Providing comprehensive support for HIV-positive patients to cope with psychological difficulties.
Design Lead
2020-2022 （Ongoing）
Research Lab Project
People who are newly diagnosed with HIV often experience significant psychological distress, which could impact their medication adherence. Due to a lack of mental health professionals in China, mental health needs for this highly vulnerable population are largely left unaddressed.
I’m working with the Simoni Lab to create a WeChat-based mini-program that provides mental health therapy content, medication tracking, and depression assessment that helps users regulate emotions, find support and adhere to medications. We have now finished our version 1.0 after 3 iterations and we are in the process of development.
The Simoni Lab has been investigating e/mHealth interventions for marginalized populations. Our findings informed the development of the Psychology Toolbox intervention, a brief Cognitive-Behavior Therapy skills-based intervention comprising cognitive restructuring, behavioral activation, and paced breathing, designed to be integrated into primary care for recently diagnosed People Living with HIV/AIDS.
We used all the published paper and materials from Simoni Lab as a foundation to conduct a desktop research so we can gain better understanding in this problem space.
Create a product that can clinically help reduce mental stress in people diagnosed with positive HIV and help them to adhere to medications.
After setting our product goal, we started looking at possible platforms to accomplish our goal. We decided to choose WeChat Mini-program as our mobile platform.
Our app mainly uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) - based on psychological interventions to help address users' mental health needs.
Content modules are based on Cognitive behavior therapy that are developed with stakeholders (Persons Living with HIV/Aids. physicians, and practitioners).
Reminds users to take their medications on time and helps them to track their medication adherence pattern over time.
Tracks users' depression scores using the PHQ9-Questionnaire - a questionnaire that has good reliability, validity, and high adaptability.
Users reported a list of HIV-related is important to them. Our resources compiles existing psychological therapy locations and support group contacts.
We brainstormed initial flows and prototyped our home page and 4 main features.
We conducted usability testing with 6 HIV-positive participants, our testing sessions were moderated interviews with 1 moderator and 1 note taker. Three main changes were made according to user feedbacks.
After creating the high-fidelity prototype based on feedback from usability testing round one, we planned and conducted another usability testing session with 6 participants focusing on the overall flow and usability of the prototype.
「This really feels like an app that I would use in an office, not for personal uses.
We used the branding color of the original application as requested by the Simoni Lab. Users reported the overall color of the mini-program did not feel welcoming, and rather that it felt like applications used in the office.
「What is CBT and how can it help me?
Users are unsure of what this mini-program is about and what it can do, they also don’t know what cognitive behavior therapy is and how it can assist them.
「I cannot find the trackings here
In the previous version, medication tracking and depression tracking are categorized into one tab of the navigation bar called “tracking”. Users reported they expected medication tracking to be in the same place as the mediation recording function and the depression tracking to be in the same place as the depression questionnaire.
Color Pallete: Users reported that they felt cold and businesslike with our existing color palette. After negotiating with the research lab members, we explored various color palettes using mood boards and our keywords: Positive, Supportive, and Valued. After leading a few team workshop sessions, we decided to pair violet purple and a warm coral to make users feel welcomed and supported.
Accessibility: We created our designs and color choices while making sure it meets the WCAG 2.0 guidelines. Ensuring accessibility in our design was one of the top priorities of when it came to choosing colors and where to use them.
Based on our branding and color palette, I created a design system to ensure the shared language between team members and visual consistency across different pages. This library consists of components, patterns, and styles to ensure cohesiveness and consistency.
After our second iteration, we created the final MVP of our mini-program that addressed and iterated on previous versions. We successfully complete our product 1 week before the proposed deadline and created annotation, documents, and interactions to ensure a smooth handoff to the development team.
Since previous user research found that users have difficulty understanding what CBT is and how our App can help them regulate their emotions, we decided to create 4 simple onboarding frames to show our features and explain CBT.
Users reported after seeing the onboarding frames, their trust increased since our app is backed up by proper research and showed impacts on improving mental health for those who are HIV-positive.
The module content serves as the primary medium for CBT methods. We created different methods and skills that users can read about and provided illustrations to support these methods. Users can see the progress of each module and whether the module is completed.
We also provided them with interactive graphs and a homework section to help them remember. Users reported the skills provided are useful and helped them to be aware of what methods they can simply use to regulate their negative emotions.
We created a calendar that will help users to track their daily medication intake. A red dot will appear on the Home Screen to remind the user if they have not taken the medication.
We also provided medication adherence tracking to help users see their medication adherence trends over time.
Users reported the tracking systems are clear and motivate them to take medication every day.
We use the PHQ-9 questionnaire to help users self-assess their depression level every week. The PHQ-9 questionnaire is selected in this case because it is self-administrable and provides high reliability and validity.
We also allow users to see their emotional trends over time and users reported the questionnaire helps them to be aware of their mental state and seek help and coping methods if needed.
The profile section allows users to check their favorite module content and find existing resources for those who have been diagnosed with positive HIV.
Users can also view terms and policies and submit feedback forms if needed. The resources function was a feature many users mentioned in the usability testing session. We realized that there are limited resources for people who are HIV-positive and it is important for users to find those resources.
As the design team leader for this research project, I learned a lot during this process. I developed leadership skills that allowed me to coordinate and manage this project. The most rewarding part of this project is the product handoff section. I did a lot of research to create the documentation and annotations standards to ensure smooth handoff and delivery.
In addition, I gained experience in working in a research-based setting and practicing my UX design skills, and learned to be precise in the entire process of UX design, from making clear standards and guidelines to conducting usability testing.
Our research lab is currently in the development process of the MVP. Right now we are in the process of creating our MVP V2.0. We have been running participatory sessions with users to develop content for CBT on our modules pages. Once launched, mental health workers will recommend this mini-program to patients diagnosed with HIV positive in Shanghai, China.
