Mind Space
Mind Space is an app mockup designed to support individuals (students in particular) in managing their mental health. The app provides personalized tools, resources and support to create positive habits and self-care routines. By promoting mindfulness and emotional awareness, Mind Space aims to help users create a balanced and fulfilling life.
Duration - July 2024 - October 2024
Tools: Figma
The Goal
Problem Statement
User Group
The goal of Mind Space is to empower individuals to take control of their mental health through simple, accessible, and engaging self-care tools. The app aims to reduce stress and anxiety by providing quick and effective resources that help students in specifically manage the pressures of academic and social life. Additionally, it encourages consistent self-care routines that fit seamlessly into busy schedules, helping to build healthier habits and a balanced lifestyle. By offering tools for self-reflection, such as mood tracking and journaling, Mind Space enhances self-awareness and helps students better understand their emotions. The app also supports healthy goal-setting, allowing users to set and track personal mental wellness objectives, which keeps them motivated and accountable in their self-care journeys. Ultimately, Mind Space seeks to create a supportive environment where students can prioritize their mental health and thrive both academically and personally.
Many students struggle to prioritize their mental health amidst the overwhelming demands of academic life, leading to increased stress, anxiety, and burnout. Despite the availability of numerous mental health resources, many students find them complicated, time-consuming, or irrelevant to their specific needs. As a result, they often lack effective tools to manage their mental health, leading to feelings of isolation and frustration. Mind Space aims to address this issue by providing a user-friendly app that offers simple, accessible self-care tools tailored to the unique challenges faced by students, empowering them to take charge of their mental health in a manageable and supportive way.
The user group for Mind Space is primarily composed of students, including those in high school, college, and graduate school. This diverse group typically ranges in age from 14 to 25 and shares common experiences and challenges related to mental health. Many students face significant stress from academic pressures, such as coursework, exams, and deadlines, while also navigating social dynamics that can contribute to feelings of anxiety or isolation. Their busy schedules often make it difficult to prioritize self-care, leading to inconsistent habits and feelings of overwhelm. Additionally, this generation is generally comfortable with technology and seeks convenient, user-friendly solutions for managing their mental health. By focusing on this user group, Mind Space aims to address the specific mental health needs and challenges faced by students, providing tailored tools and resources that support their overall mental health.
User Reseach
For the Mind Space project, I spoke with a diverse group of students through interviews, surveys, and focus groups to really get a sense of their mental health needs and challenges. At first, I thought that stress from school was the main issue, but I quickly discovered that the reality is much more complex. Many students do face significant stress, but they also deal with social anxiety, difficulty keeping up with self-care, and finding time to relax. During our conversations, it became clear that students often feel overwhelmed by the large number of mental health resources out there. They want help but struggle to engage with complicated tools, especially when life gets busy. This was an eye-opener for me, showing the importance of creating simple, accessible tools that fit smoothly into their everyday routines.
In surveys, students expressed a strong preference for features like quick stress-relief exercises, personalized activities, and easy journaling prompts that resonate with their experiences. This feedback was valuable in shaping the design of Mind Space. By focusing on what students truly need, I aimed to create an app mockup that empowers them to take charge of their mental health in a way that feels manageable and supportive, without adding more stress to their already busy lives.
Pain Points
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Academic Stress: Students often face high levels of stress from coursework, exams, and deadlines, leading to anxiety and burnout. They need effective tools to manage and alleviate this pressure.
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Lack of Time for Self-Care: With busy schedules filled with classes, studying, and extracurricular activities, students may struggle to find time for self-care practices, resulting in inconsistent mental health management.
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Social Pressures: Many students experience social anxiety or feelings of isolation, especially in new environments. They may benefit from resources that promote social confidence and emotional resilience.
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Difficulty in Establishing Healthy Habits: Students often find it challenging to establish and maintain healthy routines, which are essential for mental health.
Personas
User Journey Map
Stage Actions Thoughts/Feelings Pain Points Opportunities
Survey Results
I conducted a survey with 20 students from diverse ages, majors, and backgrounds to gather insights on the features they would like to see in the app.
