Therapy Finder
Therapy Finder is the final project I created for my UX Design program at General Assembly. This is a conceptual project without stakeholders.
The problem
In my seven years as a psychotherapist, almost all of my new clients commented on the difficult process of finding a therapist.
In addition to hosting our own websites, psychotherapists pay for sites and services like Psychology Today to market our practices and help us connect with potential clients. Based on the common feedback I was hearing, I became very curious about the obstacles my clients were facing when searching for a therapist.
For most clients, they begin seeking therapy when life stressors are at their worst, so I'd really like to help eliminate as many barriers as possible to finding help.
Users & Audience
The users of this site are therapists and people looking for therapists. This project focuses on solving problems for the people seeking therapy and does not include the process of a therapist setting up a profile.
Meet Maggie
Design Process
Interviews
I interviewed users to learn about their experiences when searching for a therapist. I used affinity mapping to organize the information collected in interviews.
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The research was organized into 6 categories:
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users pain points
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method used for therapist search
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location/availability
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payment needs
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preferences/values
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consultations
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The research showed that users wanted to find all the information they need in one place instead of reading a profile and then going to a therapist's site, then emailing for a consultation, then coordinating a phone call through email, etc. They wanted a more thorough filtering process and to cut down on multi-step communication.
The research also showed that users did not like using therapist search sites that contained a lot of other information (e.g. blogs, education materials, etc.). Those sites were considered cluttered and confusing. Users want a site that is simple and streamlined.
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How might we help users find all the information they need about a therapist and schedule a consultation in one place?
Competitor Analysis
Psychology Today
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Design Suggestion:
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The Psychology Today website is not only a directory to find a therapist but also a magazine, blog, and resource site. There is a lot information on the Psychology Today website and finding a therapist is just one of many actions you can choose from the homepage. It is distracting. The therapist directory should be separate from their magazine/blog site.
Sketches
Next I created sketches of possible therapist's profile designs. This was a helpful part of the process because I tried to add in some features that users mentioned would be nice to have but then noticed in the early sketches that the page looked crowded and decided I shouldn't include them in the prototype since simplicity is the primary design concern.
Moderated Usability Test for Lo-Fi prototype
After creating a lo-fi prototype, I used moderated usability testing to see how users interacted with the product.
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My assumptions creating a design for mobile was that users would want to make their selections while continuously scrolling through the filters until they reached the search button at the bottom.
What I learned is that it was not intuitive for users to continue scrolling through filtering options. Users reported that they assumed each filter would be separated on individual screens and after selecting their preference they would be prompted to the next filter screen. This information changed the user interaction filter designs.
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Below you can see a video of the lo-fi prototype used for the moderated test.
Style Guide
As I began making the transition from a lo-fi prototype to a hi-fi prototype, I created a style guide for the interface designs.
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The style guide was surprisingly the most time consuming part of this project. The goal of this UI design was simplicity, which meant no unnecessary photos, text blocks, etc. With Therapy Finder not being a real platform with established branding, and the lack of unnecessary photos or text; there was no where to pull color from. This makes every palette a possibility. Looking through color palettes felt like trying to piece together a whole outfit at an H&M with a fifty dollar budget; the variations of options seem endless but you've got constraints that make your choice feel more precious than it should.
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My first choice was to use a green palette because green is the color of mental health but none of the variations I tried looked right. Users validated they didn't like the green color palettes.
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After countless hours of trying on color palettes, I stopped at the first sign of any dopamine release. I wasn't expecting a pink-heavy color palette to be the catalyst of a long awaited dopamine hit and became concerned that the color palette would not be appealing to the majority of users. However, in my second round of usability testing 100% of users reported liking the new color scheme.
Second Usability Test Results
For the second usability test, I used Maze to set up a task for users with the hi-fi prototype. I chose Maze because it provides metrics and reports from the users' tests. However, there were a lot of testing errors with Maze. Most importantly, that it didn't allow users to finish the task. Therefore test results were inaccurate. The users were very understanding about Maze malfunctioning and they agreed to do another round of testing using the prototype option in Figma.
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After completing the last usability test, users provided only positive feedback. It's important to note that users could have been tired or burned out from double testing and may have been more eager to finish the second test therefore not providing suggestions for improvement. With no recommendations for change, this prototype was ready for presentation.
Final Product
Outcome
User Interface Design
User Interface goals were met by creating a simplistic design.
User Interaction Design
User Interaction goals were met by creating the most requested filters and allowing users to schedule a consultation from a therapist's profile.
What's next?
If I were to continue working on this project, I would want to change the design of the homepage, and I would want to add a more efficient way to schedule a consultation with a therapist. Currently, the user has to enter their availability manually and I would like them to be able to choose times from a calendar. However, during the feature prioritization analysis, I decided that the effort and cost of that feature was not immediately necessary to accomplish the set goals. Therefore, that feature was not prioritized for this design. Since this was a conceptual project, I did not work with an engineer and therefore did not have to make adjustments based on feasibility of the features I chose as a priority.