Increasing mental health access for teens through new app.
Teens live in an incredibly connected world but often feel isolated and alone. Despite some progress in creating access to resources, it’s still hard for teens to find a safe space to share what they’re going through. So what do you do when there isn’t a defined place or person you can go to for support? When school is toxic, parents don’t understand, or you don’t want to bother your friends?
Talking to teens taught us a very important lesson: clinical mental health care is not enough. Providing care to today’s teens means going outside of clinical walls and offering support before a breakdown or a crisis. It also means going to spaces that are easily accessible, like online.
Concept: An app (Heard) where teens can find anonymous, positive support for the everyday moments in their lives from other teens and clinicians. The teens we talked to said moderation was a must for them to feel safe in an online space, so Heard has trusted mental health clinicians moderating responses and providing support of their own.
At it’s core, Heard is a safe space online for teens to get support from one another and from experts. It’s a completely new teen support experience, and is ready to be developed and tested further.
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Kaiser Permanente
Obvi Design
Role: Kaiser Permanente Project Lead -
#1 - Contribute to the reduction of emergency room visits and crisis moments for this member population.
#2 - Increase members’ trust in care provider/Kaiser brand.
#3 - Increase members’ interaction/ touch points with care staff. -
Despite genZ being a large % of Kaiser’s member base (2.2m at time of research), they have the lowest touchpoint/interactions with care staff.
How might Kaiser Permanente better support gen’s mental wellness? -
Increase trust with teens earlier and in a non-clinical setting.
Be the ‘next step’ option for teens who need and want clinical care.
Decrease ER and urgent care crisis visits with specific member population. -
Design research participant
From research to concept ideation to building a concept prototype
Vetting concept ideas with research participants
Building concept idea
Building concept idea