Survey Insights
To better understand the needs of the target audience, a survey was conducted with young adults aged 18-24, primarily undergraduate students. Below are the key findings:
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Stress Prevalence: 60% of respondents experience stress daily, with academic pressures being the primary cause (95%).
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Preferred Features:
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Mood tracking (84.2%) ranked as the most desired feature.
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Stress-relief exercises (47.4%) and journaling (36.8%) were also highlighted as valuable.
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Self-Care Practices: While 80% of users already practice exercise for stress relief, there is less engagement with activities like meditation (30%) and journaling (20%).
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Personalized Activities: 60% of respondents want reminders for self-care activities, showing a strong interest in tailored notifications.
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Feedback Highlights: Users expressed excitement about mood tracking and found the app's concept helpful for managing stress.
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Key App Features​
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Mood Tracker: The core feature allows users to log their emotions daily, providing insights into trends over time.
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Guided Stress-Relief Exercises: Offers quick exercises like breathing techniques and mindfulness practices to reduce stress.
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Journaling Prompts: Enables users to reflect and organize their thoughts in a safe, user-friendly interface.
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Personalization: Sends customized alerts to encourage consistent self-care habits.
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Accessibility-Focused Design: Includes text labels, intuitive navigation, and customizable content for a diverse user base.​
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How MindSpace Stands Out​
MindSpace goes beyond being a tool, it is a companion for mental health improvement. By addressing the specific stressors faced by its audience, such as academic pressure and social challenges, the app offers meaningful solutions tailored to young adults.
The app also incorporates user-centered design principles:
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Inclusivity: Features like content personalization and accessible navigation ensure usability for everyone.
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Data-Driven Development: Survey insights directly shaped the app's functionality, ensuring alignment with user needs.
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Focus on Engagement: Playful yet professional aesthetics encourage frequent use while maintaining credibility.
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Conclusion
MindSpace is a thoughtfully designed app that meets the mental health needs of young adults. It emphasizes inclusivity, accessibility, and user engagement to provide a practical solution for stress management. With features like mood tracking and personalization, the app empowers users to take control of their mental health.
Key Insights of Interview with Student
21 year old senior at Purdue University majoring in Psychology
Current Mental Health habits
Challenges
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Insight: The student currently stabilizes her mental health through a combination of self-care practices, regular therapy, and mindfulness techniques like meditation and journaling.
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Supporting Point: "I try to make time for journaling and mindfulness meditation each week. It helps me process what’s going on, especially when I’m stressed out with schoolwork."
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Relevance: This suggests that mental health apps like Mindspace can serve as a tool for reinforcing existing habits or introducing new ones to users who already practice mindfulness.
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Insight: Managing mental health as a student is difficult due to overwhelming academic pressure, social expectations, and balancing internships or job searches.
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Supporting Point: "One of the hardest parts about being a student is juggling everything, assignments, social life, and planning for after graduation. It can feel like there’s no time for me."
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Relevance: The app could offer time-management or stress-reduction features specifically designed for students, helping them manage their mental health while staying on top of their commitments.
Motivation
Desired Features:
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Insight: She believes small, specific goals can make the mental health journey feel more manageable.
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Supporting Point: “For example, aiming to meditate for just five minutes a day can build consistency without feeling overwhelming.”
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Relevance: This approach can encourage users to incorporate mindfulness into their routines gradually, making it easier to stick with the app.
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Insight: The student expressed a desire for an app that integrates personalized mental health plans, including goal-setting, mood tracking, and mindfulness practices tailored to individual needs.
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Supporting Point: "I think having an app that knows you and gives personalized suggestions would make it more useful. Sometimes you don’t know what you need until it’s suggested to you."
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Relevance: Mindspace can stand out by offering personalized recommendations that adjust based on the user’s tracked mood or preferences.
Feedback
Overall Impression
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Insight: They liked the idea of mood tracking and meditation features but suggested making it interactive and visually engaging.
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Supporting Point: "I think the mood tracking is great, but it could be more engaging if it gave you feedback or showed trends over time. Right now, a lot of apps feel passive, you track but don’t always get meaningful results back."
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Relevance: Adding visual data trends and offering actionable insights based on tracked moods could increase user engagement and provide value to users looking for guidance.
