Jocelyn Teo

EBI (Emotional Baggage Interface)

Facilitating deeper self-reflection through AI-powered interactive journaling, offering guided prompts and personalized insights

My Contributions

User Research, User Testing, UIUX Design, Prototyping

Team

Richard Xiong, Jackie Tan, Joshua Lai, Ian Ho

Timeline

3 months

Project summary

Problem

For those seeking mental health support, progress is often a non-linear journey. While journaling is a common tool individuals use to record their thoughts and feelings for self-reflection and sharing their experiences with others, it often falls short. Many find journaling challenging at times, struggling with writer's block or lacking a way to efficiently share all their entries.

Solution

EBI, an AI-powered journaling application, captures a consistent and accessible record for individuals through guided and interactive prompts. This allows users to articulate their thoughts and feelings more effectively, promoting deeper self-reflection and allowing them to monitor their progress over time.

Impact

As of November 2024, 1 month post-launch:

Top 5

winning teams awarded $20,00 in funding out of 23 teams

140

users onboarded within 1 month of launch

88.8%

of user testers felt this app would greatly benefit their mental health journey

My contribution

As the sole designer in the team, I was in charge of all the design work including user flow, prototypes, UI design. I also led the research, and testing efforts by conducting online interviews and user testing as well as distillation of insights.

Background

Mental health is a growing concern among youth in Singapore

As part of the Build for Good hackathon organised by Open Government Products, I had the privilege of engaging with a diverse range of industry experts. Among them, the mental health domain resonated deeply with me, drawing on my own experiences as a former healthcare professional.

Mental health challenges affect a significant portion of the population, and accessible support is crucial for well-being. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a widely used therapeutic approach that focuses on identifying and changing negative thought patterns and behaviors. As part of CBT, journaling is often recommended to facilitate self-reflection and track progress. However, when journaling tools are ineffective, they can lead to frustration and hinder progress.

1 in 3

youth aged 15 - 35 reported very poor mental health

Source: IMH National Youth Mental Health Study 2024

Problem discovery

Ownership of journaling is largely owned by individuals rather than therapists

To understand more about the role of journaling in therapy, we spoke to 4 therapists from various practices. Our initial assumptions were twofold:

Therapists frequently assigned journaling as a form of 'homework' and actively monitored the progress.

Therapists could be a valuable channel for widening our reach compared to targeting individual users.

However, our findings revealed a more nuanced reality. We discovered that, while therapists recognize the potential benefits of journaling, it is rarely a mandated practice. Instead, it is employed selectively, tailored to individual client needs and preferences. Therapists emphasized that journaling is one tool among a diverse arsenal, and its efficacy varies significantly.

This insight led us to pivot our focus, recognizing that directly targeting individuals would allow us to create the most impactful and accessible solution. By prioritizing the end-user experience, we aimed to build a strong user base by directly empowering individuals to take control of their self-reflection and progress.

Insights

Refining our focus from therapists to individuals

To understand the needs and behaviors of our target users, we conducted online interviews with 16 individuals who have sought or are currently seeking therapy, and/or have experience with journaling (including those who have stopped recently).

Our analysis revealed several key themes:

Challenges with habit formation

Users frequently cited feeling overwhelmed and unsure where to begin with journaling. Some also described journaling as feeling like a chore, hindering its therapeutic value.

Desire for deeper insights and reflection

Users expressed a strong need for tools that provide deeper insights into their thoughts and feelings, including identifying trends they might not otherwise recognize. Tracking progress, both positive and negative, was also highly valued.

Need for social connection

Users desired opportunities to share their stories and reflect with others. Limited time with therapists was a recurring concern, highlighting a need for alternative avenues for connection and support.

Based on our findings, 3 key personas emerged:

AMY

Recently started a demanding new job, leading to increased stress and limited time.
Struggles with anxiety, particularly related to work-life balance.
Recently started journaling as it was recommended by her therapist.

Recently started a demanding new job, leading to increased stress and limited time.
Struggles with anxiety, particularly related to work-life balance.
Recently started journaling as it was recommended by her therapist.

Pain points

Enjoys journaling but finds it hard to get started sometimes.
Struggles to put her thoughts into words.
Wants to share her journal entries with her therapist but is often unable to due to time constraints.

Enjoys journaling but finds it hard to get started sometimes.
Struggles to put her thoughts into words.
Wants to share her journal entries with her therapist but is often unable to due to time constraints.

BEN

Recently broke up with his girlfriend.
Prefers talking about his feelings rather than writing them down.
Doesn’t journal regularly, only when something happens.

Recently broke up with his girlfriend.
Prefers talking about his feelings rather than writing them down.
Doesn’t journal regularly, only when something happens.

Pain points

Struggles with writing down his feelings, prefers talking instead.
Feeling overwhelmed by the intensity of his feelings.
Struggling to find a safe and accessible outlet for his emotions as he does not want to burden his friends.

Struggles with writing down his feelings, prefers talking instead.
Feeling overwhelmed by the intensity of his feelings.
Struggling to find a safe and accessible outlet for his emotions as he does not want to burden his friends.

