MindRoom
App Design, UX Research
Combining music and visuals, MindRoom aims to provide stress relief and emotional support. MindRoom is a digital platform that showcases multiple channels (“Rooms”) with therapeutic purposes.
Each “Room” has its own theme with a dedicated playlist and looped-video background. The users can explore the Rooms or create a customized room where they can synth their playlist and visuals.
To create a sense of community, each “Room” has a “Mind Board” which users can share their thoughts and comments. The goal of this feature is to provide emotional support through social interaction.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a film creator specifically for music videos. I was amazed with the impact of music and visuals. When I got older, I saw the importance of mental health as I watched people and myself struggle finding the balance in life. Therefore, I wanted to created a positive environment with freedom of expression and creativity.
Challenge
Mental health issues increased significantly in young adults over the last decade. The studies reported a 51 percent increase in major depression and 71 percent increase in major psychological distress.
Music is a very powerful healing tool to the constantly-stimulated human mind. Therefore, I wanted to connect music and mental health to create a safe space for users unloading their unwanted thoughts.
Target users: Music lovers and people struggle with their emotions
Project Plan
My Role
• Research: I developed and executed user research plan. From there I analyzed findings and generated insights.
• Design: I created the design system and all wireframes
• Prototyping: I built the Hi-Fi interactive prototype on Figma
Scope
• Team: This is a solo project
• Duration: < 2 weeks
• Tools: Figma, Adobe Photoshop, Miro
• Design Practices: Research Plan Development, User Survey, C&C Analysis, Feature Analysis, Affinity Mapping, Persona Development, Problem Statement, User-Flow, Information Architecture, Sketching, Wireframes, Prototyping
My Role
User Research: Conducted interviews, analyzed findings, persona & journey map
Sketches: brainstormed solutions & ideated lo-fi wire frame
Prototyping: designed & created mid-fi prototype
Usability Test: tested overall user flow, identified findings & problems for iteration
Scope
Team: 4 UX designer across 3 time zones worked in a remote setting
Duration: 2 weeks
Tools: Sketch, Figma, Miro, Zoom
User Research
Objective:
To understand user’s behaviors and motivations of streaming music and stress relief process.
Method:
User survey with open - end questions and short answers via Google Form.
I sent out the user survey on Reddit across multiple Subreddits related to music and mental health. Also sent it to friends with emotional distress.
Findings:
• Social interaction has therapeutic effect that helps users dealing with stress
• Most users enjoy taking a walk to cope with stress
• Users prefer the music that resonated their feeling
• Users enjoy doing creative activities to distract themselves from the unwanted thoughts.
• Users prefer customizable platform
"I can read the comments of people giving hope."
"I express my emotions by singing along with songs that sort og resonate with my situation."
"I like doing stuff like that because it give my mind something to do and focus rather than spiraling in my emotion."
"It would be nice to have some kind of customization to a meditation app."
User quotes from the survey response.
User's Needs, Goals, Behaviors and Frustration
"If only I can get paid for being stressed out."
Frannie, Project Menager
Behaviors
• Enjoys music and creating contents on her free time
• Walks her dog daily as she get some fresh air
Needs & Goals
• Needs a way to relieve her stress besides walking her dog
Frustrations
• Has a busy schedule where she barely has time to spend with the loved ones.
• Unble to take a walk due to the weather
• Not sure how to handle her emotional stress
Sketches
I initially sketched out a Profile page for users but paused the process.
Because I wanted this page to be more personal and mental health - focused. Which I realized I was lack of research in this part.
Hi - Fi Wireframes
I aimed for simplicity and content-focused approach.
I minimized the color used and sticked to neutral color for the background and navigation.
Which creates a contrast that makes the contents stand out more.
I avoided adding complex design components to create a sense of calmness.
Hi-Fi Prototype
Next Steps
Lesson Learned
Next Steps
• Usability Testing & Iteration. Due to the time constrain, I was not able to conduct my favorite part of UX practice :(
• More in-depth user research on the mental health aspect
• Develop more in-app features such as Profile page, filter, search, categories..etc.
Lesson Learned
• I got many unfriendly responses from Reddit for posting the user survey. It was unpleasant seeing them at first. Then I realized in real life, people will be upset with surveys with all kinds of reasons. I learned to not take it personally. Also, I'd recommend using a throw-away account for safety purpose :)
