Flora
Duration: April 2023 - June 2023 (8 weeks)
Tools: Figma
Team: 5 UX Designers
My Role: UX Designer
The Problem
Social anxiety is a chronic mental health condition where individuals constantly fear being judged by others, making social interactions challenging. Many people with social anxiety lack access to the necessary resources and support to help them improve and manage their condition effectively.
Objective
Our objective was to create a structured platform for individuals with social anxiety to build their confidence and social skills at their own pace, allowing them to confront their fears one step at a time.
Introducing Flora
Flora is a mobile application designed to help individuals with social anxiety improve their social skills and establish meaningful connections within their community. Users achieve this by completing everyday activities within the app, which encourages them to gradually step out of their comfort zones.
Take Control of Your Social Anxiety
Create personalized challenges that push you out of your comfort zone, earning points for every social interaction you complete. Turn your journey towards overcoming social anxiety into a fun, rewarding experience.
Nurture Your Growth
Earn points by completing items from your to-do list, and watch your plant grow as you do. This interactive experience mirrors your self-improvement journey, motivating you to tackle tasks and reduce anxiety through progress.
Connect With Others Like You
Engage in real conversations with people who understand your challenges, share experiences, and offer encouragement. Break the silence surrounding mental health and build meaningful connections that can lead to lasting friendships.
Find Your Voice
Simply input your situation or prompt, and receive personalized conversation starter ideas instantly. Whether you're ordering food or asking for directions, you can prepare in advance or get quick suggestions on the go.
Get The Support You Need
Get instant access to professional advice for social anxiety, along with emergency hotlines at your fingertips. Whether you’re seeking guidance or facing a crisis, comprehensive support resources are here to assist you, with services just a tap away.
User Research
We began our project by surveying several people (ages 21-33) to learn about how they mitigate social anxiety in their daily lives.
“I check things off my list, talk things out with others, and write down my thoughts.”
“I engage in hobbies such as doodling, gaming, watching TV, and staying physically active.”
“I use Tarot and Oracle cards, meditate, pray, hold onto crystals, and practice deep breathing.”
“What I have noticed works is going on walks, playing basketball, being with family, and watching TV. Watching TV really helps since it takes my mind off of what is making me anxious.”
These responses shared a common theme of coping strategies or self-care practices that each person uses to manage their stress and anxiety. Each response discusses varying activities or techniques that help the person relax, refocus, or find comfort.
Competitive Analysis
We conducted competitive analysis on several existing apps in the current market to identify their strengths and weaknesses. While these apps included features for tracking daily progress, such as mood or goal tracking, none of them effectively addressed the need for social improvement.
Understanding the User
Based on our user research and competitive analysis, we created a user persona, empathy map, and user journey map to help visualize and figure out what the target user’s needs for our app are.
Crazy 8's + Paper Prototype
Each group member spent a few minutes drawing eight sketches of their vision for the main pages of the app. We then conducted a vote by placing stickers on the sketches that we liked.
Based on the most-voted Crazy 8 sketches, we created a paper prototype to map out and test the basic functionality of the app. Feedback from presenting the paper prototype helped us identify which areas needed further development and investigation, such as developing the plant system and designing the home page.
User Flow
Using the paper prototype as a reference, we created a user flow to map out the finer details of how the user would interact with different features across the app.
Design
Flora (Plant)
The main theme and feature we implemented for Flora is a minigame similar to Tamagotchi, where users take care of a plant instead of a pet. By completing to-do list items, users earn points that help their plant grow. The plant's growth tracks the user's accumulated points and reflects their self-improvement journey.
Color SCHEME
For the color scheme, we followed the 60-30-10 rule to help us create a simple, balanced color palette. We selected colors that symbolize nature and growth to capture the app's plant motif.
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Usability Test
After completing the first iteration of our high-fidelity prototype, we conducted several one-on-one usability testing sessions on Zoom with participants who closely matched our target user. These sessions involved giving participants a list of tasks to complete on the prototype while they provided live commentary on their thought process and overall experience. Their feedback helped us identify pain points and gain valuable insights, leading to the implementation of two key design improvements in the final version of the app.
Bridging the Gap Between Users
Although the participants liked the option to chat with other users, they were unclear about how they could actually find others to communicate with on the app, as this feature had not yet been implemented. To address this, we introduced options to search for and add friends on the profile page.
Tracking Progress
Participants found the user leveling system with the plant confusing. Our initial vision was that users would earn experience points for the plant by completing to-do list tasks, but there was no clear indication of this in the app. To address this, we added labels next to each task showing the experience points earned upon completion. Additionally, we created a table to track the experience points gained for each task category, helping users see which categories they are prioritizing.
Potential Iterations
Moving forward, we have several key features planned for Flora to better support and improve the overall experience for our users:
1. Expand Help and Resources:
We will expand the Help and Resources page by adding more comprehensive and diverse support options, such as virtual therapy, relaxation exercises, and a blog section.
2. Plant Interactivity:
Currently, the plant feature is a static image that only updates when the plant reaches a new level. We aim to enhance this feature by allowing users to actively care for their plants—through actions like watering, trimming, or decorating—to give the plant more life and purpose.
3. User Onboarding Tutorial:
To ensure a smooth and personalized introduction for new users, we will implement a step-by-step tutorial that shows them how to navigate the app and make the most use out of the different features.
4. Daily Affirmations and Encouragement:
We aim to boost user motivation and engagement by sending daily positive affirmations and encouragement through automated app notifications.