CLAIRE

Recently moved to a new country by herself.
Uses journaling as a tool for self-discovery and personal growth.
Enjoys exploring different journaling techniques and prompts.

Recently moved to a new country by herself.
Uses journaling as a tool for self-discovery and personal growth.
Enjoys exploring different journaling techniques and prompts.

Pain points

Feeling limited by the features of existing journaling tools.
Spending too much time searching for prompts online.
Challenges with identifying trends across time to gain deeper insights.

Feeling limited by the features of existing journaling tools.
Spending too much time searching for prompts online.
Challenges with identifying trends across time to gain deeper insights.

Problem statement

How might we empower individuals to better capture their thoughts for sharing and self-reflection?

Key features

A mental health companion that tracks your progress

Based on our research, we designed EBI to empower users in their journaling practice. By combining guided prompts with a conversational chatbot, EBI helps users overcome writer's block, explore their thoughts and feelings more effectively, and gain deeper insights into their experiences. EBI aims to make journaling more accessible, engaging, and ultimately, more beneficial for self-reflection and personal growth.

WHY THE NAME EBI?

EBI was chosen as an acronym for Emotional Baggage Interface, offering a subtle and approachable way to describe our app's purpose. Additionally, the Japanese word 'ebi (えび)' translates to 'prawn,' adding a touch of whimsy and relatability to our mascot.

Choice of entry modes catering to different preferences

Journal

Most similar to traditional journaling where subtle prompts offer gentle guidance only when triggered by users.

Chat

For those who are less familiar with journaling, this alternative helps users discover new perspectives on their thoughts and feelings through engaging in natural conversations.

Voice

For users who find it easier to express themselves verbally, they can let their thoughts flow freely with real-time voice journaling in a familiar Singlish accent.

Play the video above to see EBI in action! (36 seconds) 🔊

Safety first

While the app may engage in human-like conversation, it is not a substitute for a therapist and cannot provide professional advice. To prevent harmful interactions. safeguards were put in place to remind users to seek professional help when in need.

Receive key insights for each entry

After completing an entry, a concise summary is generated highlighting important themes, emotions, and patterns.

Generate personalised summaries for self-reflection or sharing

Once they have sufficient entries, users can easily generate summaries to gain valuable insights into their mental wellness journey. These summaries can be used for self-reflection or shared with their therapist to improve communication. Each point in the summary links back to the original journal entry, accessible by tapping on the # icon.

Style Guide

Colors

Primary

Secondary

Neutrals

Typography

Buttons

COMPONENTS

Journal prompts

Chatbot speech bubbles

Entry cards

user testing

Validating our solutions with real users

To ensure our solution effectively meets user needs, we conducted user testing with 9 participants from our initial interview group. In addition to formal testing sessions, we encouraged them to use the app independently over time to assess its long-term effectiveness.

Through this process, we identified a few usability issues:

Journal

Users attempted to tap the "Inspire Me" button before writing any content, but it is designed to be only activated after text input.

Chat

Users reported that it felt like a "never-ending conversation" due to the chatbot's persistent follow-up questions.

Voice

Due to technical limitations, there a 15-minute time limit after which reconnection is required although the conversation is still saved. This was perceived by some users as an error.

Additionally, we also received some positive feedback:

8 out of 9

felt this app would greatly benefit their mental health journey

Design iterations

Enhancements based on user feedback

Journal mode

Before

Users attempted to tap the "Inspire Me" button before writing any content, but it is designed to be only activated after text input.

After

Button is greyed out initially and only activates after the user has typed in some content. A tooltip was also introduced explaining how it works.

Voice mode

Before

Due to technical limitations, there a 15-minute time limit after which reconnection is required although the conversation is still saved. This was perceived by some users as an error.

After

A friendly notification appears 1 minute before expiry, giving users the option to extend their conversation. If time runs out, a playful message assures users that their progress has been saved.

Final designs

Animations

Next steps

This is only the beginning

This project isn't just a concept; it's a solution poised to make a tangible difference in the lives of people on their mental health journey. Our successful pilot launch saw the rapid acquisition of 140 users, demonstrating the immediate appeal and need for EBI. We were also recognised as one of the top 5 teams out of 23 in the hackathon, securing $20,000 in funding to further fuel our mission.

Building on this promising start, we are thrilled to announce a significant partnership with a public hospital, whom we are actively collaborating with to customize the app for their patients. This not only validates the practical application of our app within a real word setting but also enables us to extend our reach, making a positive impact on a wider population seeking mental health support.

takeaways

Be a painkiller, not a vitamin

Through this process, I learned that impactful design focuses on being a "painkiller" – directly addressing a critical need for a specific user group – rather than a mere "vitamin," which is just a nice-to-have. This requires understanding user struggles within their natural context, going beyond superficial feedback in artificial testing environments where where they may not be able to directly articulate their true needs.

Embracing pivoting and flexibility

Our initial strategy to reach users via psychologists faced a significant obstacle: a lack of established credibility hindered their willingness to recommend our unproven solution. This forced a crucial pivot, shifting our focus to directly engaging end-users within the limited timeframe. This change in direction, driven by real-world feedback, ultimately led to invaluable insights and the traction that unexpectedly opened the door to our collaboration with a public hospital.

Other resources