TheraThrive

End-To-End Mobile App

Research Plan

In the beginning phases of my research, I looked broadly at uncovering generalities about therapy and the therapeutic process. As time went on, my research became more about what users did before and following a session with their therapist. I also began to look at how users attempted forming new habits and patterns, and how they used habit tracking (if at all).

Research Goals:

• TIER 1 (Most important)

  A. How do users find a therapist?

  • Understand how users find a therapist

    • Did the search yield a helpful result?

  • Identify user needs when searching for a therapist

  • Identify user pain points/frustrations when searching for a therapist

  • Identify factors that influence users in choosing a therapist 

    • Consideration: Can qualitative traits/factors be translated into searchable options/filters?

  B. What do I need to know about users’ general experience in & outside of therapy?

  • Identify user needs when in therapy

  • Identify user goals of therapy

    • Long-term

    • Short-term

  • Identify frustrations in the general experience of therapy

  • Identify holes in the general experience of therapy 

    • Consideration: the downtime between sessions can often be a problem for people - is this the actual problem to solve: What can clients do to stay engaged during the time away from therapy sessions?

  C. How does habit tracking, technology, & motivation play a part?

  • Identify the way people use technology in conjunction with therapy

  • Identify the way people build new habits/routines

  • Identify competitors and their strengths/weaknesses 

  TIER 2 (Of secondary importance)

  • Identify therapist needs 

  • Identify therapist goals

  • Identify therapist frustrations

Secondary Research

Market Research

I conducted general research first to gain more information about current trends and demographics regarding mental health and counseling in the United States. By getting a clear picture of the industry, this helped to inform who my participants would be for user interviews during the primary research phase.

MARKET RESEARCH: TRENDS

Mental Health Trends

• In our national survey on mental health and coronavirus, we found that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental health of 59% of people in the United States.Four in 10 (39%) were referred by a doctor, and one-fifth (19%) was recommended by a friend or family member, 12% found their counselor on the internet. 

• Two most influential factors in choosing a therapist: Affordability (46%) and specialization or expertise (42%).

• Millennials are most likely to begin counseling as treatment for mental illness; These statistics may point to decreasing stigma around mental illness among younger generations, who have grown up with more open or public conversations about mental health.

• Though their reasons for visiting a counselor may vary, Americans consistently indicate the experience was very positive (47%). Another 29 percent say it was somewhat positive, with a small minority calling it somewhat (5%) or very negative (1%). The remaining 17 percent rate their experience as neutral.

Mental Health Apps 

• First-time downloads of the top 20 mental wellness apps in the U.S. hit 4 million in April. That’s up 29 percent from 3.1 million in January. By contrast, first-time downloads of the top 20 such apps fell 30 percent during the same period last year.

• The mental health apps market generated US $587.9 million in 2018. With an expected growth rate of 23.7% from 2019-2027, it is predicted to reach nearly US $4 billion by 2027.

• App stores play host to nearly 20,000 mental health apps, according to the American Psychological Association. They run the gamut from AI chatbots and mood trackers, to services like Talkspace and BetterHelp that connect patients with licensed therapists.

• Calm is still the only mental health company with a valuation north of $1 billion but other start-ups are fast on its heels. This quarter, as coronavirus decimated the global economy, mental health firms raised a record $576 million — 60 percent more than any previous quarter

• Talkspace — which offers video and text-based therapy — said that its new user count nearly doubled between mid-March and May 1, versus the same period in 2019. Applications from therapists looking to join the platform, meanwhile, have risen more than 500 percent

• This spate of deregulation could spur innovation and more widely disseminate mental health resources amid the pandemic. But it also leaves the space vulnerable to bad actors and misinformation

• The Nature Digital Medicine conducted a study of 1435 apps, from which selected the 350 top-ranked ones. Here are some facts about their content: 36% contain information or psychoeducation 32% – therapy/treatment 25% – symptom or mood monitoring 12% – self-assessment 11% – peer/community support. 

• Self-help app owners have their reasons for that. According to a clinical review, published in Evidence Based Mental Health Month, 74% of users stop engaging with the app after only 10 uses, with poor app design cited as one of the main reasons for it, along with useless content and privacy concerns

• And while some psychologists may worry that apps could replace therapy, that’s not happening, says C. Vaile Wright, PhD, senior director for health care innovation at APA, citing a study that found that just two apps—Headspace and Calm—account for 90% of active users (Wasil, A. R., et al., Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2020). “I really don’t think people are turning to mindfulness apps as a replacement for therapy,” says Wright. Once people are in therapy, apps can help psychologists enhance patients’ progress. “A lot of work that happens in therapy actually happens outside the therapy office,” says Wright. “Apps can facilitate that work.” Apps can also help patients address co-occurring problems like insomnia or serve as booster sessions once therapy has ended.

