While I knew some about the subject, I wanted to make sure to come to the project with an open mind and lay out risks before digging into a Research Plan. I was able to keep structure to my process and check in with assumptions along the way.

Learning the Arena with Secondary Research

I found Market Research data in regards to the problem, user & industry arena. I am now informed to continue on a more narrow path to see how other organizations have solved for the problem as well as to who will should be my target interviewee.

Attitudes

in the arena of microaggressions:
1. They may be more dangerous than overt discrimination
2. They have not been scientifically proven, don’t happen, cycle of oversensitivity
3. Subject is a gray area, complex, combines attitude ½ with many varying factors

Trauma Healing Aids

Because there are mental and physical health repercussions, professional help is often supplemented with additional tools, like methods to assist professional help. I focused on peer-to-peer support and found that it is a proven method of assistance.

• For depression, used by 7.5 million adults in US in 2012

• Results of peer coaching and support can measure up to 30% decrease in anxiety/depression

User Demographics

Competitive Analysis

In order to learn how how microaggressions are treated in the market of emotional health and learn about potential competitors, I reviewed other companies in a Competitive Analysis to see what they offer the market and users.

The direct competitors target similar users based on demographics and how they process trauma. The companies do acknowledge the importance of a homophilic community, professional guidance and resources for emergency help.

Of the indirect competitors, two are quite broad. They include other areas of mental health, and physical health. One still has narrow focus, and is included as it’s focus is trauma based community healing which is metrically helpful for restoring psychological safety.

Pinpointing Priority User Needs

To synthesize my Interview Findings, I created an Empathy Map to cluster patterns. By grouping findings together, I was able to keep bias out of the research and focus on data rather than my inferences or assumptions. The patterns generated insights from which I formed priority user needs. User needs are going to be the base problem for which I can soon start solving!

In order to work towards the solution for Annie’s needs, I created Problem Statements and asked the following questions:

1. How might we inspire Annie to process a variety of negative emotions?

2. How might we help Annie cultivate a trusted community from who she can get advice?

3. How might we help Annie find efficient ways to learn the intent of a microaggression?

4. How might we encourage Annie to practice speaking up for herself?

Setting Priority Goals

After an open Brainstorm, I aligned User, Business and technical considerations for planning the project into consolidated Project Goals. With the project goals in mind, I created a Product Road Map to prioritize features that are varied in effort and contribute directly to shared and user goals for using the app.

Additionally, I used Information Architecture to create an App Map. I used this as a reference to determine what screens to create in order to achieve the goals and features listed on the road map for the project.

The crux of the MVP will be how a user interacts with the app while creating and visiting guided journal posts since it is a less conventional overall design pattern. The posts then set the stage for communicating with other people on the app, the most desired and helpful part of the experience.

Visualizing the Workflows

As I made these sketches, I reviewed them against each tasks UI Requirements to be sure everything was covered. I wanted to be sure to use best UI practices and avoid mimicking a social media platform, instead to focus on virtual support and allow the user to productively engage community. These sketches gave me a great jumping off point for digital wireframes.

My Usability Test Plan objectives were to stay observant and note pain points, learn about user interaction and evaluate the usability of the prototype.

Usability Testing the Mid Fidelity Prototype

I tested the Mid Fidelity Wireframes as a Prototype for usability with six target users. I found it really helpful to test for usability before I was able to get testing done quickly and early to work on revisions and improvements. I asked users to perform 5 tasks in order to test the goals. During the tests, users were able to verbalize their process in an efficient and clear way that focused on the UX.

Results

I clustered patterns of user behavior with an Affinity Map. Some things were successful, there were additional patterns to keep in mind as I move foward with some higher level issues to address.

Success Metrics

Highlights

Additional Patterns & Insights

Pattern: Reads text copy in full
Insight: Newer users will spend time to focus on each part of the process instructions, need clear understanding of why and how to complete entry.

Pattern: UI conventions and mental model
Insight: Review best practices to be sure affordances are included in design.

Priority Revisions

I organized the high level issues above according to priority according to the level of effort I’d need to put in to revise for maximum impact. I chose to focus on Quick Wins with low effort and high impact, some higher effort projects with medium impact, and a constant, larger project that would be more work but have great impact as well.

Now that the UI is adjusted for usability, I added style and branding to bring the application to life. I created the style by revisiting the project goals and reviewed brand attributes to determine what the business needs to convey to users to be successful.

Brand Attributes

• Calmness, Relief

• Support, Stability

• Retro-inspired but modern

By using these attributes, I made decisive and thoughtful style decisions. I created original imagery and used journal entry copy from microaggressions.com. I used the Crazy 8’s method to come up with logo ideas and iterations. I compiled these results in a Style Tile and Brand Logo.

I then used them as a guide to easily and consistently apply the UI as I created Hi Fidelity Wireframes to show how the two workflows will look in action.
These wireframes use components I compiled into a User Interface Kit that will guide future iterations and application growth as well as for adding new devices with additional breakpoints. I was sure to include imagery as well as text to explain rules and consistencies as the UI moves forward.

 I am very proud of the informed design I was able to create to give users assistance. The Empower app is a space where users can process their experiences in a trusted community. They can practice speaking up and take their confidence offline for future interactions.

Takeaways

• Assumptions Having assumptions will be inevitable, especially in a project that I have an emotional attachment towards. I found great value in naming my assumptions throughout the process so that I could prove/disprove them with data during both generative and evaluative research. This gave me many insights into the project that I was able to bring to the design.
  

• Remembering the M.V.P. Creating and designing a brand new app is an endeavor with new decisions at every turn. It was important to keep within the scope of the project to create a Minimum Viable Product to get the application off of its feet. This way the app can grow incrementally with users centered as the focus. Keeping within the scope I was able to focus on details and testing the design while keeping business goals & values in mind.
  

• Speed Moving fast with this process was crucial to get improvements in early and often. This aspect of the project combined my assumptions and the MVP. By working quickly, I was able to test and revise informed by user data and learning more about the user mental model. I was able to then make informed and strong design choices during revisions and following steps.

View the Prototype

In this high fidelity prototype, the user can create a journal entry and see new comments on their past entries.

What’s Next

Although this is a speculative project, I would be excited to work with developers during the process so they have access to the Figma file. When the style is added, they’d be best informed to continue coding and the process to make the design a reality.
From here, I can continue the design cycle for further priorities to expand the growth of the app and the help it can give to users.