Find Comfort and Release
An app that helps college students relieve stress by providing quality alone time.
UX Designer
August to December 2021
3 Designers
Visual Design
Product Thinking
UI/UX Design
User Research
Figma
Notion
Miro
To better understand our users' (students) needs and perspectives, I have identified three key research goals. The most common responses will guide the next steps: First, we aim to discover why students do not take advantage of the mental health resources available on campus. Second, we want to explore the current strategies students prefer to use to manage stress from school and work. Third, we seek to identify the opportunities students wish they had to help alleviate stress.
After analyzing our user research findings, we discovered that many students avoid seeking mental health support on campus because it doesn't address the root cause of their stress: the lack of personal space.
We conducted interviews with a randomly selected group of students on campus, held either in the participant's room or another space they considered safe. The interviews focused on three key areas: first, identifying the causes of limited personal space or the desire for more; second, understanding what a safe personal space means to students; and third, exploring how students prefer to find and navigate these spaces.
After conducting user research, I summarized three main features I found most important for the product: Navigation, on site safe spaces, and a booking system.
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Our idea is to develop an app that allows students to book safe spaces located throughout campus, such as independent study rooms, unused laboratories, and private lounges, which we can decorate and maintain. Users can also suggest spaces they find clean, comfortable, and quiet for us to review and add to the platform. When designing the user flow, my goal was to make the booking process as simple and efficient as possible, ensuring that students in need can reserve a space quickly. This flow map helps me strategically organize each element of the process.
1. User clicks "Find" or taps map pinpoints to see nearby safe spaces.
2. Available times and anonymous ratings are displayed.
3. User selects a time slot and confirms booking.
4. Success screen confirms the booking.
Low fidelity wireframe sketch made by team member Joy
1. User clicks "Suggest" in the bottom navigation bar.
2. Guidelines appear for recommending a new safe space.
3. User selects merits of the space and adds comments.
4. Success screen confirms the recommendation submission.
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In the Cons section, I noted that while the pastel color palette is visually pleasing, it may not be practical due to its low contrast, which could make it difficult for individuals with impaired vision to read the information. Therefore, it is crucial for me to assess whether the contrast levels are adequate. I will use a Color Contrast Checker in Figma that adheres to the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines). Below are some examples of the tests conducted:
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I hope you enjoyed the making process of Cushi. I chose this name because of the word "cushy", which is often used to describe an object that is soft and loving to hold. With the constraint on time, there are many areas I could've done better. I could've conducted more user research on product possibilities that go beyond digital boundaries, went back and did user testing with the final prototype, explored how I would create safe spaces and not be confined within building the platform that booked safe spaces, and done more user interviews to minimize the bias of my solution statement that students relieve stress with alone time
Hopefully, the end product and the ideal safe rooms can also create a cushy feeling. As my first UI/UX project, I am proud of choosing the subject of mental health as my approach, though I believe that this is only scratching the surface of the iceberg, and I hope to make further investigations in this area to help more people in need.
