Heardify
(Formerly lissn)
Student Mental Health
Challenge
One out of five students aged 11-18 qualify for a serious mental disorder.
Poor mental health decreases important school outcomes, such as academic performance, attendance, and graduation rates.
Product Strategy
Research (Meet the users)
I started by exploring and documenting the complex educational ecosystem that involves many key individuals.
I interviewed over 25 educational professionals and honed in on 4 main research questions to guide Heardify:
- •How do we prevent student mental health issues?
- •How do we reliably and empirically screen youth for mental health issues?
- •How do we create a product for schools to easily screen and track student mental health?
- •Who are the key stakeholders involved in approving, purchasing, and implementing this product?
Wireframes
I started by drawing paper sketches for the user flows of the Heardify software.
I then used Figma and worked with software engineers to create a prototype for a survey tool, starting with Excel macros and then using a custom Microsoft Access database.
I tested the prototypes with school staff, parents, and students, collecting feedback through observations, notes, and surveys. I analyzed survey data with SPSS.
I made improvements based on feedback to create the final, intuitive version of the platform.
Design System (Figma)
I created and named separate components for each color, type category, button, app bar, and other visual pieces to maintain consistency throughout designs and make it easy to export for use testing and ease of use for engineering.
- •Colors
- •Buttons
- •Typography
- •Margins and keylines
- •Dialogues
- •Lists
- •Progress Indicators
- •Toasts (label and action)
- •Icons
Final Prototype
The final, validated product includes a web and mobile application that allows schools to screen and track student mental health and well-being easily.
The mobile application enables students to complete screening easily and provides quick insights to educators.
The beautiful, intuitive user interface ensures low error rates on the screener as well as reduces confusion around screener results.
Impact
- •I created a seamless cloud-based digital questionnaire and analytics tool for schools to measure & improve student well-being.
- •I discovered seven evidence-based student well-being domains and crafted a screener based on these.
- •I gained insights into perceptions around student well-being in education.
- •I demoed the product to school superintendents & high-level administrators.
- •I am currently talking with several schools who are considering implementing Heardify in the upcoming school year.