MARKET RESEARCH: DEMOGRAPHICS

Mental Health Demographics

• Overall, four in 10 American adults (42%) have seen a counselor at some point in their lives. 

• Thirteen percent say they are currently seeing a counselor or therapist, while more than a quarter (28%) says they’ve seen a counselor or therapist in the past. 

• Another third (36%) says they’re at least open to it

• By all measures, Millennials and Gen X have more interest in counseling than Boomers and Elders. One-fifth of Millennials (21%) and 16 percent of Gen X are currently engaged in therapy. 

• 970 million people worldwide have a mental health or substance abuse disorder. 

• Globally, mental illness affects more females (11.9%) than males (9.3%). 

Mental Health Apps

• North America dominated the market with a revenue share of more than 38% in 2020. The regional market will expand further at a steady CAGR from 2021 to 2028 due to factors, such as growing usage of smartphones, developments in coverage networks, increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, and rising geriatric population.

• For Talkspace post election of Trump: The majority of patients are millennials, with an average age between 33 and 34. About 70 percent of their clientele are now women.

Competitive Analysis

I researched other therapy apps, and tried to get a basic overview about the strengths and weaknesses of each. The primary competitor was TheraChat, which had the most in common with what I was attempting to create. Others that were similar but different included BetterHelp and TalkSpace.

 Provisional Personas

Based on demographic trends found during market research, provisional personas were created. Here, I’m able to evaluate how user goals and pains differ, based on the primary populations that engage in therapy. This assists when recruiting participants for user interviews.

Primary Research

User Interviews

During secondary research, I was able to determine my target demographic, as well as some significant insights regarding habits around the ways people augment their experience when going to therapy. With this in mind, I connected with participants for user interviews that had recently been to a therapist for a six month period or more, and that fell into my target demographic. This helped me understand the typical user: their goals, expectations, needs, and frustrations when going to therapy. All were asked questions specific to their most recent therapy experience, as well as more general inquiries regarding their feelings about therapy, habit tracking, and motivation.

See the user interview script.

Participants

• 7 Participants

• 2 Males, 6 females

• Ages 27 - 44 years old

• Recruitment: Colleagues from Slack

• Process: On Zoom, Slack, or In-Person interviews using Otter.ai for transcripts/recording

• Of note: Originally, I had interviewed only five participants. Given the nature of continually honing my research, I interviewed three more participants in order to better answer the question of: how do users augment what they learn in therapy outside of their weekly visits? These last three interviews mostly utilized the addendum section of my user interview script.

Empathy Map

This is the Empathy Map I created after interviewing the first five participants. Below are the key insights & patterns I came across at that point in my research.

Point-Of-View Statements

These statements help frame the user in the problem space.

How Might We Questions

Using the POV statement, I created these questions to further help identify the problems I am attempting to solve. The HMW questions are also used to brainstorm as many solutions as possible.

 Project Goals

Now, I looked at how Michelle’s goals overlap with the business goals of a therapy app. This helped me identify some of the problems to solve. It also refocuses the solutions to support both the business and its users.

App Map

Here, I tried to define the different domains within the app, and attempted to generate a feel for the information architecture.

Reflection

This project gave me a greater understanding of the challenges during the research phase. I had to iterate and hone my original high-level problem statement, which changed the direction of the app from what I originally had planned. I also was able to challenge myself to revisit my research, and conduct three more user interviews to collect more qualitative data. This set back ultimately helped my overall design process.

Another challenge I encountered was feature creep. While working on therathrive I learned about the importance of minimum viable product, which helped me hone the scope of this app. The constraints of an MVP are tremendously helpful.

Additionally, I learned to love the process of creating a brand, and the visual design for a new product. Though it was initially overwhelming, the end result surprised and delighted me. I feel the brand is reflective of the keywords for therathrive.

The nature of this project has been encouraging and exciting; I feel passionate about creating utilitarian, beautiful products. It further reinforces what I’ve always known: that helping people meet their health goals is part of my larger calling.

Next Steps

• Usability testing of the current high-fidelity prototype, and further priority revisions

• Continuing to add features to the current screens

• Building out the Profile domain of the app

• Building an end-to-end app for the therapists using therathrive

• Potentially the implementation & handoff to a developer, if this speculative project were transformed into a real app and business venture