Talkspace - Bridging the Gap: Empowering Support for Loved Ones with Anxiety

Imagine watching someone you love struggle with anxiety, feeling helpless because you don’t know how to support them or understand what they’re going through. What if there was a way to bridge that gap and empower you to be a source of comfort and strength?

Introduction

This open-ended project was completed under the guidance of Professor Baltaxe-Admony in the User Experience for Interactive Media course. As we learned about design, research, brainstorming, ideation, and created a fully designed solution to meet real-world user needs found in our user research.

My Role: Worked with my team to brainstorm ideas and collaborate on the initial research. Led the designing process, turning interview findings and user journeys into wireframes and high-fidelity prototypes.

Project Impact: I not only leantred how to design and use HCI principles, I also learned about accessibility and trauma- informed design. I am eager to take this project forward in the future.

Tools

Figma

FigJam

Google Docs

Trello

Timeline

January 2024 - March 2024

(9 weeks)

Group

6 UX Designers

According to the National Health Institute, there are more than 10,000 mental health and wellness apps on the market

How can loved ones interact with their mentally ill family member in non-triggering and supportive ways?

Most mental health resources focus on diagnosed individuals, often leaving their loved ones without guidance.

How can this large demographic support one another?

What are ways they can take care of themselves during challenges with their loved ones that may leave them hopeless or stuck?

But what about the people standing on the sidelines? The family members, friends, and loved ones who desperately want to help but feel lost?

That’s why Talkspace!

With Talkspace, you won’t just be a bystander—you’ll become an advocate and a pillar of support for your loved one’s mental health journey. By educating yourself, practicing empathy, and taking meaningful action, you’ll foster deeper connections and contribute to their recovery and resilience.

Talkspace isn’t just about mental health - it’s about connecting with care and understanding

Bringing ideas to life

Student view

Resource Library

The Resource Library brings everything you need into one place, eliminating the need to search multiple websites for reliable mental health information. It provides trusted articles that explain anxiety, mental health concepts, and actionable strategies for supporting loved ones.

Specialized Articles

Specialized articles are the heart of this app, giving you expert-backed insights and practical strategies to support your loved ones.

Ask and Assist Chat

This chat feature combines a Resource Navigator, Instant Answers, and Ask & Assist Chat to provide a strong support experience. It helps users with actionable advice about mental health resources like therapists and hotlines, delivers immediate, evidence-based responses to pressing questions about anxiety and coping strategies, and offers personalized guidance for supporting loved ones.

Turning research into design ideas

Project Goals and Learnings

Learnings:

  • Learned about “Trauma-informed design” and how I can apply those concepts here.

  • Acknowledging that users may have diverse and sensitive experiences, and designing with compassion.

  • Gained insights into creating a user journey map, storyboard, empathy mapping and following a design system,

Future Goals:

  • Test Talkspace with a wider range of people.

  • Develop/add more features to the app that help loved ones once more educated on the topic of mental health.