Karen Chang

Role: Product Designer
Team: Self-Directed
Year: 2023

My Mood is a mobile app that provides a private and personalized environment for individuals to record and analyze their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

Objectives

My Mood aims to help young people gain insight into patterns of thinking and identify cognitive distortions that may be contributing to negative emotions. The target results include improved mental health, better decision making, improved relationships, increased self-awareness, and enhanced resilience.

Target Audience

Primary:

Individuals aged 18-35 who are experiencing stress, anxiety, and cycles of negative thinking.

Secondary:

Mental health workers who are looking for tools to assist their patients.

Consultant/Expert Interviews

Fred McHale

AAU Director: School of Interaction & UI/UX Design

• Depending on the demographic of the user, they may need more than just writing in a journal. Possibly video. There might also be a need to handle situations where people can get more professional help.
• The project should be supportive of the user both visually and through its functionality. Customization should be handled very carefully, as not to be another distraction from the task at hand.
• It is very important to provide resources to mental health issues.
• There should be high level of security for the journal entries as they can be of a personal nature.
• I would expect that there is little barrier to entry in adding a journal.

Joseph Rameer

Mental Health SEO

• The top priority in a thought journal app are the interface and security. An appealing dashboard that is customizable but not overwhelming with features is required.
• Daylio is a strong competitor as well as a good reference. After looking into various options for thought journal apps, I decided on Daylio due to the various features and customizable UI.
• Do not overprice the app or any in-app features. If you can, avoid inapp purchases altogether.
• If the app has a mood log, then mood stats should be a given.