“LiveLine” MHCI capstone

Context: Within the general domain space of waste management, research and address a potential problem that could possibly be addressed with a responsive web interface.

Date: January - August 2020 (8 months)

Key Concepts: Client needs, values, and engagement; health; product scope

Tools Used: Figma, InVision, Webflow, Mural

Clients: Oasis Recovery Center & BioMotivate

Collaborators: Ari Daly, Paul Myers, Ben Stone, Angelina Thomas

Full Website | Interactive Prototype

1. Exploration

To expand our knowledge of the domain by empathizing with with our target population, people with substance use disorders / addictions.

We reviewed 114 visual & educational resources, including articles, educational videos, and a documentary, attended 14 Open Meetings, including Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous, Dharma Recovery, and Al Anon, and interviewed 31 young adults (aged 18 to 30 years old) to learn about their experiences with addiction.‍

• I conducted both in-person and virtual Zoom interviews with several health practitioners, recovery center directors, and young adults struggling with recovery that we recruited from Reddit.

• I took particular care in managing ethical conduct with this population including reiterating consent and communicating intentionally with moderators of various subreddits that we recruited from (e.g., r/HeroinHeroines, r/opioids,).

2. Defining the Design Space

Our goal was to focus on a specific, concrete design direction using the insights we’ve collected.

I helped to design & run 16 speed-dating sessions with storyboards, 3 participant diary studies, and interacted with 11 different addiction-related sub-Reddit communities.

I co-led analysis and group discussion that led us to identify 4 key needs:

1. Relevancy - For some young adults, they’re unable to connect with the 12 step’s philosophy’s towards recovery, so they aren’t able to understand their own reasons for addiction, or why they are currently unsuccessful at recovery. They need relevant information so they could understand their own addiction.

2. Community - The community aspect of recovery is one of the most important and effective reasons to being successful at recovery. Everyone needs a support network, especially if that person is also trying to overcome an addiction. A community makes people feel connected and provides a sense of belonging.

3. Clarity - When people have an addiction, so much of their time revolves around substances, so cutting that out of their life can be scary since it also includes changing their lifestyle significantly. Being able to introspect and start to understand what causes could have lead to someone’s addiction can be immensely helpful in understanding how to live a sober lifestyle again.

4. Immediacy - Time is of the essence in recovery. Successfully fighting off a relapse can come down to a matter of minutes. Timing is crucial, and help needs to be prompt and immediate.

3. Prototyping

We worked in short sprints to quickly iterate design concepts that aligned with our scoped “slice” of user & client needs.

We created 45 idea sketches, created 20 storyboard scenarios, and ran 23 interviews & think-aloud usability sessions with people in recovery and various subject matter experts (including clinicians, recovery center directors, and community health workers).

• I created 9 different idea sketches, as well as scripts for the storyboard scenarios and the protocols used in the interviews & usability sessions. I also led several of the interviews and was the notetaker/support interviewer on all other interviews.

• I also helped to design & pre-test the low to mid-fidelity Figma prototypes.