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Insight: The student is optimistic about the app’s potential, particularly in helping busy students like themselves take better care of their mental health, but they emphasized the need for simplicity and user-friendliness.
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Supporting Point: "I think the app has a lot of potential. It just needs to be easy to use. Students don’t have time to figure out something complicated, so the simpler, the better."
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Relevance: The user experience should focus on intuitive design and straightforward functionality, especially for students who are often busy and easily overwhelme
Conclusion
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The insights gathered from the interview with the psychology senior underscore the critical role that mental health apps like Mindspace can play in supporting users, particularly students, in their mental wellness journeys. The student’s experiences highlight the need for personalized tools. By addressing the unique challenges faced by students, such as academic pressure and social expectations, Mindspace has the potential to become a resource for promoting mental health awareness and resilience. Simplifying the user experience and integrating interactive features could enhance engagement, ultimately helping users feel more supported in managing their mental health.
Starting the design
Paper Wireframe
Digital Wireframe
Choice of Colors
The Mindspace app uses a calming yet vibrant color palette to enhance the user experience. It combines:
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Soft Pink (#FDD1D1) for a sense of emotional warmth and comfort.
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Coral (#F78970) to bring energy and positivity to the interface.
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Cream (#FFEABD) as a neutral balance, creating an inviting and approachable feel.
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Deep Navy (#171C4C) for trust and focus, grounding the user in a serene environment.
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Muted Teal (#6E9291) to evoke calm and balance, reflecting tranquility and nature.This palette reflects relaxation and positivity, supporting the app's mental health goals.
Low Fidelity Mockup
Usability and feedback results
For the usability study, I asked participants who completed an initial survey to review my Mindspace app mockups and provide specific feedback on potential areas for improvement. This approach allowed me to gather insights directly from my target users, ensuring the feedback was relevant and aligned with their needs.
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Personalization quiz: One participant expressed interest in a personalization quiz at sign-up, noting that it would help tailor the app experience to their needs. They suggested that a quick quiz could customize content, like recommended meditations or mood-tracking prompts, making the app feel more personalized and engaging right from the start.
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“Daily Tip” or “Quick Mood Booster": One participant suggested adding a “Daily Tip” or “Quick Mood Booster” feature on the home screen. They felt that a small, uplifting message, wellness tip, or quick breathing exercise each day could enhance the app’s value and encourage them to engage more consistently.
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Tracking Insights: One participant wanted more insights on their mood-tracking data, such as a summary or trend analysis. They suggested adding a feature that highlights patterns over time (e.g., “You felt calm on 70% of days this month”) to help them better understand their emotional trends and progress
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Text labels under each icon: One participant mentioned that the icon-only navigation felt unclear at first and suggested adding text labels under each icon. They felt that labels would make it easier to understand the purpose of each section, especially for new users, and would improve overall navigation.
1. Personalization quiz addition
The addition of a personalization quiz in the MindSpace app enriches the user experience by tailoring content and recommendations to each user's unique preferences and needs. By asking targeted questions about user habits, goals, and mental wellness priorities, the quiz customizes the app's resources to better support individual growth and self-care journeys. This personalized approach increases engagement, making users feel understood and supported, and aligns with MindSpace's commitment to providing a meaningful, user-centered mental wellness experience.
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2. "Mood Booster" addition
​Adding a daily tip and mood booster feature to the MindSpace app enhances user engagement by providing small, actionable insights and motivational boosts that encourage positive mental habits. These daily tips offer users practical advice and reminders for self-care, while mood boosters provide quick ways to uplift spirits, helping users build resilience and maintain a balanced mindset. This feature supports ongoing mental wellness reinforcing MindSpace’s commitment to user mental health improvement and proactive self-care.
3. Mood tracking insights
Incorporating a mood tracking feature in the MindSpace app enhances user engagement and supports mental well-being by allowing users to record and monitor their emotional states over time. This feature provides valuable insights into mood patterns, helping users identify triggers, track progress, and make informed decisions about their self-care. By encouraging regular check-ins, mood tracking builds self-awareness and empowers users to take proactive steps in managing their mental health, aligning with MindSpace's mission to promote positive mental health.
