Embolden lives by simplifying the search for therapy online
Redesigning a responsive online therapy website for those seeking to bettering themselves
The Research
Objective
GOALS Foundation is a non-profit organization committed to bettering lives by making therapy more accessible to anyone seeking therapy.
Process & Discovery
Competitive Analysis
Top competitors in the online therapy space include Betterhelp, Talkspace, and Open Path Collective. All 3 organizations have a shared focus for making therapy more affordable and accessible. Talkspace and Betterhelp uses the data gathered from users when they fill out a questionnaire in order to create an individualized match. Open Path Collective gives users the freedom to look browse therapist profiles and filter their searches for their specific needs.
User Quotes
“Talkspace is the best option for busy people ever. When time doesn't allow regular office hours, this is an amazing option.
“Open path has changed my ability to be responsible for my own care. What a gift.”
User Interview
*2 males and 3 females, ages 27-34 were interviewed (scripted) via zoom (30 minutes)
Objective
Empathize with the user’s search for the right therapist
Uncover pain points that users encounter when searching for a therapist
Discover features and functions that worked and didn’t work when deciding on their therapist
Findings
Look and feel: This measured the level of trust each user felt and determined the spent on each website
Rate transparency: Each user’s time spent on each site was also determined by the immediate visibility of the service rates on each site
Specifying user needs: Having the feature to specify a user’s therapy needs would determine whether or not they continue with the site
Relatability: How much a user could relate to a therapist matched or a therapist bio they looked at would determine if they wanted to give them a try
Understanding users seeking therapy-Card Sorting
There are already successful online therapy websites that appeal to users seeking therapy. Why reinvent the wheel at this point if these sites already have millions of users from all around the world?
Objective
Determine the top 3 online therapy site chosen by the participants
Learn the do’s and don’ts
Uncover design and content commonalities amongst the top 3 choices
*1 Male and 3 females, between 27-24 yrs old tested (Jamboard) via zoom (30 minutes)*
Findings
Persona Creation
Tiffany is an Asian-American millennial currently a Product Designer that has been living in New York for the past 2 years. She has been seeking therapy for the past 3 years and has been jumping around from therapist to therapist because one or many things didn’t align with what she needed out of the different therapists she saw. Searching for a therapist that works for her has been a challenge up until recent times.
Overview
Searching for a therapist online has never been more accessible. However, it still remains an intimidating step for millions of people and for many, has negatively affected their personal and professional lives.
The problems that therapy seekers face are that they don’t trust easily and have little patience when looking for help, which results in millions of people missing out on the help they need.
GOALS Foundation is a responsive website that helps people seeking therapy with their mental health needs.
My role
UX Designer
User Researcher
UX Architect
Product Designer
Visual Designer
Content Editor
Assumptions
Individuals curious about therapy will not continue browsing a site if it doesn’t look professional.
The idea that therapy is taboo adds on another barrier for individuals curious about therapy.
How might we design a therapy website that feels trustworthy and inviting to everyone, even for those who are hesitant.
Design
Strategize & Ideate
Features
Based on the research, the following features were narrowed down for the GOALS Foundation website.
Homepage
Welcome banner: Participants had positive feedbacks towards an effective message going into who they are first. “You deserve to be happy”
Therapist Bio page: Users find it important to have a page with all of the relevant and important information of their service experts.
CTA button: Participants reported appreciating it when an online therapy site creates an interactive conversation to find out more about them and why they’re seeking help. The questionnaire stands in as a way to initiate users to begin their therapy journey.
Instructions: Participants appreciated when a service has clear and concise instructions on using their service.
Therapist Bio
Making information and photos available for users to view adds a human component to searching for therapy online
Adding a therapist’s background, specialty, and interests adds a level of transparency and gives users the freedom to decide on their next therapist
“How To”
Adding an instructional feature to the homepage helps alleviate the feeling of being overwhelmed when visiting a site
Footer
Adding company information like copyrights and terms gives the site a level of trust and credibility
Providing information for cases mental health emergencies also adds another layer of trust and community building
Site Map
The intention for the site map is to organize all of the relevant and important information visitors would need to aid them in making informed decisions while navigating the GOALS Foundation website. The order that the header and footer are placed is strategically placed based off of preferences noted by users participating in the card sorting test.
Task Flow
User Journey
This tells the journey of a mother seeking therapy from a referral given by her son’s pediatrician. This gives the design team insight into how she went from a referral to signing up for therapy, and an understanding of the type of flow that is needed to design an overall journey beginning from a thought to initiating contact with a user.
Wireframes
Wireframes were made into an end-to-end lo-fi prototype and participants tested it out and gave feedback.
Questionnaire CTA
Visual Design
Design & Build
After all participants had a chance to review the original GOALS Foundation site, all participants reported that it was hard to stay engaged with the site because of an inconsistent visual hierarchy…
Inconsistent spacing
Font sizes were inconsistent
Inconsistent content sizing
To solve this issue, I took findings from the card sorting test to pick typography styles from the top 3 favorite sites that were chosen by all the participants.
Hi-Fidelity Mockup
Implementation
Getting Started
Signing up
Best practices when designing for therapy seekers is to make it fast and easy to find the right service to get started with.
Learn more
It is common for people to feel hesitant about using any kind of website, especially when it comes to their own mental health. The intention here is to design with the intention to build credibility and trust and reduce uncertainty.
Make a Donation
The donation page is intended to enable those who want to help make mental health care more accessible and affordable for those who have trouble affording therapy.
Findings
Results
# of Participants: 3
Ages: 27-35 years old
Location: USA
Key Insights
All of the participants were able to complete various tasks successfully.
All participants thought the website was easy to navigate and had a pleasant use of colors.
1 participant did not like the blurred background on the “Our Team” page and noted that it doesn’t inspire credibility and trust.
1 participant addressed the importance of being able to select more than one reason for seeking therapy in the questionnaire section.
Users noted that they liked the in depth questions that are asked because they felt like they are already being understood.
Users liked the look of the donation page.
Opportunities
Soften blurred bio picture background and page background.
Add function to choose more than one selection when asked for the reason users are seeking therapy.
Refine questionnaire through more research towards a standard of practice for therapy intake forms.
Continue testing and iterating on existing features, functions, and visual design.
Thanks for tuning in!
Takeaway
When in doubt, refer back to the research
My primary objective was to build credibility and the user’s trust. Whenever I hit a block, I would refer back to the relevant user data gathered during the whole design process to reassure myself the reason I made the design decision in the first place.
Design with the every user in mind
The range of different mental health care services are needed varies tremendously, so it is important to consider all demographics of people when designing for people in need of therapy.