TherapyFinder
The Challenge
Finding a good therapist is becoming increasingly difficult. It is a challenge to know where to begin, what makes for a good fit, and what options are available nearby. This personal project sought to address the pain points faced when looking for therapy.
The Solution
TherapyFinder makes it simple and easy to look for a therapist near the user. A match system allows users to see therapists who may be a good fit for them. Users can save therapists to their Favorites, and reach out to the counselor when they’re ready.
My Role
Product Designer
Understanding the User
Knowing the target audience was an important place to start, in order to know what the pain points are for people when looking for counseling. I conducted interviews with 5 individuals who have sought therapy in the past. We discussed what worked and what didn’t work, what was confusing or difficult, and their overall experience.
Based off of these conversations an empathy map was established in order to create a good snapshot of our target user.
Interviewees expressed that location was very important in finding a therapist. Finding a good fit with someone near their home or work allowed people to more conveniently see their counselor.
Interviewees also expressed how important it was to find someone who was a good fit. They want to feel comfortable with their therapist and want to easily connect with them.
To better guide the ideation and design process, a persona was created in order to keep our user front and center.
A problem statement helped concisely clarify the needs of the users:
“Rachel is a teacher who is struggling with stress and anxiety and would like to find a therapist, because she is noticing how much her mental health is impacting her everyday life.”
Beginning the Design
Ideation time! How Might We questions were developed, and Crazy 8’s exercises helped get some ideas on paper.
With some ideas on paper, I used Figma to create initial digital wireframes for the app. The focus here was to create a clean and easy way for users to see therapists nearby.
The home screen allows users to see therapists nearby right away, or enter a zip code to search near them.
A full-page map gives plenty of room to scroll and see what is around the user.
Mockups and a prototype were created in order to test the process of searching for a therapist and saving them to Favorites.
The Solution
Final mockups highlighted the search function and the ability to save counselors to a Favorites section. The goal was to create a clean and simple user flow so that people could easily see where therapists were geographically, and who they had saved as potential good fits to meet with.
Search results allow users to click on therapists on the map, expanding into a card with essential information.
A Favorites page shows saved therapists in one spot, and allows users to order therapists as they choose.
A basic flow of matching allows users to answer questions to match with therapist. Future iterations can expand on this feature.
User Testing
In-person and remote moderated usability studies were conducted with participants aged 19 to 36. Iterations were made to the prototype based on their feedback.
The key changes were:
Adding a Match process to help users identify therapists who could be a good fit with key identifiers
The ability to re-order favorited therapists
More information on therapist preview cards on the map
Popular therapists nearby to offer users suggested therapists in the area
Moving Forward
Impact
TherapyFinder offers the simplicity that users are craving, thus decreasing the barrier for clients to find a good therapist. The service allows clients to easily find counselors close to them, and matches clients based on their needs. All of these features help mental health support become that much more accessible for the public.
Takeaways
Getting help with mental health can be a difficult process. Focusing on effective features helped to reduce the clutter, allowing the user to focus on their main goal: finding a therapist. Consistently going back to the user and the sole task at hand allowed for a more focused design. More iterations can be done on TherapyFinder, but the current foundation allows for powerful results.
Next Steps
Continue to iterate and fully build out the Match feature
Test with more users to flesh out any additional needs, specifically around the map feature and nearby therapists