. To summarise information, they often use Google Docs, Notion and ().
CHALLENGES WHILE STUDYING
'I feel confused by overwhelming amounts of course content to learn in short periods' - Online ethnographic source
Students find understanding overwhelming amounts of content the most challenging part of studying. They have particular difficulties keeping up with lectures, revising and (). This leads to stress, a sense of being overwhelmed, and less desire to study.
ATTITUDES TO DIAGRAMMING
'I find visualisation useful but making diagrams is hard to integrate into my study' - John, 21, Sydney
Many students find diagramming useful even though they don't directly use it in their studying. Students may not use diagramming in their studying because they feel it is too difficult to integrate with their existing notes, there are no good free diagramming software, or they feel that creating diagrams slows them down.
These insights led us to refine our problem statement:
💡 Refined Research Question
How do we integrate a hybrid solution to visual learning and traditional notetaking into students' study experience and encourage generation of own notes and self testing/ presentation?
We analysed the experiences and demographic data of our interviewees and translated them into three personas characterised by how much time and effort they dedicate to studying. Our target users lay in the range of not studying at all, to studying almost every day. Their reasons for not studying were mostly time poorness, ranging from social events, part time job
Studies ~2 hrs / week
I want to pass but because of my job I just have no time to study often.
2nd Year • BArts • 19
Studies 6+ hrs / week
I try to get HDs but there is often too much content to study for at once!
4th Year • LLB • 21
Studies <1 hr / week
Study isn't a top priority, I guess. I wouldn't stay home for it.
3rd Year • BEng • 22
After narrowing down our concept, it was time to research competitors.
Note taking tool
3rd Year • BEng • 22
Mindmapping tool
2nd Year • BArts • 19
Hybrid tool
4th Year • LLB • 21