BC BORSTAL
Client: BC Borstal
Type: Mobile App Design
Role: UX Designer
Scope: 3 weeks
Deliverables: market research, user research, persona, iterations, high-fidelity prototype
BC Borstal Association is a community-based leader in crime prevention, providing root cause treatment and rehabilitation services supporting public safety. Several years ago, BC Borstal designed a new program called BC Trauma Program to help those who have suffered from trauma reintegrate into society and lead healthy, productive lives.
The project is to design a mobile app that can help those who have mental illness cope with their symptoms so that even after BC Borstal's office hours, help and resources are always within reach.
Understand PTSD
Currently, the Starfish Canada has two separate websites, thestarfish.ca and canadatop25.ca, to host their most well-known program, top 25 environmentalists under 25. These two websites have entirely different aesthetics and layouts. Users can be easily confused about how these two sites are related, and there is no way to link back to the Starfish Canada’s site from the top 25 site.
Understand the user
The general public does not know or have enough resources to understand PTSD. They are not aware of what a traumatized event can do to their lives in the long run.
Even though patients are getting medical help to ease their symptoms, they feel they are not improving.
Talking to someone they trust or someone who also has a similar experience is the first choice for most people when they have an episode.
Language is a significant factor. During the interview with a former inmate, he talked about how he hated people treating him like children who can not handle their own lives. This has been highlighted by our clients in brief as well.
Research
Breathing technique is the most common method for people who have PTSD besides talking to someone they trust.
Both professionals and patients believe self-reflection / positive thinking is another effective way to cope with symptoms, for example, writing a journal.
Patients do not like to be talked down to. The wrong choice of words can potentially become the trigger of an episode. It is equally important to keep the language polite and straightforward.
Most people can not afford to counsel.
LGBTQ+ members feel counsellors are not educated enough to understand their concerns.
Key features
Interactive Coping Technique is the most crucial feature in the app. After all the research we did, we wanted to create an app that serves as a temporary solution for people who suffer from trauma.
Journal to keep track of users' symptoms and what triggers them in the first place. It can be helpful as a resource and show counsellors when they are going to a counselling session.
Emergency Contact Number users can call someone they trust or a crisis center for help when they have an episode.
Non-Mandatory Sign Up during our user testing, we noticed that most people do not like to signup for an app when they download it. Thus, we made it non-mandatory to use the app even without an account.
Future consideration
Due to the project's scope, many great features we thought about during the planning phase were unable to be put into the app.
book a session with a BC Borstal counsellor
Video and Audio contents instead of plain texts to guide through coping techniques
An online community for PTSD and trauma patients
free resources, such as lists of locations that provide free counselling services in town