4. Text Lables
Adding text labels under the navigation bar enhances the usability and accessibility of the MindSpace app. By including descriptive text for each icon, users can quickly understand the purpose of each navigation item, reducing ambiguity and improving the user experience, especially for first-time users. This addition also supports accessibility by making navigation more intuitive for users with varying visual abilities, ensuring an inclusive design that aligns with UX best practices.
Final High Fidelity Mockup
Inclusivity and accessibility considerations
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Text Labels for Navigation – Clear text labels accompany icons in the navigation bar, making it easy for all users, including those with cognitive disabilities, to understand and access the app's key features.
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Inclusive Graphics – I incorporated diverse graphic representations of people with various skin tones and genders. This ensures that all users feel represented and can see themselves reflected within the app.
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Positive and Motivating Language – The app uses encouraging, supportive language throughout, designed to uplift and motivate users, especially those who may be facing challenges.
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Multi-Language Support – To make the app accessible to families who speak languages other than English I added a language section in settings.
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Notification Customization – Understanding that everyone has unique preferences, I included options for customizing notifications. This allows users to decide how frequently they receive reminders, ensuring the app adapts to a variety of lifestyles.
Takeaways
Impact
The Mindspace mockup has the potential to make a meaningful impact by providing users with a supportive space for self-care and mental healh. Through features like mood tracking, journaling, and guided meditations, the design encourages users to engage in healthy habits and reflect on their mental health in a positive, structured way. By focusing on simplicity and ease of navigation, the mockup makes these tools accessible for a wide range of users, fostering a sense of calm and control. Overall, the Mindspace mockup demonstrates how a thoughtfully designed app can empower users to prioritize their mental wellness in an intuitive and approachable format.
What I learned
Working on the Mindspace app has been a rewarding journey, both as a designer and as someone passionate about mental health. Here’s what I’ve learned along the way:
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Empathy is Key: Designing for mental health made me realize just how important it is to understand and empathize with users’ emotional needs. The more I researched and worked on the project, the more I understood the significance of creating an environment where users feel heard, supported, and comfortable. It's not just about functionality—it’s about offering a space where people can truly engage with their mental health in a meaningful way.
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Inclusivity is crucial: I’ve always known that inclusivity is essential, but this project really pushed me to think deeply about how to make the app accessible for as many people as possible. I’ve learned just how much goes into designing an app that truly welcomes everyone. It’s been eye-opening, and I feel more committed to making sure all users feel included and respected.
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Simplicity Over Complexity: I’ve learned that simplicity is often the best approach, especially when it comes to apps focused on mental wellbeing. Keeping the navigation clean and straightforward, with easy access to key features like journaling and meditation, is crucial. It can be tempting to add lots of features, but I’ve learned that the simplest solutions are often the most effective for users seeking relief or support.
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Designing for Calmness: The challenge of balancing a visually calming atmosphere with functionality was one I hadn’t fully anticipated. Choosing colors, fonts, and icons that evoke a sense of peace without sacrificing usability has been an exciting design challenge. I’ve learned that even small design choices, like font style and button size, can have a big impact on how users experience the app.
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The Importance of Feedback: One of the most valuable lessons I learned was how much user feedback shapes the final product. Early usability tests revealed things I never would have thought of on my own. I’ve realized that continuous iteration and being open to feedback is essential to creating an app that users truly enjoy.
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It’s a Constant Process: I’ve learned that design isn’t something you perfect once and for all—it’s a continuous process. After gathering feedback, I’ve gone back multiple times to tweak and refine elements of the app. It’s taught me patience and flexibility, and that the best apps evolve and grow over time.
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Data Makes It Personal: Integrating mood tracking and personalized suggestions based on data was one of the more eye-opening parts of this project. Seeing how user input could drive a more tailored experience showed me just how powerful data can be in improving the user experience. It’s a reminder that design isn’t just about looks; it’s about creating meaningful interactions that make a real difference.
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In the end, working on Mindspace has been an incredibly rewarding experience that has taught me so much about both the technical and human aspects of design. It’s shown me the power of empathy in design and how thoughtful, inclusive, and user-centered approaches can make a real impact on people’s lives.